🧰

ThinkPad Toolbox

A small tray utility for ThinkPad laptops. Control the status LEDs, CPU fan, and keyboard backlight, and keep an eye on CPU temperature, fan speed, and battery, all in one place.

C# / WinForms · .NET 10 · Self-contained · MIT licensed
ThinkPad Toolbox window

What it does

💡 Status LEDs

Turn the power, red dot, microphone-mute, and sleep (moon) LEDs on, off, or into their blink state.

🌀 CPU fan

Switch the fan between firmware Auto and Full speed for a quick cooling boost.

⌨️ Keyboard backlight

Set Off, Low, or High. Optionally remember the level across sleep and restart, and dim it when apps go full screen.

🌡️ Live status

See the CPU temperature (color coded) and current fan RPM at a glance, right in the window.

🔋 Battery info

Charge level and state, plus battery health and cycle count where the hardware reports them.

🛡️ Works on modern Windows

Uses the signed PawnIO driver so it runs on Windows 11 with Memory Integrity enabled. WinRing0 is the default on other systems.

Getting started

Good to know

💻 For ThinkPad laptops

It talks to Lenovo ThinkPad embedded controllers, so it's meant for ThinkPads, not other brands. Not affiliated with Lenovo.

⚠️ Run a single copy

It speaks directly to the embedded controller, so keep just one instance running — don't launch a second copy at the same time.

📥 Portable & private

Self-contained, no telemetry. It isn't code-signed, so if SmartScreen warns you, click More info, then Run anyway.