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Microsoft released PowerToys 0.86.0 on November 4, 2024. The update reorganized the Settings navigation into groups and added two useful Advanced Paste capabilities: extracting text from clipboard images and pasting clipboard content as a .txt, .png, or .html file. It also included fixes across several utilities and made diagnostic data collection opt-in by default. See Microsoft’s v0.86.0 release notes.
Version note: This is a look back at the November 2024 release, not a current-download recommendation. Newer PowerToys releases exist; if you are installing now, use the official releases page to choose the current version.
What PowerToys 0.86 changed
Microsoft PowerToys is a free, open-source suite of Windows utilities for power users and developers. It is not one application with a single workflow: utilities such as FancyZones, PowerRename, Keyboard Manager, PowerToys Run, Peek, Workspaces, and Advanced Paste can be enabled and configured individually.
As the suite grew, its Settings page accumulated a long list of utilities. Version 0.86 addressed that navigation problem by replacing the relatively flat list with a tree and grouping utilities into categories. That is what “module grouping” means here: a more organized way to find tools in Settings. It does not merge modules, create user-defined groups, or change how each utility works.
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Advanced Paste: turn clipboard images into text
The Image to text action takes an image on the clipboard and uses OCR to extract its text. It can save time when you have copied a screenshot of an error message, a slide, a scanned note, or text in a photograph and want editable words rather than the image itself.
In the v0.86-era workflow, enable Advanced Paste in PowerToys Settings, copy an image or screenshot, open Advanced Paste with its configured shortcut, and choose Image to text. Review the extracted result before using it; OCR can confuse characters or lose structure. Blurry images, handwriting, unusual fonts, tables, and multi-column layouts are especially likely to need correction. Proofread carefully before relying on OCR for code, legal text, credentials, or business records.
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Microsoft’s current Advanced Paste documentation describes image-to-text processing as local OCR. That should not be confused with optional AI transformations, which are a separate feature and may use a configured provider.
Paste clipboard content as a file
Version 0.86 added actions to turn clipboard content into files in three formats:
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- Paste as
.txt: Creates a text file from clipboard text. - Paste as
.png: Creates a PNG file from compatible image content on the clipboard. - Paste as
.html: Creates an HTML file from HTML clipboard content, which may retain formatting, links, and embedded image data.
These actions are for file-oriented workflows, not simply for inserting text into any open document. Copy the relevant content, open Advanced Paste, select the desired file action, then paste into File Explorer or another destination that accepts files from the clipboard. The destination receives a file object; it may not work as expected in an application that only accepts ordinary text. If nothing appears, try File Explorer and check that Advanced Paste is enabled. Plain text copied from an app may not include useful HTML formatting, and PNG output requires an image representation on the clipboard.
Using Advanced Paste and its shortcuts
- Open PowerToys Settings and select Advanced Paste.
- Enable the utility if it is off.
- Use its configured activation shortcut to open the interface, then choose Image to text or the relevant paste-as-file action.
Microsoft’s current documentation lists Win + Shift + V as the default shortcut for opening Advanced Paste; shortcuts are configurable. Because the documentation reflects the present version and options may have changed since 0.86, check the settings in the version you have installed rather than assuming every current option existed in the 0.86 release. Avoid assigning Ctrl + V to open Advanced Paste: Microsoft warns that it can override the normal paste shortcut. Keep the default or choose a key combination you do not already use.
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Do the new features require AI or a subscription?
No cloud AI account is required for the headline v0.86 additions: image-to-text OCR and paste-as-file actions. Advanced Paste has also evolved since that release. Its current documentation separates local clipboard operations and OCR from optional AI-powered transformations. Those AI features require a configured provider; online providers generally require an account and API key, and usage charges may apply. Local providers such as Ollama or Foundry Local can avoid sending content to an online provider, but require separate setup and local resources. Do not assume that the provider list or AI options documented today were all available in v0.86.
Keep two privacy questions distinct. The v0.86 release added an opt-in diagnostic-data setting that was off by default. Separately, using an online AI provider may send clipboard content to that provider under its service terms and configuration. Diagnostic telemetry is not the same thing as AI processing. For event-level details, consult the privacy information linked from the release notes.
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Other notable fixes in v0.86
The release was broader than its headline changes. Among the user-facing updates and fixes listed by Microsoft:
- Workspaces: Fixes addressed launching multiple instances, selecting the wrong workspace, missing monitors, minimized-window coordinates, crashes during stress tests, and elevated applications.
- Quick Accent: Added Serbian Cyrillic support.
- Registry Preview: Adopted Monaco Editor as its UI text editor.
- New+: Fixed issues involving Unicode names, duplicate folder names, telemetry state, and Fluent-style icons.
- Peek: Improved folder preview enumeration speed.
- PowerToys Run: Fixes covered right-to-left languages, WebSearch result titles, unit-converter precision, and clipboard-copy errors.
- General: Improved exception logging and added the opt-in diagnostic-data setting.
The release also included dependency maintenance, including WinAppSDK 1.6.1 and CsWinRT 2.1.5. The full technical details are in the official changelog.
Should you install PowerToys 0.86?
At its release, 0.86 was a useful update for people who used several PowerToys tools or regularly moved clipboard content between applications and files. Grouped Settings made a growing suite easier to browse, while OCR and paste-as-file options removed a few repetitive steps. The release also bundled fixes across Workspaces, PowerToys Run, and other utilities.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsIf you are reading this now, do not seek out 0.86 simply because these features sound useful. Install the current supported PowerToys release from Microsoft’s official releases page; later versions may have changed menus and added capabilities. PowerToys is free, and the v0.86 headline clipboard features do not require purchasing an AI service. If you only need to revisit recent copied items, Windows Clipboard History may be enough; it does not replace Advanced Paste’s image OCR or file-output workflow.
Quick Recap
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