6 free PC apps that everyone should use to save time

If you use a Windows based PC, these are some of my essential recommendations to make your day easier

Photo by Max Duzij on Unsplash

There’s always a bunch of apps I install every time I set up a new Windows computer to get the most out of my machine. I’ll keep this list updated but here’s some of the free software out there to make your life a little easier…

System tools

Quicklook

Ever wanted to preview a file quickly? Quicklook lets you do just that. Just select any common file in File Explorer and hit the Spacebar. Voila! Instant preview of pictures, videos, documents!

Snapdrop

This one is a game changer if you need to quickly move files between devices. Just go to the SnapDrop website on both devices and select the files to transfer to the other device. It’s seriously super simple.

aText

I can’t believe this app is free since it works better than some of the paid text-expander apps out there and is one of the first apps I always configure in a new system.

Basically it works by setting some some short hand that “expands” to the full word. For example, if I type “.fn” it auto-completes/text-expands to my full name.

I have some shortcuts set-up such as “.gmail” for my gmail address, “.tel” for my telephone number. Basically, you can set up your own text shortcuts for any frequently used piece of text with your own shortcut and easily fill out forms and documents with your own shorthand!

Supports simple and rich text too!

Microsoft Powertoys

This one feels like cheating because this is actually a collection of little apps directly from Microsoft. These are small powerful add-ons that SERIOUSLY pack a punch. These are constantly updated with new features and new apps.

As of writing, the Powertoys include:

• Always on Top — does what the name suggests and helps keep a window always on top of the others
• Awake — basically keeps your computer awake without having to change power settings
• Color Picker — turns on a system wide colour picker. Very useful for designers to pick out colors that they like where ever they see them on the screen
• Fancy Zones — takes the idea of the default (and pretty powerful) Window manager in Windows 11 and makes it even more customisable
• File explorer add ons — adds new functions and file type viewing abilities in File Explorer
• Image resizer — another one that I use all the time. Image resizer quickly shrinks images. I use it all the time to compress the images for my email newsletter.
• Mouse Utilities — enables a spotlight to quickly find your mouse. Very useful if you’re giving a presentation or recording an instructional video
• PowerRename — Bulk renaming of files on steroids. Useful for a photographer like me
• PowerToys Run — basically adds the Mac Spotlight to Windows

Multimedia

GIMP Image editor

If you’ve ever wanted an image editing program that was like Photoshop, but free, this is the app for you! The GNU Image Manipulation Program is cross platform and originally built for Linux but ported to many operating systems.

It’s powerful enough for some serious edits for your photos

DaVinci Resolve

This happens to be one of the most full-featured video editing suites out there and the personal edition is FREE! Hollywood epics have been edited using this, so it’s not exactly the most easiest to use. It makes up for it with features gallore!

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