Microsoft has released PowerToys 0.100.2 on June 26, 2026, bringing an urgent fix for a memory leak that plagued the Command Palette’s Performance Monitor dock extension. The patch comes just two days after version 0.100.1 and caps a tumultuous two-week rollout that saw the PowerToys team scramble to address stability issues following the monumental jump to .NET 10 in version 0.100.0.

The Bumpy .NET 10 Transition: What Happened Between 0.100.0 and 0.100.2

Version 0.100.0 landed on June 10 and was one of the most ambitious PowerToys updates yet. Its marquee feature was a from-the-ground-up rewrite of the Shortcut Guide: instead of a full-screen overlay, it now slides in as a pane on the side of your screen, automatically detecting the active application and showing only the shortcuts relevant to your current context. Windows-wide shortcuts and those from other enabled PowerToys utilities are also surfaced, making it a smarter, less intrusive helper.

Command Palette received a major evolution into an extension platform. A new Extension Gallery accessible directly from its settings lets you browse, install, update, and remove extensions without ever leaving the launcher. Multi-monitor Dock support followed, allowing each display to host its own independent set of quick-access tools. The Performance Monitor extension gained a battery widget with charge level and estimated time remaining, plus the ability to pin individual metrics—CPU, memory, GPU, network, and battery—right to the Dock.

Under the hood, the entire project moved to .NET 10. That shift promises faster startup for many utilities, especially Power Display, and a slimmer installer (about 15% smaller). The auto-update system was reworked to relaunch PowerToys after installation, provide a clear success notification, and automatically back up configuration files. If corruption is detected post-update, those backups can be restored.

But such a deep foundation change inevitably caused friction. Users quickly reported stability hiccups with Shortcut Guide and Command Palette. Microsoft issued version 0.100.1 on June 24 to address several bugs. However, that patch inadvertently introduced a memory leak in the Performance Monitor dock—a component that renders live system telemetry inside Command Palette. With each passing minute, the dock would consume more RAM, eventually slowing the entire workspace.

Version 0.100.2, shipped on June 26, explicitly targets that leak. The release notes confirm that the Performance Monitor dock no longer exhibits unbounded memory growth, restoring smooth operation for users who rely on real-time system metrics. If you’re still on 0.100.0 or 0.100.1, upgrading immediately is the safest route to a stable PowerToys experience.

What This Means for Your Daily Workflow

The 0.100.x cycle touches almost every PowerToys user, but its impact varies by how you use the suite.

For Home and Productivity Users

If you lean on FancyZones, Keyboard Manager, or the new Shortcut Guide, 0.100.2 delivers the complete 0.100 feature set without the memory leak. The redesigned Shortcut Guide alone can reshape how you interact with apps—press Win+Shift+/ to see relevant shortcuts instantly. The Command Palette’s Extension Gallery makes finding add-ons trivial; you no longer need to hunt through GitHub or learn winget commands. And with .NET 10 under the hood, you’ll notice snappier launches for Power Display and other utilities, even on modest hardware.

For Developers and Extension Users

The Extension Gallery is a paradigm shift. Extensions can now be packaged for the Microsoft Store or winget, making distribution and discovery much simpler. If you maintain custom extensions, test them thoroughly after upgrading—the runtime change could surface compatibility edges. The multi-monitor Dock is a boon for coding rigs: keep a terminal launcher on your main screen and system monitors on a secondary. And if you’ve been watching Task Manager tick upward after opening Command Palette, the 0.100.2 leak fix is your long-awaited relief.

For IT Administrators

Organizations that standardize PowerToys settings should stage this update carefully. The combination of a .NET upgrade, revamped auto-update logic, and extension management means subtle breakage is possible. Validate that installation scope (per-user or machine-wide) remains intact, that Keyboard Manager remaps survive the update, and that any curated Command Palette docks reappear as expected. The new automatic configuration backup is helpful but not a substitute for a manual snapshot before you begin. For managed fleets, deploy 0.100.2 to a pilot group first, then push broadly only after confirming that critical workflows remain operational.

The Bigger Picture: PowerToys’ Pattern of Rapid Hotfixes

This isn’t the first time PowerToys has needed back-to-back corrective releases. Version 0.90.1 quickly followed 0.90.0 to iron out Command Palette kinks, and the 0.92 cycle similarly balanced new features with performance tuning. What makes 0.100 unique is the sheer breadth of internal change. Moving an entire application suite to a new .NET release touches everything from the installer to the tray icon, and even rigorous pre-release testing rarely catches every edge case.

Microsoft’s willingness to ship two patches in three days demonstrates an active monitoring culture, but it also underscores that major version lifts deserve a little breathing room. For users, the lesson is clear: wait for the first hotfix after a foundational update before adopting it as your daily driver.

How to Upgrade to 0.100.2 Right Now

You can update directly from PowerToys Settings or via the command line.

From PowerToys Settings: Open the General tab, click “Check for updates,” and follow the prompts. After installation, confirm that the version is 0.100.2 and that PowerToys relaunched correctly.

With WinGet: Open Terminal or PowerShell and run:

winget upgrade --id Microsoft.PowerToys --source winget

WinGet preserves your existing installation scope. Start PowerToys manually if it doesn’t launch, and verify the version.

Post-Update Checks

Spend a few minutes testing the tools you depend on:
- Launch Command Palette (Win+Space) and confirm that your extensions and pinned items are present.
- Open the Performance Monitor dock and leave it active for 10–15 minutes; memory usage should stabilize, not climb.
- Use Shortcut Guide (Win+Shift+/) in a couple of apps to verify app detection.
- Test any critical Keyboard Manager remappings and FancyZones layouts.

If something breaks, try disabling the suspect extension or utility from Settings before considering a rollback. Often, a simple PC restart or extension toggle resolves post-update quirks.

What’s Next for PowerToys

With .NET 10 now locked in and the Command Palette morphing into an extensible hub, the 0.100 series opens the door for a wave of community-built add-ons. Expect to see more third-party extensions in the Gallery, along with continued modernization of legacy utilities into WinUI 3. The rocky rollout will likely steer the next few releases toward stability and refinement, giving the team time to solidify the new foundation. For now, version 0.100.2 is the definitive way to experience everything 0.100 promised—without the leaks.