microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys

Most tools turned off after every restart

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#46,165 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Issue-Bug Needs-Triage Product-Settings
Dominant language
C
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Forks
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Description

### Microsoft PowerToys version

0.97.2

### Installation method

WinGet, PowerToys auto-update

### Area(s) with issue?

General

### Steps to reproduce

Aside from Always on Top and one other tool, everything is turned off after every restart. In contrast, doing a system restore retains their active settings.

There are a lot of similar threads, but many are closed without explanation.

### ✔️ Expected Behavior

Tools maintain their toggled state after restart.

### ❌ Actual Behavior

Tools switched off after restart.

### Upload Bug Report ZIP-file

[PowerToysReport_2026-03-16-18-10-52.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/26039940/PowerToysReport_2026-03-16-18-10-52.zip)

### Additional Information

Windows 11 25H2
Run as Admin

### Other Software

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the restart behavior on Windows 11 25H2 with PowerToys 0.97.2 and review the attached PowerToysReport ZIP. Compare the tool states before and after restart, including the tools that remain enabled. Done means all enabled tools retain their toggled state after restarting.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
desktop, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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