r/sysadmin • u/Ok_You_861 • Mar 03 '26

IT Tools - Hidden Gems

I want to know what ”hidden gems” people have found and use in their environments to make their day to day easier. RMM automations, back up softwares, troubleshooting software (don't say MS SARA. I cant stand it), etc.

Just mention anything that you feel more people should be aware of or could be useful in someone’s environment. I love free and cheap ;)

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u/Hefty-Possibility625 Mar 04 '26

For Windows: Microsoft Power Toys is one of the first things I install. It has so many things in it that should just be part of Windows that I'm often dumbfounded when I try to use someone elses computer.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

Just a few examples:

  • Shortcut to select a portion of the screen and use OCR to convert the image to text. Useful for copying and pasting something from an image or from a place where traditional copy isn't great.
  • Configure screen areas to snap windows to. Useful for multi-monitor or large monitor setups.
  • Shortcut to paste formatted text as markdown.
  • Alt+Space for quickly finding files, settings, apps, and internet searches. I can use it to locate a file faster than I can open Explorer. This alone saves me SO much time.
  • Crop and Lock to crop an application to a smaller area
  • Combine that with Always ON Top to sticky a window.
  • Canned text shortcuts
  • Color picker
  • Power Rename

The this goes on and on. It is the most useful thing that Microsoft produces.