It’s been over a year now since I first tried using Windows without the Start menu by trying out Flow Launcher, and that little experience quickly converted me into a fan of the app. Later, I found out that Microsoft has been building a similar feature into PowerToys with PowerToys Run, and even more recently, the company decided to replace that tool with Command Palette, an evolved version of it with even more promised capabilities.
I went hands-on with Command Palette shortly after it became available a couple of months ago, but recently, Microsoft rolled out a big update with huge performance improvements, so I wanted to check it out again. Plus, the app has had some time to gather more extensions, so I had all the more reason to give it one more go. I’m starting to catch a glimpse of a world where Command Palette could be better than Flow Launcher. But that world isn’t quite here yet.
Better performance, with some caveats
PowerToys version 0.93 was released earlier this month, and the team promised some very significant upgrades to the performance of Command Palette. Specifically, the company boasted a 40% boost in load times and a 70% improvement in loading times for built-in extensions, all while using fewer resources. This is what drew my attention to the app once again, and indeed, Command Palette seems noticeably faster now.
Pressing the assigned keyboard shortcut instantly launches the search bar, and I can start typing right away, just as quickly as Flow Launcher. Even if you use a hotkey to launch a specific plugin, that launches almost just as quickly.
That being said, this is only part of the problems that need to be addressed. Command Palette still seems to have a noticeable delay between when I type into the search bar and when the results appear. It’s not horrendously slow, but it is perceptible, and sometimes my keystrokes are very fast when I want to launch an app this way, so I could see this causing problems in some cases. Interestingly, if I write part of a command and erase it, when I type it in again, the results load instantly. But if the query changes, there’s a bit of a delay again. It seems to get better as more results get indexed, but Flow Launcher is still more responsive and updates results faster as soon as you start typing, making it perfect for quickly launching apps.
I’ve also noticed an issue where the Command Palette Extensions command simply doesn’t load any results. It’s supposed to search Winget for available extensions for the plug-in, but I’m stuck in an infinite loading loop, so I just have to use Winget directly.
There are already some great extensions
The platform is still a bit small, though
The biggest hurdle for Command Palette to overcome is going to be gathering a community of plugins that’s as rich and vast as the likes of Flow Launcher, and maybe even more so Raycast, once that comes to Windows. However, maybe using Winget as the distribution platform has helped a bit here, as there are already a good few extensions available, some of which are genuinely useful to me.
A good example is EverythingCmdPal, an extension that integrates the Everything search engine into Command Palette. The built-in file search in Windows is notoriously not very fast, so using Everything makes the experience way better, and it seems like this is an app that’s very quick to support all these launchers, seeing as both Flow Launcher and PowerToys Run also have matching extensions.
Another one I’m likely to find uses for is Video Downloader, which —as you might be able to guess — lets me download videos from YouTube. I sometimes use this to download YouTube videos when I want to show clips of them in my own videos (such as game trailers, for instance), so it comes in handy quite often.
There are a few others available that I know many would find useful, including some extensions that work with Visual Studio Code or Obsidian notes. However, it’s still a small selection compared to the likes of Flow Launcher.
Clipboard History is the star of the show
As much as I can criticize it, though, there’s one thing Command Palette has out of the box that Flow Launcher doesn’t, and it’s the Clipboard History plugin. For one thing, it’s included with Command Palette by default, whereas Flow launcher requires a third-party plugin for similar functionality.
But it’s also great because it’s easier to use. There are a couple of clipboard history plugins for Flow Launcher, but both have the same problem: selecting a result from the list only copies that item back into the clipboard (by default, at least), making it so you can then paste it with Ctrl+V. This is a behavior I’ve seen on some Linux clipboard managers too, and I find it frustrating because it goes against the way the standard clipboard history behaves on Windows or macOS, as well as an app like Raycast. It also just takes longer; why would I want to select a result from the list if not to insert it?
Thankfully, the Clipboard History extension in Command Palette provides both options for quick access. Enter copies the selection, Ctrl+Enter pastes it immediately. It’s perfect.
Flow Launcher is still the king
Faster and more capable
Command Palette is still improving, and Microsoft continues to offer it alongside PowerToys Run precisely because the new tool isn’t perfect yet. Still, if you’ve been waiting for the perfect Flow launcher replacement, it’s not time just yet.
In addition to being faster and more responsive (and having a functioning plugin store built in), Flow Launcher has a much bigger ecosystem of plugins that just makes it that much more appealing. Command Palette has a few essentials, but there are so many that are just useful or fun in Flow Launcher. There’s a plugin for Home Assistant that lets me control my lights or change the volume on my smart speaker.
One of my favorites is the Pokédex plugin, which lets me search up a Pokémon and see information about it easily by opening its entry directly in one of various well-known databases such as Bulbapedia or Serebii. Similar plugins even exist for things like Stardew Valley. There’s just so much you can do ranging from useful to random, and that kind of ecosystem is necessary for a thriving platform.
I can’t wait for Raycast on Windows
Flow Launcher may remain undefeated for now, but that dominion may finally be threatened in the near future thanks to Raycast for Windows. I’ve been using Raycast on my Mac Mini for months, and it’s one of the best tools I could ever ask for on my machine, and even better than Flow Launcher. Some of the extensions available for it are also even better, such as the clipboard history or the Pokédex, which displays richer information directly in the application window without having to open a website.
It’s got an even bigger ecosystem of extensions, too, and a full-blown extension store with proper descriptions and even image previews of each extension, making it easier to know what you’re getting into. Raycast for Windows has been gradually rolling out in beta form over the past couple of months, and I haven’t been chosen to be in the program yet, but as soon as I get access to it, you can bet I’ll be writing about my experience.
Command Palette still has a big benefit
It’s part of something bigger
While I still consider Flow Launcher to be a better standalone option compared to Command Palette, I do think it’s worth considering the value of the package as a whole. Flow Launcher is just the launcher itself, but Command palette comes as a part of something bigger with PowerToys. That includes a lot of other useful tools like FancyZones and Workspaces, which frankly make PowerToys a must-have on any Windows PC, too.
Of course, both of these apps are free, so there’s nothing stopping you from installing both and just using Flow launcher instead of Command Palette, while keeping the other PowerToys tools active. That’s generally what I do, but if you want to save space on your drive, PowerToys may have more value overall, and it still gives you a very competent launcher.
That being said, if we’re talking launchers themselves, Flow Launcher is still the winner, and I wouldn’t recommend switching to Command Palette just yet. You’re better off getting both PowerToys and Flow Launcher and using those together.