Windows 11’s new PowerToys app is giving me Asteroids flashbacks from the ’80s
Microsoft’s suite of PowerToys utilities has gained a handy additional tool: CursorWrap, which “wraps” your cursor from one edge to another, while a separate update makes the Command Palette utility even more potent.
If you grew up in the 1980s, you already understand what CursorWrap does. Imagine you’re in the arcade playing a game of Asteroids. You fly your spaceship towards the right side of the screen, dodging giant space rocks, and, as you exit, poof! It warps to the left-hand side. CursorWrap does the same thing.
Why should you care? Well, if you’re using multiple monitors — or just a big, widescreen display — you may not want to drag your cursor from one side of the screen(s) to the other. CursorWrap essentially is a mousing shortcut.
Microsoft
January’s update to PowerToys also includes some other improvements, but the biggest seems to be a big update to Command Palette, the tool Microsoft added just before Build 2025 alongside Windows Edit. Microsoft now positions Command Palette as the sequel or evolution of Windows Run, a command-line interface that was still receiving updates as recently as last December, but may eventually be deprecated, if the company’s positioning is any indication.
Command Palette allows you to search for files or the Web, search for an app in WinGet, use the calculator, and more. But what you couldn’t do was control PowerToys itself! Now you can choose options for FancyZones, adjust Advanced Paste, and more. The update also gives you additional customization options such as the look and feel and even the ranking of items.
The January 2026 update of PowerToys also gives more command-line controls to various PowerToys applications like Peek.