PowerToys Screen Ruler & Advanced Utilities

Supercharge your Windows 11 capture capabilities with Microsoft PowerToys: measure exact pixel dimensions, sample screen colors, and crop image files instantly.

Microsoft PowerToys Designer & Dev Tools

PowerToys Screen Ruler Measurement Visual

UI Button Element Submit Order 160 px 45 px PowerToys Ruler Mode: Bounds (1px) Hotkey: Win+Shift+M

Essential Capture Utilities in PowerToys

1. Screen Ruler (Win + Shift + M)

Measure screen pixels instantly! Includes 4 modes: **Bounds** (autodetects container borders), **Spacing** (measures distance between elements), **Vertical**, and **Horizontal** measuring lines.

2. Color Picker (Win + Shift + C)

Hover over any pixel on your monitor to instantly copy color codes in HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, or HSV format directly to your clipboard.

3. Text Extractor (Win + Shift + T)

Drag a box over any image, video stream, or protected PDF file to perform high-speed Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and copy the text string instantly.

How to Use Screen Ruler

  1. Press Win + Shift + M

    Open the Screen Ruler floating toolbar at the top center of your display.

  2. Choose Measurement Mode

    Select **Bounds** to snap to UI container boxes, or **Spacing** to measure padding between two buttons.

  3. Click or Move Cursor

    Move your cursor over any button or window. Screen Ruler displays precise pixel numbers directly on screen in real time.