The MAGIC behind this lightning fast search engine is reading the MFT (like a phonebook) of the disks.
My Must-Haves for Windows
Stuff that I have on every Windows computer. These complement Windows and some of them should be included with Windows. Many of these are both Free and Open Source, too. Most are free or freemium.
Header Image by nanoagency https://iconscout.com/illustrations/interface-research
Must have utilities
Multi-platform clipboard tool monitoring and saving text, images, and custom formats, with tabs, search, shortcuts, scripting, and customization for efficiency.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Flatpak
- Homebrew
- Chocolatey


+5


Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Software as a Service (SaaS)



Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Blackberry
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Safari
- Mozilla Firefox
- Google Chrome
- Microsoft Edge


+3
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application type
Platforms
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE Plasma
- Flathub
- Snapcraft
- Mac


syncs between encrypted (for cloud storage) and original, working unencrypted original folders.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Windows


+1
Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
- ReactOS


+4
Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Windows
- PortableApps.com


+5
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Windows
- PortableApps.com
- Steam


+29
PhotoDemon provides a comprehensive selection of photo editing tools in an 8 MB download. It runs on any Windows machine (XP through Win 10) and does not require installation. It can easily be run from a USB stick or SD card.

Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Platforms
- Windows


+2
Cost / License
- Free
- Proprietary
Platforms
- Windows



Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Windows


+3
Gpg4win enables users to securely transport emails and files with the help of encryption and digital signatures. Encryption protects the contents against an unwanted party reading it. Digital signatures make sure that it was not modified and comes from a specific sender.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application type
Platforms
- Windows
- Microsoft Office Outlook
- S/MIME
- GnuPG

This project has reached a minimum-viable product level of quality. While contributors dogfood it as their daily driver, it may be unstable for some commands. Future releases will work fill out missing features and improve stability.



Windows console emulator with tabs, which presents multiple consoles and simple GUI applications as one customizable GUI window with various features.


+2

Planning and storing information
I am currently in transition from Notion to Obsidian, as the former is limited to online-use only and the latter is way faster
Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Snapcraft
- Microsoft Edge
- Google Chrome
- Flathub
- Safari
- Mozilla Firefox


+4
Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- AppImageHub
- Apple Watch
- Snapcraft
- Google Chrome
- Flathub
- Microsoft Outlook
- Android Wear
- Safari
- Gmail
- Mozilla Firefox


+3
Windows 10 settings backup
Finally, a way to save the Start Menu Layout for when migrating or re-installing windows
Cost / License
- Free
- Proprietary
Platforms
- Windows


+2
Customizing the user experience




+7


+1


+2
Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Windows
- Windows Explorer


+22





+16


+1
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Platforms
- Windows


Media Players
Cross-platform, free media player supports multimedia files, DVDs, streaming, offers hardware acceleration, 4K, lossless audio, and more.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- AppImageHub
- Apple Watch
- Snapcraft
- Google Chrome
- Apple TV
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- F-Droid
- Kindle Fire
- Haiku
- Android TV
- Homebrew
- Chocolatey


+4
Probably the best free combination of Radio, Podcasts, Artist and track info, and infinite layout capabilities


+8
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Raspberry Pi
- Fire TV


+5
The rest
These are useful on any personal computer
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- AppImageHub
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- Samsung Galaxy Store
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
- Flatpak
- Homebrew
- Chocolatey
- Gecko


+7
The qBittorrent project aims to provide an open-source software alternative to µTorrent. Additionally, qBittorrent runs and provides the same features on all major platforms (FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, OS/2, Windows). qBittorrent is based on the Qt toolkit and libtorrent-rasterbar library.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- AppImageHub
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
- Cloudron


+2
Cost / License
- Freemium
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Windows
- PortableApps.com
- Wine


+3





















































