PowerToys Is Getting Slick New Welcome Screen Animation
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Microsoft is working on a major visual refresh for the PowerToys Welcome page, and a new pull request shows off an impressive “Warp” animation that could replace the current static hero image. The proposed experience turns the PowerToys welcome screen into an interactive 3D scene built around the icons of its various tools.
PowerToys tools could fly in from hyperspace
The change, first highlighted by Neowin, has been detailed in PowerToys pull request #50873 on GitHub, which proposes replacing the static Welcome page hero image with a Windows Composition-based animation. The concept has 35 PowerToys tool tiles flying toward the user through a 3D perspective, with light streaks and a rushing star field before the PowerToys logo lands in the center.
The entire intro is designed to play in roughly two seconds. Here is how the animation is laid out in the pull request.
| Beat | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Warp | 0 to ~1.5s | 35 tool tiles fly in through a 3D perspective while around 70 stars rush past |
| Slam | 780ms | The PowerToys logo drops in from 2.6× scale with a squash and overshoot |
| Impact | 1020ms | A flash, brand glows, aurora and dome of light appear |
| Reveal | 1080ms | The title, description, actions and diagnostics card appear |
| Shockwave | 1020ms | A colored shockwave moves through the tiles and a shine sweeps across the logo |
| Alive | 2.1s | The tiles gently float while the aurora continues moving |
The new welcome screen would also respond to the mouse, adding a subtle 3D parallax effect and dock-style magnification. Hovering over a tool shows its localized name, while clicking a tile opens that tool’s OOBE page. Clicking the PowerToys logo can replay the intro.
The animation will respect Windows settings
Microsoft’s proposed design also accounts for accessibility and Windows animation settings. When Animation effects are disabled, the final state appears immediately without the idle animation, tilt or magnification. Dark, Light and High Contrast themes are supported, although the PR notes that the High Contrast palette has not yet been verified.
The change is currently a pull request, so it is not yet something PowerToys users can simply enable. The developer says the implementation has already passed the full Settings UI unit test suite, with 342 of 342 tests passing, while runtime testing also covered the animation and interactions.
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