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Federighi talks to Ars about why the iPad's Mac-style multitasking took so long. CUPERTINO, Calif.—When Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi introduced the new multitasking UI in iPadOS 26 at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference this week, he did it the same way he introduced the Calculator app for the iPad last year, or timers in the iPad's Clock app the year before—with a hint of sarcasm. "Wow," Federighi enthuses in a lightly exaggerated tone about an hour and 19 minutes into a 90-minute presentation. "More windows, a pointier pointer, and a menu bar? Who would've thought? We've truly pulled off a mind-blowing release!" This elicits a sensible chuckle from the gathered audience of developers, media, and Apple employees watching the keynote on the Apple Park campus, where I have grabbed myself a good-not-great seat to watch the largely pre-recorded keynote on a gigantic outdoor screen. Federighi is acknowledging—and lightly poking fun at—the audience of developers, pro users, and media personalities who have been asking for years that Apple's iPad behave more like a traditional computer. And after many incremental steps, including a big swing and partial miss with the buggy, limited Stage Manager interface a couple of years ago, Apple has finally responded to requests for Mac-like multitasking with a distinctly Mac-like interface, an improved file manager, and better support for running tasks in the background. But if this move was so forehead-slappingly obvious, why did it take so long to get here? This is one of the questions we dug into when we sat down with Federighi and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak for a post-keynote chat earlier this week. It used to be about hardware restrictions People have been trying to use iPads (and make a philosophical case for them) as quote-unquote real computers practically from the moment they were introduced 15 years ago. But those early iPads lacked so much of what we expect from modern PCs and Macs, most notably robust multi-window multitasking and the ability for third-party apps to exchange data. The first iPads were almost literally just iPhone internals connected to big screens, with just a fraction of the RAM and storage available in the Macs of the day; that necessitated the use of a blown-up version of the iPhone's operating system and the iPhone's one-full-screen-app-at-a-time interface. "If you want to rewind all the way to the time we introduced Split View and Slide Over [in iOS 9], you have to start with the grounding that the iPad is a direct manipulation touch-first device," Federighi told Ars. "It is a foundational requirement that if you touch the screen and start to move something that it responds. Otherwise, the entire interaction model is broken—it's a psychic break with your contract with the device." Mac users, Federighi said, were more tolerant of small latency on their devices because they were already manipulating apps on the screen indirectly, but the iPads of a decade or so ago "didn't have the capacity to run an unlimited number of windowed apps with perfect responsiveness." It’s also worth noting the technical limitations of iPhone and iPad apps at the time, which up until then had mostly been designed and coded to match the specific screen sizes and resolutions of the (then-manageable) number of iDevices that existed. It simply wasn’t possible for the apps of the day to be dynamically resized as desktop windows are, because no one was coding their apps that way. Apple's iPad Pros—and, later, the iPad Airs—have gradually adopted hardware and software features that make them more Mac-like. Credit: Andrew Cunningham Of course, those hardware limitations no longer exist. Apple’s iPad Pros started boosting the tablets’ processing power, RAM, and storage in earnest in the late 2010s, and Apple introduced a Microsoft Surface-like keyboard and stylus accessories that moved the iPad away from its role as a content consumption device. For years now, Apple’s faster tablets have been based on the same hardware as its slower Macs—we know the hardware can do more because Apple is already doing more with it elsewhere. "Over time the iPad's gotten more powerful, the screens have gotten larger, the user base has shifted into a mode where there is a little bit more trackpad and keyboard use in how many people use the device," Federighi told Ars. "And so the stars kind of aligned to where many of the things that you traditionally do with a Mac were possible to do on an iPad for the first time and still meet iPad's basic contract." On correcting some of Stage Manager’s problems More multitasking in iPadOS 26. Credit: Apple Apple has already tried a windowed multitasking system on modern iPads once this decade, of course, with iPadOS 16's Stage Manager interface. Any first crack at windowed multitasking on the iPad was going to have a steep climb. This was the first time Apple or its developers had needed to content with truly dynamically resizable app windows in iOS or iPadOS, the first time Apple had implemented a virtual memory system on the iPad, and the first time Apple had tried true multi-monitor support. Stage Manager was in such rough shape that Apple delayed that year's iPadOS release to keep working on it. But the biggest problem with Stage Manager was actually that it just didn't work on a whole bunch of iPads. You could only use it on new expensive models—if you had a new cheap model or even an older expensive model, your iPad was stuck with the older Slide Over and Split View modes that had been designed around the hardware limitations of mid-2010s iPads. "We wanted to offer a new baseline of a totally consistent experience of what it meant to have Stage Manager," Federighi told Ars. "And for us, that meant four simultaneous apps on the internal display and an external display with four simultaneous apps. So, eight apps running at once. And we said that's the baseline, and that's what it means to be Stage Manager; we didn't want to say 'you get Stage Manager, but you get Stage Manager-lite here or something like that. And so immediately that established a floor for how low we could go." Fixing that was one of the primary goals of the new windowing system. "We decided this time: make everything we can make available," said Federighi, "even if it has some nuances on older hardware, because we saw so much demand [for Stage Manager]." That slight change in approach, combined with other behind-the-scenes optimizations, makes the new multitasking model more widely compatible than Stage Manager is. There are still limits on those devices—not to the number of windows you can open, but to how many of those windows can be active and up-to-date at once. And true multi-monitor support would remain the purview of the faster, more-expensive models. "We have discovered many, many optimizations," Federighi said. "We re-architected our windowing system and we re-architected the way that we manage background tasks, background processing, that enabled us to squeeze more out of other devices than we were able to do at the time we introduced Stage Manager." Stage Manager still exists in iPadOS 26, but as an optional extra multitasking mode that you have to choose to enable instead of the new windowed multitasking system. You can also choose to turn both multitasking systems off entirely, preserving the iPad's traditional big-iPhone-for-watching-Netflix interface for the people who prefer it. “iPad's gonna be iPad” The $349 base-model iPad is one that stands to gain the most from iPadOS 26. Credit: Andrew Cunningham However, while the new iPadOS 26 UI takes big steps toward the Mac's interface, the company still tries to treat them as different products with different priorities. To date, that has meant no touch screens on the Mac (despite years of rumors), and it will continue to mean that there are some Mac things that the iPad will remain unable to do. "But we've looked and said, as [the iPad and Mac] come together, where on the iPad the Mac idiom for doing something, like where we put the window close controls and maximize controls, what color are they—we've said why not, where it makes sense, use a converged design for those things so it's familiar and comfortable," Federighi told Ars. "But where it doesn't make sense, iPad's gonna be iPad." There will still be limitations and frustrations when trying to fit an iPad into a Mac-shaped hole in your computing setup. While tasks can run in the background, for example, Apple only allows apps to run workloads with a definitive endpoint, things like a video export or a file transfer. System agents or other apps that perform some routine on-and-off tasks continuously in the background aren’t supported. All the demos we’ve seen so far are also on new, high-end iPad hardware, and it remains to be seen how well the new features behave on low-end tablets like the 11th-generation A16 iPad, or old 2019-era hardware like the iPad Air 3. But it does feel like Apple has finally settled on a design that might stick, and that adds capability to the iPad without wrecking its simplicity for the people who still just want a big screen for reading and streaming. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

There will be a mandatory update for a ‘subset’ of Pixel 6A phones. Earlier this year, Google shipped a Pixel 4A update to some owners that lowered battery life to mitigate overheating risk, and soon, it’s going to do the same for the Pixel 6A. “A subset of Pixel 6A phones will require a mandatory software update to reduce the risk of potential battery overheating,” Google’s Alex Moriconi says in a statement to The Verge. “The update will enable battery management features that will reduce capacity and charging performance after the battery reaches 400 charge cycles. We’ll contact impacted customers next month, with all the information they need to address the issue.” As reported by Android Authority, at least two users have reported instances of their Pixel 6A phones catching fire, with one person on Reddit saying their Pixel 6A “spontaneously combusted in the middle of the night.” Android Authority also spotted code strings in the Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 release alerting Pixel 6A users to “a potential battery overheating issue” and pointing toward a support page at g.co/pixel/6abattery that currently isn’t live. In April, Google also announced an extended repair program for battery swelling issues with the Pixel 7A. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

The test grew out of a discussion at Wikimedia’s 2024 conference. Generative AI is permeating the Internet, with chatbots and AI summaries popping up faster than we can keep track. Even Wikipedia, the vast repository of knowledge famously maintained by an army of volunteer human editors, is looking to add robots to the mix. The site began testing AI summaries in some articles over the past week, but the project has been frozen after editors voiced their opinions. And that opinion is: "yuck." The seeds of this project were planted at Wikimedia's 2024 conference, where foundation representatives and editors discussed how AI could advance Wikipedia's mission. The wiki on the so-called "Simple Article Summaries" notes that the editors who participated in the discussion believed the summaries could improve learning on Wikipedia. According to 404 Media, Wikipedia announced the opt-in AI pilot on June 2, which was set to run for two weeks on the mobile version of the site. The summaries appeared at the top of select articles in a collapsed form. Users had to tap to expand and read the full summary. The AI text also included a highlighted "Unverified" badge. Feedback from the larger community of editors was immediate and harsh. Some of the first comments were simply "yuck," with others calling the addition of AI a "ghastly idea" and "PR hype stunt." Others expounded on the issues with adding AI to Wikipedia, citing a potential loss of trust in the site. Editors work together to ensure articles are accurate, featuring verifiable information and a neutral point of view. However, nothing is certain when you put generative AI in the driver's seat. "I feel like people seriously underestimate the brand risk this sort of thing has," said one editor. "Wikipedia's brand is reliability, traceability of changes, and 'anyone can fix it.' AI is the opposite of these things." An example of Wikipedia's Simple Article Summaries. Credit: Wikipedia Multiple comments question the underlying usefulness of Simple Article Summaries on Wikipedia. The amazing breadth of Wikipedia means that there are countless articles covering advanced technical topics, but the editors strive to make it accessible. The site's guidelines state that the lead section of articles should summarize the content of articles, giving the "basics in a nutshell." Many editors pointed out that the addition of AI summaries is simply redundant. "Leads are already a shortened version of a page," said one of the editors. "The best leads have been carefully crafted by dozens of editors and represent some of the best content in the world." Wikipedia has confirmed it is pulling the summary test while it evaluates the deluge of feedback it has received from the editors who make the site work. "Reading through the comments, it’s clear we could have done a better job introducing this idea and opening up the conversation here on VPT back in March," a Wikimedia Foundation manager told 404 Media. VPT refers to village pump technical, a forum where the foundation and community members discuss technical issues on the site. This probably won't be the last spirited discussion about Wikipedia's use of AI. Foundation representatives have confirmed they are still interested in finding ways to integrate generative AI into the Wikipedia experience, but they need buy-in from editors. If the initial reaction is any clue, that's going to be tough. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Last year's data plus plenty of simulation are meant to create a level playing field. This coming weekend will see the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans take place in . In total, 62 cars will compete, split into three different classes. At the front of the field are the very fastest hypercars—wickedly fast prototypes that are also all hybrids, with the exception of the V12 Aston Martin Valkyries. In the middle are the pro-am LMP2s, followed by 24 GT3 cars—modified versions of performance cars that include everything from Ford Mustangs to McLaren 720s. It is racing nirvana. But with so many different makes and models of cars in the Hypercar class, some two-wheel drive, others with all-wheel drive, how do they ensure it's a fair race? Get ready for some acronyms Sports car racing can be (needlessly) complicated at times. Take the Hypercar class at Le Mans. The 21 cars that will contest it are actually built to two separate rulebooks. One, called LMH (for Le Mans Hypercar), was written by the organizers of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship. These prototypes can be hybrids, with the electric motor on the front axle: Ferrari, Peugeot, and Toyota have all taken this route. But they don't have to be; the Aston Martin Valkyrie already had to lose a lot of power to meet the rules, so it just relies on its big V12 to do all the work. Most of the cars are purpose-built for the race, but Aston Martin went the other route and converted a road car for racing. The other is called LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) and hails from the US, in the rulebook written for the International Motor Sports Association's GTP category. As the name suggests, these cars must be hybrids, and all must use the same specified motor, battery, and gearbox. LMDh cars also all need to start off using one of four approved carbon-fiber chassis (or spines), onto which automakers can style their own bodies and add their own engines. Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche all have LMDh cars entered in this year's Le Mans. Ferrari's 499P is built to the LMH rules. JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP via Getty Images By contrast, the BMW V8 M Hybrid is built to the LMDh rules. James Moy Photography/Getty Images Convergence In a parallel universe, the result would be two competing series, neither with many cars on the grid. But the people at IMSA get on pretty well with the organizers of Le Mans (the Automobile Club de l'Ouest or ACO) and the World Endurance Championship (the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, or FIA), and they decided to create a way to allow everyone to play together in the same sandbox. "2021 [was] the first year with LMH, and at that time, the only big manufacturer involved was Toyota; Glickenhaus was there at the time, but there were not many manufacturers, let's say, interested in that kind of category," said Thierry Bouvet, competition director at the ACO. "So together with IMSA, while the world was [isolating] during the pandemic, we basically wrote a set of technical regulations, LMDh which was, on paper, a little bit of a different car [with] more focus on avoiding cost escalation. After a couple of years of writing those regulations, we had an interesting process of convergence, we call it, to be able to have the LMH and LMDh racing together," he said. It's not the first time that different cars have competed against each other at Le Mans. Before Hypercar, the top category was called LMP1h (Le Mans Prototype 1 hybrids), which burned brightly for a few short years but collapsed under the weight of F1-level budgets that proved too much for both Audi and Porsche, leaving just Toyota and some privateers. LMP1h used a complicated "Equivalence of Technology," but now the approach, first perfected with the slower GT3 cars, is called Balance of Performance, or BoP. The race starts at 10 am ET on Saturday, June 14. Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images Obviously, none of the automakers behind the LMDh teams would have entered the race if they thought only LMH cars had a chance of winning overall. "So it went through a couple of long and very interesting—in terms of technique, technically speaking—simulation working groups, where we involved all the manufacturers from both categories, and we believe we achieved... a nice working point in the middle, which allows both cars to be competitive, through the different restrictions, through BoP and so on. Now we feel that we've got a really fair and equitable working point," Bouvet said. As evidence, he pointed to the fact that last year Toyota took the World Endurance Championship for constructors, but Porsche's drivers cemented the WEC driver's title, with Ferrari winning Le Mans. Imma hit you with the BoP gun The rules limit both the amount of downforce and the amount of drag that the cars can generate from their bodywork, which have to be in the ratio of 4:1; this prevents any one manufacturer from having a massive advantage in terms of cornering grip or fuel efficiency. From there, the BoP gets more granular, setting maximum weight and power outputs (above and below 250 km/h), the maximum amount of energy allowed to be sent to the wheels between pit stops, as well as any extra time added to pit stops. Weighing cars is easy, and timing them in pit stops is old hat, too. But the advance here is the torque sensors at each axle that feed back data to the race officials, letting them know exactly how much power each car is deploying to its wheels. "We had to think of something which will work independently, whether it's hybrid power or internal combustion engine power. Should we think about fuel only? That will only be concerning, obviously, the internal combustion engine and not do the job for the hybrid system. So, power at the wheel is a nice and elegant solution," he said. The Aston Martin Valkyrie is the only road-going hypercar to be entered into the Hypercar category at Le Mans. Credit: ames Moy Photography/Getty Images For the World Endurance Championship, BoP is calculated on a rolling average of the last three races, with some OEMs getting a little more weight or a little less power if necessary. While the 24 Hours of Le Mans counts as a round of the WEC, it's open to other entrants as well, and BoP works a bit differently. Instead, Bouvet and his team based this year's BoP on data from last year's 24-hour race, plus the simulations he mentioned. This is done to prevent teams from sandbagging in the races that lead up to their most important race of the year As the newest and least competitive car, the Valkyrie gets the biggest break, with a minimum weight of just 2,271 lbs (1,030 kg) and a maximum power of 697 hp (520 kW). The Toyota GR010—which won the race in 2021 and 2022—can also deploy 697 hp but at a minimum weight of 2,321 lbs (1,052 kg), more than any other car in the class. No process is perfect, and there is little that racing fans like to complain about more than BoP, which some feel makes racing too artificial, or even fixed. You're unlikely to hear complaints about it from competitors at Le Mans, though—criticizing BoP is not allowed in WEC, although both Porsche and Toyota have recently expressed their feelings about BoP within those strictures. The first qualifying session for this weekend's race took place earlier today, sorting out the 15 fastest Hypercars that will compete later this week to see who leads the pack to the start line on Saturday. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Microsoft is rolling out an out-of-band update for Windows 11 version 24H2. Just yesterday, on June 10, 2025, Microsoft released this month's cumulative updates for all of its supported operating systems, including Windows 10. However, some Windows 11 users did not receive it due to a compatibility issue with certain games. Now, Microsoft is addressing the problem. The company is rolling out KB5063060 (build number 26100.4351) to gamers on Windows 11 version 24H2. Today's update is aimed at users who have games with Easy Anti-Cheat, a service that is part of certain games to combat cheaters and improve security. According to Microsoft, the June 2025 security update for Windows 11 version 24H2 has compatibility issues with Easy Anti-Cheat, which, in turn, causes the operating system to restart. Here is what Microsoft says in the release notes: [Fix for incompatibility issue with Easy Anti-Cheat] This update addresses an incompatibility issue where Windows might restart unexpectedly when opening games that use the Easy Anti-Cheat service. Easy Anti-Cheat automatically installs with certain games to enhance security and prevent cheating in multiplayer online PC games. While the issue sounds rough, the bug likely did not affect many users. In the release notes, Microsoft adds that KB5060842, this month's security update for Windows 11, was not available to users with games that utilize Easy Anti-Cheat. Now, however, thanks to KB5063060, they can get the latest security updates and fixes. The update is cumulative, which means it contains all the updates that were released before. Interestingly, this is not the only issue that Windows 11 version 24H2 has with Easy Anti-Cheat. There is a known bug where PCs with Intel Alder Lake+ and vPro chips crash upon launching games that utilize this anti-cheat solution. This compatibility hold remains standing, and Microsoft says you can mitigate it by updating your games to more recent versions with newer Easy Anti-Cheat releases. KB5060842 is now rolling out via Windows Update. It is also available in the Microsoft Update Catalog via this link. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that it's pushing a revised security update targeting some Windows 11 24H2 systems incompatible with the initial update released during this month's Patch Tuesday. "This update is being gradually rolled out to devices running Windows 11, version 24H2. We've identified a compatibility issue affecting a limited set of these devices," the company said in a Twitter thread. "If your device is affected, you'll receive a revised update with all the June 2025 security improvements in the near term." In a message center update on Tuesday, Redmond added that "the June 2025 security update is fully available for all other supported versions of Windows." Microsoft has yet to disclose the hardware or software configurations affected by the compatibility issue that prompted the release of a revised security update and how the affected PCs were impacted after installing this month's Patch Tuesday cumulative updates. Also, the company didn't share if this was the first time it released a revised Patch Tuesday update to address compatibility issues and if this is something customers can expect from Microsoft in the future. A Microsoft spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by BleepingComputer earlier today. On Tuesday, Microsoft released security updates (KB5060842 and KB5060999) for 66 vulnerabilities in Windows 11 24H2 and 23H2, including one actively exploited Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) zero-day (CVE-2025-33053) and a publicly disclosed Windows SMB privilege escalation flaw. This month's Patch Tuesday Windows updates addressed ten critical vulnerabilities, eight allowing attackers to gain remote code execution on unpatched devices and two enabling them to escalate privileges. KB5060842 also resolves a Windows Hello issue preventing users from signing in with self-signed certificates and extends system restore points availability up to 60 days on Windows 11 24H2 devices, while KB5060999 fixes a graphics support issue blocking Remote Desktop connections with "session has ended" and "remote desktop connection cannot be established" errors. The same day, Microsoft released the KB5060533 Windows 10 22H2 cumulative update, which brings seconds back to the time shown in the Calendar flyout and fixes an issue causing Hyper-V virtual machines with Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server to freeze or restart unexpectedly. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Rufus, perhaps the most popular bootable USB media creation utility, has received a significant update with version 4.8. That's because there is a major shift toward faster and more efficient processing of Windows installation media by switching to wimlib for all Windows Imaging (WIM) handlings. The Rufus author says that the change has led to a significant improvement in speed when opening Windows ISOs, and this should be great for such users who tend to work with Windows installation files fairly regularly. Rufus notes that Wimlib’s integration speeds up the Windows ISO processing, reducing waiting times during image analysis. This boost in speed is said to be particularly noticeable when creating Windows To Go drives, although if you have a "crap" drive, it is best not to expect "miracles". For those wondering, Wimlib is an open source library for creating, extracting, and modifying Windows Imaging (WIM) archives, and it is cross platform too. Another key update in Rufus 4.8 is the introduction of file splitting for files over 4GB using the Alt-E key, for managing larger installation files; however, performance gains in this area are still modest when compared to the UEFI:NTFS handling. On the development side, Rufus 4.8 has moved exclusively to Visual Studio binaries. The full changelog is given below: Switch to wimlib for all WIM image processing: Greatly speeds up image analysis when opening Windows ISOs Can speed up Windows To Go drive creation Might help with Parallels limitations on Mac (But Rufus on Parallels is still unsupported) Enables the splitting of >4GB files with Alt-E (But still WAY SLOWER than using UEFI:NTFS) Switch to using Visual Studio binaries everywhere, due to MinGW DLL delay-loading limitations Add more exceptions for Linux ISOs that restrict themselves to DD mode (Nobara, openSUSE, ...) Improve reporting of UEFI bootloaders in the log, with info on the Secure Boot status Fix an issue with size limitations when writing an uncompressed VHD back to the same drive Fix a crash when opening the log with the 32-bit MinGW compiled version Fix commandline parameters not being forwarded to original Windows setup.exe To download Rufus 4.8, head over to Neowin software stories page. You can also download it from the official website or from its GitHub repo. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Check out these three features you probably didn't know about PowerToys, in addition to its slew of tools. PowerToys has quietly become the Swiss Army knife of Windows 11. However, the best tools aren't always front and center. While many people may know about FancyZones, Color Picker, Peek, and PowerToys Run (being replaced by Command Palette), some capabilities are less known and sometimes buried deeper, unlocked only when you know where to look. After digging into this utility, I found three underrated features worth mentioning, including the ability to back up and restore your custom configurations, plugin support, and logs that always come in handy for troubleshooting problems. In this how-to guide, I'll show you the three (underrated) features available in PowerToys for Windows 11. Secret features available in the PowerToys app These are the three features you wish you had known sooner, which are most specific to the application and outside the regular set of features. 1. Backup and restore PowerToys includes a backup feature that allows you to save and load your custom configurations for the utilities, which can come in handy when switching computers, reinstalling the operating system, reverting to a previous configuration, or sharing your configuration with others. Usually, users miss this feature because they go directly into enabling and configuring the different tools that PowerToys has to offer. To set up a backup of your PowerToys configurations, use these steps: Open Start. Search for PowerToys and click the top result to open the app. Click on General. Click on "Back up and restore your settings." (Option) Click the Location button. (Image credit: Mauro Huculak) Select a folder location to store the backup. Quick tip: Select a folder in your OneDrive folder to allow you to restore settings across devices. Click the "Back up" button to create a backup. (Image credit: Mauro Huculak) Confirm the backup was created successfully under the "Backup information" section. Once you complete the steps, the app will create a backup of your PowerToys setup. If you want to restore your settings, you only need to click the "Restore" button. This option will only work if the settings are different from the configurations available in the backup. If you want to restore your configuration on another computer, make sure to set the backup location before clicking the "Restore" button. While the backup covers most settings, some utilities like "FancyZones" might have their custom layouts stored in specific files (for example, zones-settings.json in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\FancyZones). Although the built-in backup aims to include these, it's good to be aware of their manual location for advanced troubleshooting or if you're experiencing issues with specific utility settings after a restore. 2. Plugins In PowerToys, plugins extend the capabilities of PowerToys Run by providing specific functionalities that integrate seamlessly into its search bar. When you type into the PowerToys Run, various plugins interpret your input and display relevant results. Although the tool comes with its own extensions, you can always add more. For example, on GitHub, you can find the SpeedTest Plugin, which allows you to test your internet connection without having to open third-party websites. To install a third-party extension for PowerToys, use these steps: Open this GitHub page. Click the download button and save the package to your computer. (Image credit: Mauro Huculak) Quick tip: The developer offers downloads for x64 and ARM64 devices. As such, make sure to select the correct installer for your device. Open File Explorer. Open the location where you downloaded the package. Select the SpeedTest-x.x.x-xxx.zip file and click the Extract button. Click the Extract button. (Image credit: Mauro Huculak) Click the Up button in File Explorer. Right-click the SpeedTest-x.x.x-xxx folder and choose the Copy option. Copy and paste the following path in the address bar to access the "Plugins" folder and press Enter: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\ Click the Paste button in the command bar. (Image credit: Mauro Huculak) Right-click the PowerToys icon in the Taskbar and choose the Exit option. Restart the PowerToys app. Once you complete the steps, you can invoke the tool from the PoweToys Run, which you can access from the System Tray or using the keyboard shortcut you may have assigned. The default shortcut is "ALT + Space." The PowerToys community offers several other plugins you can install and use with the feature. While the above instructions offer an example of how to install plugins, some plugins may have different instructions, especially those that extend the functionality of a specific software. It's important to note that the Command Palette is set to replace the PowerToys Run, but at the time I tested this feature, the third-party plugins weren't working with the Command Palette. 3. Logs PowerToys generates log files to help diagnose issues and provide information about its operations. You can typically find these logs in two locations. The first is the general PowerToys logs location inside the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys folder. Inside this folder, you'll often find subfolders named after specific PowerToys tools, such as FancyZones, PowerToys Run, Image Resizer, etc. Inside these subfolders, you'll find the actual "Logs" folder, which includes logs (usually .txt files) for that specific feature, often organized by date or version number. For low-privilege processes (like preview handlers), you can find the logs inside the %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\PowerToys folder. This location is less common for general troubleshooting, but if you're experiencing issues with features that interact with File Explorer's preview pane, you might find relevant logs here. To access the logs, use these steps: Open Start. Search for Run and click the top result to open the app. (Option 1) Type the following path to open the general logs location and press Enter: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys Open the folder for the feature and access the "Logs" folder. (Image credit: Mauro Huculak) (Option 2) Type the following path to open the less common logs location and press Enter: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\PowerToys Open the folder for a specific tool you're troubleshooting (such as PowerToys Run, FancyZones, etc.). Open the Logs folder. Right-click the log file and open it with Notepad. After you complete the steps, you can review the logs to troubleshoot any problem you may be facing with PowerToys. Do you know another secret feature of PowerToys (outside the long list of obvious tools)? Let me know in the comments. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend