Our 6 Favorite Windows 10 Apps

Windows 10 may no longer be the shiny new kid in Microsoft’s neighborhood, but millions of people still use it every day for work, school, gaming, organizing files, watching videos, and pretending their desktop is “organized” because everything is in one folder named Stuff. The good news? A few excellent apps can make Windows 10 feel faster, smarter, cleaner, and much more pleasant to use.

This list focuses on practical Windows 10 apps that solve real problems. We are not talking about gimmicky utilities that look exciting for 11 minutes and then sit in the system tray collecting digital dust. These are dependable tools that improve everyday tasks: finding files, managing windows, taking screenshots, editing text, opening compressed folders, and playing almost any media file you throw at your PC.

Before we jump in, one important note: Microsoft officially ended standard support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Your Windows 10 PC can still run, but staying secure matters more than ever. Keep your apps updated, avoid sketchy downloads, use trusted sources, and consider your long-term upgrade plan. With that said, if you are still using Windows 10, these six favorite apps can help you get more out of it right now.

Why These Windows 10 Apps Made the List

There are thousands of Windows apps, but the best ones share a few traits. They save time, stay lightweight, respect your workflow, and do not make you feel like you need a computer science degree just to change a setting. Our picks are also widely trusted, actively used, and useful for a broad range of people, from casual laptop users to power users who treat keyboard shortcuts like a competitive sport.

We also prioritized free or open-source tools where possible. Windows 10 already costs enough in patience when updates decide to appear at the exact moment you need to leave the house. A great app should make your computer feel more capable without turning your wallet into a sad little accordion.

1. Microsoft PowerToys: The Ultimate Windows 10 Upgrade Kit

Best for: Productivity, customization, multitasking, and power users

Microsoft PowerToys is one of the easiest recommendations for Windows 10 because it feels like a box of features that should have been built into Windows in the first place. It is a free collection of utilities from Microsoft designed to help users customize Windows and streamline common tasks.

The star of the show is FancyZones, a window manager that lets you create custom layouts for your screen. If you work with multiple apps at once, FancyZones can turn a messy desktop into a neatly arranged command center. Instead of dragging windows around like you are rearranging furniture in a tiny apartment, you can snap apps into predefined zones and get back to work.

PowerToys also includes PowerToys Run, a quick launcher that helps you open apps, search, and perform tasks without digging through the Start menu. Then there is PowerRename, which makes batch-renaming files much easier. Anyone who has ever renamed 83 vacation photos one by one deserves a standing ovation and possibly a support group.

Other handy tools include Color Picker, Image Resizer, Text Extractor, Always On Top, Keyboard Manager, and Mouse utilities. PowerToys is especially useful for writers, designers, developers, office workers, students, and anyone who regularly has more than three windows open at once.

Why we love it: PowerToys makes Windows 10 feel more flexible without making it complicated. It is modular, so you can turn on only the tools you need. It is like giving your PC a productivity espresso shot, minus the jittery keyboard typing.

2. Everything: The File Search App Windows Users Deserve

Best for: Instantly finding files and folders by name

Windows search has improved over the years, but it can still feel like asking a sleepy librarian to find a receipt from 2018 in a warehouse full of shoeboxes. Everything by voidtools solves that problem beautifully. It is a fast filename search engine for Windows that indexes file and folder names and delivers results almost instantly.

The appeal is simple: open Everything, type part of a file name, and watch results appear before your coffee has time to cool. It is especially helpful if you save documents across multiple folders, drives, external disks, or project directories. Instead of clicking through Documents, Downloads, Desktop, and “New Folder (17),” you can search once and move on with your life.

Everything is known for being lightweight, quick to start, and easy to use. Its interface is not trying to win a beauty contest, but that is part of the charm. It does one job extremely well. For people who manage large libraries of photos, PDFs, invoices, downloads, music files, or work documents, Everything can become one of those apps you install first on every Windows PC.

There is one important distinction: Everything searches file and folder names, not the full text inside every document. That is usually exactly what you need when you remember a file was called something like “client-final-final-really-final.pdf.” For deep document content searches, you may need another tool, but for locating files fast, Everything is hard to beat.

Why we love it: It makes finding files feel instant. That may sound small until you realize how much time people lose every week hunting for files that are absolutely, definitely “somewhere on the desktop.”

3. ShareX: Screenshots, Screen Recording, and Workflow Magic

Best for: Screenshots, GIFs, annotations, and screen capture workflows

Windows 10 includes built-in screenshot tools, and they are fine for basic captures. But ShareX is what happens when a screenshot app eats its vegetables, goes to the gym, learns automation, and becomes a power tool. It is a free and open-source app that lets users capture or record any area of the screen and customize what happens afterward.

ShareX can capture full screens, windows, regions, scrolling pages, and more. It can also record video or create GIFs, which is perfect for tutorials, bug reports, product demos, or showing a coworker exactly where something went wrong without writing a novel in Slack.

The annotation tools are another highlight. You can add arrows, boxes, highlights, blur sensitive information, crop images, and mark up screenshots quickly. For bloggers, teachers, developers, customer support teams, and anyone who explains things visually, ShareX can save a surprising amount of time.

Where ShareX really shines is workflow customization. You can define after-capture tasks, upload destinations, hotkeys, file naming patterns, and editing steps. That makes it more powerful than the average screenshot utility, though beginners may need a little time to explore the settings. The good news is that you can start simple and grow into the advanced features later.

Why we love it: ShareX is more than a screenshot app. It is a visual communication toolkit. If your job involves explaining what is happening on a screen, ShareX quickly becomes one of your favorite Windows 10 apps.

4. VLC Media Player: The App That Plays Almost Everything

Best for: Videos, music, DVDs, streams, and stubborn media files

There are media players, and then there is VLC Media Player, the orange traffic cone that has rescued countless users from the dreaded “file format not supported” message. VLC is a free, open-source, cross-platform media player from VideoLAN that plays a wide range of multimedia files, discs, devices, and streaming protocols.

Its biggest strength is compatibility. Whether you are opening MP4, MKV, AVI, FLAC, MP3, DVDs, audio CDs, or a mysterious video file you found on an old external drive, VLC usually handles it without demanding extra codecs. That alone earns it a permanent place on many Windows 10 machines.

VLC also includes features casual users may not immediately notice. You can adjust subtitle timing, tweak audio sync, convert media files, stream content, change playback speed, and apply audio or video filters. It is simple enough for watching a movie, but deep enough for users who like to fine-tune playback.

Another reason VLC remains a favorite is that it does not feel bloated. It opens quickly, plays reliably, and avoids the pushy behavior that sometimes comes with free software. No one wants a media player that also tries to become your weather app, shopping assistant, and emotional support browser toolbar.

Why we love it: VLC is dependable. It is the app you install so you do not have to think about media formats again. For Windows 10 users, that is a beautiful thing.

5. 7-Zip: The File Compression Tool That Just Works

Best for: Compressing, extracting, encrypting, and managing archives

Compressed files are everywhere: ZIP downloads, software packages, backups, project folders, email attachments, and archives with names like “tax-documents-final-use-this-one.zip.” Windows can handle basic ZIP files, but 7-Zip gives you far more control.

7-Zip is a free file archiver known for its high compression ratio, especially in the 7z format. It supports packing and unpacking common formats such as 7z, ZIP, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, and WIM, plus it can extract many additional archive types. That broad format support is a major reason it has remained a go-to Windows utility for years.

Another practical benefit is encryption. The 7z format supports strong AES-256 encryption, which can be useful when you need to protect sensitive files before storing or sharing them. Of course, encryption is only as good as your password, so please do not use “password123” unless your goal is to make hackers giggle.

7-Zip also integrates with the Windows right-click menu, making it easy to compress or extract files without opening the full app. Need to send a folder to someone? Right-click, compress, done. Need to unpack a download? Right-click, extract, done. It is not flashy, but it is incredibly practical.

Why we love it: 7-Zip is fast, reliable, and powerful without being annoying. It is one of those essential Windows 10 apps you may not think about often, but you will miss it the moment it is not installed.

6. Notepad++: A Better Text Editor for Real Work

Best for: Coding, editing plain text, notes, configuration files, and quick fixes

Windows Notepad is fine for tiny notes, but once you start working with code, HTML, CSS, logs, configuration files, or large text documents, it begins to feel like bringing a butter knife to a carpentry job. Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement for Windows that supports multiple programming languages.

One of its biggest advantages is syntax highlighting. Open an HTML file, CSS stylesheet, JavaScript file, or JSON document, and Notepad++ makes the structure easier to read. That is helpful for developers, SEO specialists, bloggers, data workers, and anyone who occasionally has to edit website code without launching a heavy development environment.

Notepad++ also supports tabs, so you can keep multiple files open in one window. This sounds ordinary until you compare it with juggling ten separate Notepad windows like a circus performer with deadlines. Search and replace is powerful, performance is strong, and the interface stays refreshingly straightforward.

For content creators, Notepad++ is useful for cleaning plain text, editing HTML snippets, checking metadata, reviewing redirects, formatting lists, and removing weird formatting copied from other apps. For developers, it is a lightweight editor for quick changes. For everyone else, it is simply a better place to type things that should not be trapped inside a bulky word processor.

Why we love it: Notepad++ is lightweight but serious. It gives Windows 10 users a practical text editor that can handle everyday notes and technical files with equal confidence.

How These Apps Work Together

The best thing about these six Windows 10 apps is that they complement each other. PowerToys improves the way you move around Windows. Everything helps you locate files instantly. ShareX captures what is on your screen. VLC plays your media. 7-Zip handles archives. Notepad++ gives you a smarter place to edit text and code.

Together, they cover a huge part of daily PC life. You can search for a project folder with Everything, extract it with 7-Zip, open an HTML file in Notepad++, capture a screenshot with ShareX, arrange your workspace with PowerToys, and play a tutorial video in VLC. That is not a random app collection; it is a practical Windows 10 workflow.

Safety Tips Before Installing Windows 10 Apps

Download from official sources

Always download apps from official websites, the Microsoft Store, or trusted repositories. Free software is wonderful, but fake download buttons are the raccoons of the internet: sneaky, chaotic, and usually near trash.

Keep your apps updated

Updates are not just about new features. They often include security fixes, bug patches, and compatibility improvements. Since Windows 10 has passed its standard support end date, app updates and careful software habits are especially important.

Uninstall what you do not use

More apps do not automatically mean a better PC. If a program sits unused for months, remove it. A clean system is easier to manage, faster to troubleshoot, and less likely to surprise you with mystery startup processes.

Practical Experience: Living With These 6 Windows 10 Apps

The real test of any “favorite apps” list is not whether the tools sound impressive on paper. It is whether they make a normal day on Windows 10 less irritating. These six apps pass that test because they solve small problems that appear again and again.

Imagine starting the morning with a crowded desktop, a browser full of tabs, a spreadsheet, a writing app, and a messaging window all competing for attention. PowerToys, especially FancyZones, immediately makes the workspace calmer. Instead of dragging every window into place manually, you can snap each app into a clean layout. The screen feels intentional rather than chaotic, which is a small productivity win before the day has properly begun.

Then comes the classic file hunt. You need a PDF from last month, but you only remember part of the name. Windows search may eventually find it, but Everything usually feels instant. Type a few letters, scan the results, and there it is. This is the kind of improvement that seems minor until you experience it. After that, waiting for slow search feels like watching a microwave count down from 99 minutes.

ShareX earns its place during communication-heavy work. Need to show someone a bug on a website? Capture the area, add an arrow, blur private details, and send it. Need a quick GIF showing a three-step process? Record it. Instead of writing a paragraph that says, “Click the blue thing near the other thing, no, not that one,” you can show the exact issue in seconds.

VLC becomes useful whenever media files enter the picture. A downloaded training video, an old clip from a phone, a music file, or a DVD backup can often play without extra fuss. That reliability matters. Nobody wants to spend 20 minutes installing codec packs just to watch a two-minute video of a dog falling off a couch cushion.

7-Zip is the quiet helper in the background. It handles compressed folders, extracts odd archive formats, and creates smaller packages for sharing. It is particularly helpful for backups and project folders. When paired with a sensible naming system, 7-Zip turns messy groups of files into neat, portable archives.

Finally, Notepad++ becomes the place where quick edits happen. It is excellent for cleaning copied text, adjusting HTML, reviewing code snippets, editing configuration files, and keeping temporary notes. It opens quickly and does not try to turn every note into a full document with margins, fonts, and formatting drama.

What stands out after using these apps together is how much friction they remove. None of them needs to dominate your computer. They simply make common tasks faster. That is the sweet spot for Windows 10 software: helpful, lightweight, reliable, and easy to recommend. Whether you are writing articles, managing downloads, editing website files, organizing family photos, or helping relatives troubleshoot their laptops from three states away, these apps make Windows 10 feel more capable.

Conclusion

The best Windows 10 apps are not always the loudest or flashiest. Sometimes they are the tools that quietly save you five minutes here, ten clicks there, and one full emotional meltdown when a video file refuses to open. Microsoft PowerToys, Everything, ShareX, VLC Media Player, 7-Zip, and Notepad++ are our six favorites because they improve the everyday Windows experience in practical ways.

PowerToys makes Windows more customizable. Everything fixes file search. ShareX upgrades screenshots and screen recording. VLC plays media with confidence. 7-Zip manages compressed files like a champ. Notepad++ gives plain text and code the editor they deserve. Install the ones that match your workflow, keep them updated, and your Windows 10 PC can feel sharper, faster, and far less annoying.