Microsoft’s PowerToys recently received a nice update that adds some new features. But it’s a feature set to ship next month that’s turning heads. In an upcoming update to PowerToys, the app will be able to switch your PC between light mode and dark mode based on a schedule.
Niels Laute, a senior product manager at Microsoft, teased the upcoming feature in a blog post.
“We are planning some nice new features and improvements for next month – a revamped Keyboard Manager UI, and a new utility that can automatically switch between light and dark mode based on your schedule! Stay tuned,” said Laute.
The ability to schedule dark and light mode switching should roll out next month with PowerToys v0.95. If you’re more interested in features available now, here are the highlights from Microsoft of PowerToys v0.94, which shipped recently.
PowerToys v0.94: Highlights
- PowerToys Settings added a Settings search with fuzzy matching, suggestions, a results page, and UX polish to make finding options faster.
- A comprehensive hotkey conflict detection system was introduced in Settings to surface and help resolve conflicting shortcuts. Note that the default hotkey settings (Win+Ctrl+Shift+T, Win+Ctrl+V, Win+Ctrl+T, Win+Shift+T) may overlap with existing Windows system shortcuts. This is expected. You can resolve the conflict by assigning different hotkeys.
- Mouse Utilities added a “Gliding cursor” accessibility feature to Mouse Pointer Crosshairs for single‑button cursor movement and clicking. Thanks @mikehall-ms!
- The installer was upgraded to WiX 5 after WiX 3 reached end-of-life; this move improved installer security, reliability, and community support.
- Tons of bug fixes and improvements for Command Palette, including visual updates and new support for filters on ListPages (handy for extension developers).
- Hosts Editor now has a “No leading spaces” option so active host entries can start at column 0 even if others are disabled. Thanks @mohammed-saalim!
- Context menu registration was moved from the installer to runtime to avoid loading disabled modules (runtime registrations).
- Quick Accent now supports Maltese, and frequently used accents appear first (and are remembered across sessions). Thanks @rovercoder! @davidegiacometti!
How to schedule light mode and dark mode
People have asked for the ability to schedule light mode and dark mode on Windows for years. It’s a bit strange that Microsoft hasn’t built the functionality into Windows 11 already.
While the feature being added to PowerToys is nice, you don’t have to wait until next month to schedule light mode and dark mode on Windows 11. An app called Auto Dark Mode has been out for years, even predating Windows 11. It was updated early this year to run natively on Windows on Arm devices.
The app can switch your PC from dark mode to light mode at specific times or change between modes based on sunrise and sunset. You can even have it adjust the swap based on your longitude and latitude to be more accurate.
Auto Dark Mode has some other handy features, such as the option to switch between light and dark mode based on whether your PC is plugged in. That’s especially useful for people looking to squeeze every bit of battery life out of an unplugged laptop (dark mode can significantly extend battery life if your device has an OLED display).
While PowerToys is an excellent app, some may prefer the dedicated nature of Auto Dark Mode. PowerToys is likely overkill for many users, so being able to download Auto Dark Mode for a specific feature is a nice option.
