Microsoft just released a new preview of PowerToys that significantly expands how the utility suite handles artificial intelligence. This PowerToys AI update in version 0.101.2211.0 introduces on-device processing via Microsoft’s Phi Silica model directly into Advanced Paste. The change reduces reliance on third-party cloud APIs while aligning the open-source toolkit with the same neural processing architecture found in modern Copilot+ PCs.
#1 Advanced Paste Gets On-Device Phi Silica
Advanced Paste has long been one of the most requested utilities in the PowerToys collection. It sits in your system tray and intercepts clipboard content to reformat it into plain text, Markdown, JSON, or extracted OCR data from images. It also handles audio and video transcoding. When the feature launched, it required an OpenAI API key. Microsoft later broadened compatibility to include Azure OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, Foundry Local, and Ollama. Now, the latest preview adds a native Phi Silica provider, giving users a fully local option that runs entirely on the machine.
Phi Silica is a small language model that Microsoft originally highlighted during its December 2024 announcement, describing it as a compact but capable tool for local inference. Rather than routing your clipboard data through external servers, this new provider leverages your system’s neural processing unit. NPUs are dedicated hardware components designed specifically for running machine learning workloads at low power, which makes them ideal for tasks like text formatting, summarization, and data restructuring.
If you own a Copilot+ PC, you are already familiar with the model. Microsoft confirmed via the Windows Insider Blog that features like Click to Do and on-device rewriting in Word and Outlook rely on the same Phi Silica architecture. By bringing this capability to PowerToys, the development team is effectively giving power users the same privacy-preserving, offline-ready AI processing that defines the Copilot+ PC experience. The update also expands per-action AI customization options within Advanced Paste, allowing you to fine-tune how the model handles specific clipboard transformations.
#2 Command Palette Performance Tweaks
The Command Palette has received a quiet but meaningful set of under-the-hood improvements. According to the PowerToys GitHub changelog, the team addressed dialog handling, icon loading bottlenecks, and memory cleanup routines. They also refined theme behavior and added dock performance monitoring.
In practice, these changes target the exact pain points that power users encounter during extended sessions. Memory leaks and delayed icon rendering often cause the palette to feel sluggish after hours of use. The new dock monitoring tool will help developers track resource consumption as they integrate the palette into custom workflows. While the core functionality remains unchanged, the stability improvements should make the utility feel noticeably snappier.
#3 Window Management and Mouse Jump Overhaul
Window management utilities, including FancyZones, Grab And Move, and Always On Top, now feature improved shutdown behavior. Previously, abruptly closing PowerToys could leave floating windows or zone layouts in an inconsistent state. The latest build ensures these components terminate cleanly, preserving your desktop arrangement for the next session. Always On Top borders will now render at full opacity without transparency artifacts.
Mouse Jump has been migrated to the newer WinUI application architecture, and its binaries are now packaged into signed release builds. This migration aligns the utility with Microsoft’s broader push to standardize Windows interfaces on WinUI 3. It also means Mouse Jump will receive faster security updates and better compatibility with future Windows 11 updates, since the framework is actively being rebuilt for responsiveness.
#4 Settings, Quick Accent, and Preview Build Separation
The Settings interface now includes a dedicated update channel selector, allowing users to explicitly choose between stable and preview releases. A guided Bug Report flow has also been added, complete with a progress tracker and a direct GitHub shortcut. These additions streamline the feedback loop between the community and the development team. Quick Accent received a targeted fix for press-and-hold activation, ensuring the character picker cancels cleanly and only appears when intentionally triggered.
Finally, the preview release pipeline now supports independent versioning and update channels. This means preview builds can be published and tested without waiting for the stable release cycle, accelerating the rollout of experimental features.
What This Means for You
The addition of Phi Silica to Advanced Paste is a meaningful step toward offline-first productivity. If you work with sensitive data, operate in restricted network environments, or simply want to avoid API rate limits and subscription costs, running AI transformations locally is a substantial upgrade. The NPU-driven approach also means your CPU and GPU will remain available for other tasks while PowerToys processes your clipboard. Combined with the WinUI migration for Mouse Jump and the improved shutdown routines, this preview signals that PowerToys is maturing into a more stable, hardware-aware toolkit.
How to Get It
PowerToys v0.101.2211.0 is available immediately as a preview release. You can download the installer directly from the official PowerToys GitHub releases page, or update through the Microsoft Store if you installed the suite from there. Users who prefer the preview channel can switch their update settings within the PowerToys Settings menu to receive future builds as they publish. Since this is a preview release, Microsoft recommends creating a system restore point before installation, particularly if you rely on Advanced Paste for critical daily workflows.
Source: Latest from Windows Central
Over to you: Are you switching Advanced Paste to the local Phi Silica provider, or will you keep using cloud models for now?
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