PowerToys experimental version 0.48.1 is out with Video Conference Mute tool and minor fixes

2 min. read

Published on October 20, 2021

published on October 20, 2021

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Microsoft has released a new experimental version 0.48.1 to users running the pre-release versions of its PowerToys suite of tools. The update includes all the improvements and bug fixes made available for version 0.47.1 as well as the long-awaited Video Conference Mute utility.

As the name suggests, the Video Conferencing Mute feature lets users quickly mute audio and video feeds in meetings globally with a keystroke. The PowerToys team is actively developing this Video Conferencing Mute utility, but there is no word on the possible timeframe for the official launch of the tool.

The latest release also addresses an issue with the tool which was previously causing “unintentional shortcut reassignment” for some users. Microsoft has also detailed some known issues and limitations in this release, and you find the full list below:

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.

It is important to note that PowerToys version 0.48.1 will only be automatically offered to users running the experimental version and it cannot be installed via WinGet. If you haven’t done it yet, you can head over to the GitHub releases page to manually download the experimental version of the suite of tools.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.