PowerToys 0.72 reduces install size significantly

How would you describe a tools collection for Windows that uses more than 3 gigabytes of storage space on the computer’s hard drive after installation? Regardless of how good it is, you might conclude that the installation is quite bloated.

The team behind the open source tools collection PowerToys must have come to the same conclusion, as the latest release has reduced the installation size on disk significantly.

A comparison between version’s 0.71 and 0.72 of the application saw a drop from 3.1 gigabytes to about a sixth of the size. After installation, PowerToys installation folder now returns a size of 554 megabytes.

The size reported by Windows’ Installed Apps management page is also showing a reduction. Previously, it reported 1.15 gigabytes for the installation, but after the update to PowerToys 0.72, it is reporting 785 megabytes.

The team explains that it is using the same installed path for installed utilities, which means that it removed redundancies.

PowerToys 0.72 is a maintenance release for the most part. It addresses several issues, but there are some notable changes as well. PowerToys Run, a launcher tool, can now generate hashes and GUID values thanks to the new Value Generator plugin that ships in the new version of the application suite.

There is also a new Mouse Highlighter option, designed to “have highlights always follow the mouse pointer”. Last but not least, PowerRename, the rename utility, can work its magic on more files at the same time without crashing.

The new version addresses a File Explorer crash when using the File Locksmith tool as well. Interested users may check out the full PowerToys 0.72 changelog here. The page lists the latest installer downloads as well, in case they are needed to install the application anew on a device.

PowerToys includes automatic update functionality. Most users will see update notifications when they open the application. All it takes is to activate the update button in the interface to get the latest version installed on the device.

Closing Words

Bloat has been a major point of criticism leveled against the tools collection. While it is still large, at over 550 megabytes on the disk, it is nowhere near as large as before. Still, compared to highly optimized tools that use a megabyte or two on the disk, it still can’t be described as lean.

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