Microsoft has added two new utilities to the PowerToys open-source toolset to help Windows users paste text without formatting and make it easier to move the mouse across multiple displays or ultrawide monitors.

The new PowerToys 0.68 version also comes with new GPO policies for update toast notifications and automatic update downloads.

Although you can already paste the contents of the clipboard as plain text using CTRL+SHIFT+V, this shortcut does not work in native Windows applications.

As its name suggests, the new “Paste in plain textcan quickly paste the latest clipboard contents as unformatted text into any application.

The tool can be activated from the PowerToys Settings dialog and is activated using a global hotkey (the default hotkey is Earn+Change+V).

The idea behind the Paste as Plain Text module comes from a GitHub issue opened two years ago and is strongly inspired by Steve P. Miller’s book PureText tray utility.

Today’s release also contains a new mouse jump utility that can also be activated through a dedicated pane in the PowerToys settings.

Mouse Jump is also enabled using a customizable global hotkey (the default hotkey is Earn+Change+D).

After clicking on the activation shortcut, you will see a preview of the whole desktop as a thumbnail center on the position of the mouse pointer, allowing you to move the pointer to any part of the desktop faster by dramatically shortening the mouse movement distance.

“This feature would be great for any workstation setup with an ultra-wide monitor or multiple monitors set up in a widescreen park, but could be used on any setup to quickly move the mouse to specific office locations,” says Michael Clayton in the original feature proposal GitHub issue from January.

“Traditionally, moving around a large screen requires repeated “swiping” of the physical mouse – moving it to the edge of its available limits, lifting it, and back to the opposite limit repeatedly until the pointer has moved to the desired location.”

The Microsoft PowerToys toolset was initially a collection of tiny freeware utilities developed as side projects by Windows developers at the time of Windows 95.

In September 2019, Microsoft decided to relaunch them and released the early version of modern PowerToys open source utility pack, which adds additional functionality to Windows and speeds up various tasks without using third-party tools.

PowerToys is available through the Microsoft Store or Microsoft PowerToys GitHub pagewhere you can also find additional information about the improvements, changes, and bug fixes included in this release.