PowerPoys brings back video conference mute tool

PowerToys brings back the video conference mute feature in its latest update.

What you need to know

• Microsoft's PowerToys just received an update to version 0.36.0.
• The update includes the video conference mute feature that lets you mute your mic or camera with a single keystroke.
• The video conference mute feature was temporarily removed from PowerToys while it was fixed.

Microsoft PowerToys includes a collection of tools for power users on Windows 10. It's a handy app that just got better with its update to version 0.36.0. The latest update to PowerToys brings back the video conference mute feature that lets you mute your microphone or camera with a single keystroke no matter what app you're using.

The feature initially rolled out with version 0.22 of PowerToys but was temporarily removed while it was fixed and improved. With its return, you can easily control the audio and video of the best webcams for Windows.

While the video conference mute feature is back in PowerToys, it has some known issues and limitations that are outlined by Microsoft:

• with some webcams, there is an incompatibility with Teams and the overlay image is not rendered, instead a corrupted frame is shown. If your camera has this quirk, please let us know the model in the [main tracking issue - #6246]
• the application preview (Teams, Meet, etc.) may show the overlay image flipped horizontally but that is expected, the image will show correctly to the other people on the call.
• in order to enable/disable the VCM, PowerToys should run as administrator
• changes to some of the VCM settings require the application to restart to pick up the new values such as a new overlay image.
• in some cases, the overlay image can be shown flipped vertically (the workaround is to edit the image and flip it before selecting it). (#6246)
• if the PowerToys Video Conference Mute webcam doesn't show up in the video conference app, try restarting the app and if still doesn't show up try restarting Windows.

PowerToys version 0.36.0 also includes all of the features that rolled out with version 0.35.0.

Handy little toys

PowerToys

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Tools that make life just a bit easier

Power users need powerful toys. This app includes a growing set of tools for Windows 10. The latest update brings support for video conference mute controls.