You simply bought a new laptop, built a new desktop PC, or are simply make clean installing on a new solid country bulldoze, skillful for you! Gotta love the taste of a fresh new auto, just at present you lot have to get back to productivity Zen by recovering your files and installing programs.

Not certain which ones? Well, allow us aid.

Nosotros've compiled a list of essential programs to get you started. Many of these apps are also available as web services, only app versions have the advantage of offline access.

Downloading movies or music to local storage can be useful when you are expecting hours with no connexion. Even if y'all but desire to write emails when an internet connection isn't available, yous may want to exist able to read the messages that you lot are writing replies to. Depending on the browser or the network y'all utilise, relying on web services tin also cause privacy concerns.

From security utilities to productivity tools, and many suggestions for the areas in betwixt, here are pinnacle app recommendations with a special emphasis in great free software you tin download right away...

Web Browsing + Ane Essential Add-on

  • Most People: Download Chrome, or give Edge or Safari a hazard
  • Privacy Seekers: Download Firefox or Ungoogled Chromium
  • Ability Users: Try Vivaldi

Windows offers Edge out of the box, a browser that's congenital upon the Chromium projection and actually includes several features that Chrome doesn't, specially for Windows users, such as adding sites to the Start menu. Meanwhile, macOS offers Safari, a very solid browser by most standards, especially if you live in Apple tree'due south ecosystem and perhaps the reason a sizable share of Mac users (~forty%) don't wait beyond it.

And yet the default option for most remains Google Chrome, if only for its integration with other Google services. Chrome is swell for Android users, too, every bit you can natively sync beyond devices.

Chrome is a tad banal out of the box, though it supports extensions for a myriad of different things. From a security standpoint still, those same extensions can pose a chance, that and the fact that Google records everything you do in the browser is non great for your privacy either.

The open-source Firefox is a solid browser with better privacy options. But, if you lot like Chrome the manner it is except for Google'south tracking methods, Ungoogled Chromium may be an interesting choice for you. The problem is that while it disables many services that rely on Google, it doesn't always supercede them with something else, and then you should only use information technology if you know what you're getting into.

Many ability users also swear past Vivaldi. This browser'south claim to fame is how customizable it is. For instance, it will permit y'all stack tabs within tabs in one of iii means: with drop-down menus, with ii tab bars, or by showing all tabs simply in the active stack. You can add a side console on either side of the screen, with browser menus and apps (notes, mail, RSS and calendar) and the option to add whatsoever website.

Add a Password Manager

  • Elevation free pick: Bitwarden
  • Besides keen: 1Password or Lastpass

It's a fact that a ton of people still use terrible passwords. Fifty-fifty those that adopt something harder to crack than "123456" frequently accept the same login credentials for several sites. There's also the problem of forgetting which passwords go with which websites. Most web browsers have their own password managers, merely they are simply not as proficient as defended third-party software.

A password manager is an essential improver. If yous haven't already made your selection, we'd recommend you lot start with the open-source Bitwarden, more often than not because its gratuitous version is fully functional. For $ten/year, yous'll become additional features, such equally encrypted sharing of files, rather than just text. Accounts for couples and for families/organizations are too available. If for any reason you don't like Bitwarden, then KeePass is a good free alternative.

In the past, we've recommended LastPass as our superlative pick, but at present its free version only allows access on one device type: PC or mobile. If you are willing to pay for a password manager, LastPass is pretty skillful, just y'all might as well cull 1Password or Dashlane, which too includes a VPN service to hide your IP address from the websites you visit.

Cloud Storage & Backup

  • Offset Here: Free Dropbox for documents and other essential files
  • For Images: Apple tree Photos for Mac users, Google Photos for Windows
  • For More than Storage: Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive
  • For Sensitive Files: pCloud
  • Full Backups: Use a paid service to backup all your data to the deject

Cloud storage and fill-in are a must-have in your toolbox. Backing upward and restoring information has never been smoother either, and fifty-fifty though there'south a huge assortment of options, nosotros've long been spoiled by Dropbox's ease of use. Dropbox offers 2GB of complimentary cloud storage which is not much, simply you can earn up to sixteen GB via referrals and a few other tricks.

For photo-specific features, Mac users can enjoy the Photos app, which creates albums automatically based on the people and places that appear in photos, and tin sync everything with the iPhone and iPad with iCloud. For Windows users, we often recommend using Google Photos, which includes similar features. Google Photos used to offer unlimited free storage for photos upwards to 16MP and 1080p videos, but now information technology only grants 15GB of gratis storage, shared with other Google services.

If y'all have bigger storage requirements, we'd look at all the best alternatives and the different pricing tiers before making the decision. Major alternatives to Dropbox and iCloud include Microsoft OneDrive, which is integrated into Windows and Google Ane. Luckily, competition for cloud backup is fierce and prices have come up downwards a petty.

If y'all have sensitive files, you may want to apply pCloud, which provides paying users with device-based encryption, pregnant that even if your account gets hacked, the hacker won't be able to open your files without your devices.

For full information backups (terabytes of photos, videos, total drives), there are improve alternatives than the above. First of all, you go specialized backup software, file versioning, and often unlimited storage, so you tin can offload terabytes of information and remain at ease. Recommended cloud fill-in providers include Backblaze, IDrive, Carbonite and SOS Online Fill-in.

Security

If yous know what you're doing, both Windows and macOS come up with decent security out of the box. Common sense should be plenty for ability users, while the average user may want to add some other layer of protection that won't turn into a burden for your arrangement.

Malwarebytes is the first tool y'all should consider. A veteran specializing in preventing malware and rootkits attacks, it'south cracking and gratis for personal utilize. If y'all'd rather not have antivirus installed on your PC every bit you are afraid of over-detection, the Emsisoft Emergency Kit for Windows can be put on a deejay-on-key, which you may connect simply when you need it. There'due south too VirusTotal.com which you lot tin use to scan downloaded files for threats earlier you open up them.

Office Productivity, Development

  • Best free Microsoft Role alternatives: FreeOffice and LibreOffice
  • Text editors: Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code or Notepad++
  • Free PDF editor: PDFsam
  • Email clients: Postbox or Mailbird

For simple note-taking in that location'south OneNote, which Microsoft offers every bit a free cross-platform app. If you lot take a Mac, y'all may adopt Notability.

Microsoft Role remains the male monarch of part productivity and some are not having every bit hard a time justifying a subscription to Office 365 if you need it for work, and if you have advantage of virtually of the apps and included perks like 1TB of OneDrive storage.

But, gratuitous alternatives abound hither besides. On the Windows side, if y'all want the gratis office suite that's virtually similar to Microsoft's, endeavour FreeOffice. Other free options include LibreOffice -- some of our writers swear past it, while others hate it. The open-source office suite offers all the nuts and then some. Same goes for WPS Office Free.

Apple ships all Macs with a full productivity suite out of the box at no accuse (Pages, Numbers and Keynote), which is a great way to become started on documents, spreadsheets or presentations worry free.

For coders and developers nosotros have to requite a shout out to Sublime Text, perhaps the best text editor yous'll find. Notepad++ is a great open-source culling, just but for Windows. Meanwhile, Microsoft has slowly only surely gained a ton of adoption with the free Visual Studio Lawmaking which is cantankerous-platform and liked by many.

SourceTree and SmartGit are solid gratuitous tools for managing GitHub repositories.

Our favorite SFTP clients for Windows and Mac are WinSCP and Forklift, respectively.

There are several PDF editors that offer costless versions that include functionality that Acrobat Reader doesn't. We have written a total guide on the affair, only every bit a quick shortcut, you can endeavor PDFsam to merge, split, extract pages, rotate and mix your PDFs. Information technology'southward also cross-platform.

If yous like to use a desktop email client, we similar Postbox for its lifetime pricing policy (a complimentary 30-day trial is available). For up to 2 accounts, eM Client is gratis and highly customizable. Firefox users will feel at home with the open up-source Mozilla Thunderbird, while Mailbird is proficient for power users who are willing to pay.

Video Conversation and Messaging

  • To Accomplish Everyone: WhatsApp and Zoom, if yous don't have FaceTime
  • For Privacy: Signal or Viber
  • For Work: Slack, Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex
  • For Gaming & Fun: Discord or TeamSpeak

The video chat and messaging apps yous need depend generally on whom you lot want to talk to. The most ubiquitous personal messaging platforms are WhatsApp and Messenger (a.thou.a. "Facebook Messenger") and both offer native desktop applications. Apple users will be happy to utilise iMessage, which is more private, but not everyone may be available on the platform (iPhone likewise sends SMS on the same app).

Zoom has go synonymous with video chat, offer local recording and screen sharing, and is the best bet for reaching a big grouping (although you can just speak with ane person for more than than 40 minutes with the free programme). You lot can enable end-to-end encryption of your calls to avoid their content being used for targeted advertising, but that manner, only those who enable the feature will be able to join. End-to-end encryption also disables features such every bit cloud recording and Breakout Rooms. Google Meet is a solid web-based alternative that doesn't require any installation.

If you (or your piece of work) is paying for an Office 365 subscription, you may exist using Microsoft Teams, which is replacing Skype. For $5 per calendar month, you'll get 1TB of OneDrive storage, and the power to agree long meetings with up to 100 participants. End-to-terminate encryption is only available for 1-on-1 calls.

If you are a Mac user, you may be able to go by with FaceTime for the meetings you initiate with up to 32 people. Users of non-Apple tree devices will exist able to join the meeting with the link yous ship them, and everything will exist encrypted.

If y'all have the pick of which app to use, you may adopt Betoken, which is developed past a non-turn a profit organization and has no ads or tracking. A 2nd good alternative is Viber, offering similar voice and video capabilities, with great privacy options such as self-deleting messages and Pivot codes for individual chats. Betoken and Viber offer native applications for Windows, macOS and even Linux, equally well as Android and iOS.

Information technology'south ever fun to stay in touch with family and friends, only if yous need to collaborate in a workgroup, then Teams and Slack are the most popular platforms for that purpose. Slack's free program is a fleck limited, simply letting y'all search the last 10,000 messages and not offer screen sharing, only the paid options are still a good alternative for small teams, with an intuitive UI and video meetings of upward to fifteen people. Another alternative is Cisco Webex, which lets yous invite anyone to meetings with a link.

For high-quality communication during gaming, or if yous just want a free team collaboration tool, you lot should check out Discord, which includes solid messaging and video chat capabilities, and is gratis regardless of the number of people in the server. Nosotros dropped Slack a couple of years ago in favor of Discord for collaboration among TechSpot's staff and nosotros beloved it.

For in-game voice chat TeamSpeak is also old-school good, can be used anonymously and gives the host more control over the server. Steam is also offering a more robust in-game chat solution than information technology did in the past.

Gaming

  • PC gaming platforms: Steam, Ballsy Games, EA Origin, Ubisoft and GOG
  • Latest GPU drivers: Nvidia GeForce, AMD Radeon, Intel Graphics
  • Streaming: OBS Studio

For gaming we have to recommend Steam first and foremost. Valve'south killer gaming platform does an crawly job at beingness a one-stop shop for nearly PC gaming. It'due south a not bad hub and gaming communication platform, also known for its sales. Another must-have at this point is the Epic Games Shop, mostly considering every calendar week it offers at to the lowest degree one paid-for game for free.

Do annotation however that certain franchises are absent-minded from 1 or both of these stores -- by and large games from the likes of EA, Ubisoft, and Blizzard. You can get those with Origin, Ubisoft Connect and GOG Galaxy, respectively. Another group of super pop games, including Fortnite, Minecraft and League of Legends, are bachelor to download independently.

If you lot are new to the world of gaming and are looking for something familiar, effort Barbarous Chess.

If yous are switching to PC gaming from an Xbox, you won't have a problem using the Xbox controller on Windows. If y'all are switching from a PlayStation and don't want to rely on Steam, y'all'll need DS4Windows (information technology supports the PlayStation five controller, likewise).

For simple game streaming, AMD Radeon ReLive is part of the Radeon Software, and Nvidia's Shadowplay is packaged with GeForce Feel, both are pretty skillful, but if you want to create streams of more than just the game, OBS Studio should exist your top choice.

If yous are a existent gamer, however, you must know that information technology's not actually about the games -- what'southward truly important is to have the craziest RGB light prove. Point RGB will help you sync your RGB result across all of your peripherals.

Video Playback and Streaming

  • A/V Essentials: VLC, Spotify, iTunes, Plex

While Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are available on the web, downloading their apps will permit you lot download movies and episodes for offline viewing, including "smart" downloads that regularly delete the episodes that you finish watching, and download the following episodes. With Apple devices, you'll accept admission to Apple Television set+, besides.

Unless you're invested in Apple'southward ecosystem, music streaming is synonymous with Spotify. With the free plan y'all'll be able to download podcasts, and with the paid plans you'll be able to download songs and albums, too. Ane great alternative app is Deezer, which includes access to traditional radio stations, and CD-quality streaming with its Hi-Fi plan. If you have an iPhone or an iPad and want to relish your movies or music on your Windows PC, you'll need iTunes for Windows.

For watching your favorite movies from before the streaming era, at that place'southward VLC Histrion. If you just want to press play and get, VLC has that going for it. But it'due south also a powerful histrion with support for subtitle synchronization, video filters, and equalization, should yous need that.

Some other worthwhile mention is PotPlayer, which supports commercial Blu-ray disks past default. A great option for revitalizing old computers is MPC-HC, which carries on the legacy of mimicking the Windows XP era's Media Actor. Another MPC fork, called MPC-BE moves away from this philosophy in favor of boosted features.

To be fair, the Windows xi media player works well and supports a variety of formats, too. On Macs we also like to use MPV and Movist, although the latter is not free. If you are using your PC to act as a hub for streaming content effectually the house, check out Plex.

Hardware Monitoring & Overclocking

One of the outset things yous should do with a new reckoner (at least us, enthusiasts) is cheque that you got what yous ordered, and that everything is working every bit intended. CPU-Z is a free information tool that details your hardware specs and includes a CPU stress test.

HWMonitor shows real-fourth dimension data about your PSU voltage, the temperature of all your hardware and fan speed. If you lot want a similar app that's able to create a more visual output, try HWinfo64.

CrystalDiskMark will show yous whether your SSD or hard bulldoze is performing up to its specs. HD Lookout man Pro volition show you the health of all of your drives, and also includes repair features.

For GPU overclocking, MSI Afterburner is the get-to app. SpeedFan or Core Temp (for Windows) and Macs Fan Command volition allow you... (practise we really need to go along this sentence?).

File Direction

If yous want to know and visualize which files and folders are taking the most space on your Windows PC, use WinDirStat or Space Sniffer. For Macs, there are a few good alternatives likewise: Disk Drill and GrandPerspective are both free. Many besides recommend DaisyDisk.

If you suspect that duplicate files are office of the reason that y'all're low on storage space, CloneSpy will help y'all notice them. The Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder will find duplicate photos even if they were slightly changed, and ViDupe volition do the same with videos, merely only if you install FFmpeg, too.

If you want to organize many files by proper name or quickly change the meaningless names of all of the image files from your phone or camera, try the Majority Rename Utility.

While web browsers added tabs over two decades ago, the Windows File Explorer has yet to implement the characteristic (macOS Finder does tabbing just fine). The open-source Files app is basically what Windows 11's File Explorer should have been: the design is consistent with Windows eleven's more than modern UI, it supports tabs and dual panes, and its settings menu is mode more than convenient. The free version of 1 Commander includes more features, such as color-tagging and mass-renaming of files.

If y'all are already using Total Commander or Directory Opus nosotros won't tell you to cease, but to a new user they may feel outdated.

For a powerful and encompassing prototype viewing exclusively, see IrfanView.

As we but mentioned, macOS does a better job than Windows with Finder, which includes tabs and color tagging, but the costless version of Commander I also includes features like dual panes and customizable keyboard shortcuts if you want that.

If yous feel that Windows Search isn't working as it should, fifty-fifty afterward yous've changed its default settings, you should give Everything a off-white try. Wox, which uses Everything's engine for local search, provides an feel more similar to that of Windows Search, simply hasn't received an update in over a twelvemonth.

If y'all don't like Windows handling your zipping, download 7-Nothing. On Macs, the all-time solution for pinch is The Unarchiver.

Image and Video Editing

If you lot need an paradigm editing tool, the best free ones include GIMP (for avant-garde users), Paint.net (for beginners) and Inkscape (for SVG). Among paid-for options, Adobe applications are height notch and professional, only at that place are other loftier quality alternatives similar PaintShop Pro and Pixelmator.

For basic video editing, Wondershare Filmora or Shotcut will suffice. If you want more options, try DaVinci Resolve. Both offer gratis versions. If you desire the best of the all-time, you'll need to pay for Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro. If you but want to convert old videos into modern formats, and then Handbrake is the app you need.

Os Add-ons

Clipboard managers are a must-have tool to have a clipboard history tool handy whenever you lot need information technology. Re-entering anything that yous've recently copied and pasted adds an assortment of new capabilities to your OS clipboard and makes you lot more productive. There are dozens of different choices merely our current top choices are ClipClip for Windows and Flycut for macOS.

For grabbing screenshots and annotation, Bone tools are vastly improved and yous may exist fine with what you get stock, but we still like Monosnap for its simplicity and ability to upload to the cloud to share.

Teamviewer is the default option for cross-platform remote control and desktop sharing. Information technology's besides a pretty good tool to have handy should you demand to transfer very large files that are impractical to add together to your deject storage. RemotePC is a basic and affordable culling.

Remote Mouse turns your phone or tablet into a touch remote control for your PC. It can simulate a mouse, keyboard input, and more than. It's cross-platform and free.

If you suspect that your display drivers weren't uninstalled properly or desire to install new drivers from scratch, attempt the Display Commuter Uninstaller.

For full general OS cleaning and tidying up, CCleaner Portable is a pop option that does well, despite a few controversies in recent years -- use the Portable version on Windows and you will exist fine. If you adopt to use something else, Wise Disk Cleaner is a skilful culling.

Finally, if you want to remove near of the apps on your computer and leave no traces backside, BCUninstaller volition assistance you exercise that.

Other Stuff

For a geo-geek, Google World is always cool to have loaded and gear up.

For torrenting we like to employ qBittorrent, which has no ads or bundled software, only has integrated search engine and media actor. Avant-garde users may prefer Drench, which has many customization options.

If y'all accept an iPhone or an iPad, then iMazing is a must-accept for doing things that iTunes doesn't, from backing upwardly your text messages to checking your iPad's bombardment health. The iMazing HEIC Converter will let you salvage the photos from your iPhone as JPEG or PNG.

If you want to chop-chop create bootable USB drives, try Rufus.

If you miss features that were removed from Windows over the years, Open Vanquish replaces the old Archetype Shell, whose development was halted in 2017.

If you see the need for a VPN, two expert complimentary choices for occasional use include Windscribe and TunnelBear. For a more than robust and speedy connexion, you'll have to pay. We similar NordVPN.

Frequent e-book readers consider Calibre to be a must-have for managing their library and converting files to other formats.

TL;DR: The Total List

Click the app name to download.

Internet Tools
Google Chrome Web browser
Microsoft Edge Web browser
Firefox Spider web browser
Ungoogled Chromium Spider web browser
Vivaldi Web browser
Bitwarden Password director
LastPass Password manager
1Password Password manager
Cloud Storage & Backup
Dropbox Deject storage
Google Drive Cloud storage
pCloud Cloud storage (extra security)
Microsoft OneDrive Cloud storage
Security
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
Emsisoft Emergency Kit Anti-malware
Office Productivity, Evolution, Email
Free Office Microsoft Office alternative
LibreOffice Microsoft Office alternative
WPS Office Gratuitous Microsoft Office culling
OneNote Annotation-taking app
Sublime Text Text and code editor
Visual Studio Code Text and code editor
Notepad++ Text and code editor
SourceTree Git client
SmartGit Git customer
WinSCP SFTP / SCP client (Windows)
Forklift SFTP / SCP client (macOS)
Postbox Desktop email customer
eM Customer Desktop e-mail client
Mozilla Thunderbird Desktop email client
Mailbird Desktop email customer
Video Chat and Messaging
WhatsApp Messaging
Zoom Video chat
Point Private Messaging
Viber Private Messaging
Slack Work Collaboration
Microsoft Teams Work Collaboration
Cisco Webex Piece of work Collaboration
Discord Games & Messaging
TeamSpeak Vocalization Messaging
Gaming
Steam Games store
Epic Games Shop Games store
Origin Games shop
Ubisoft Connect Games shop
GOG Galaxy Games store
Fortnite Boxing Royale game
Minecraft Sandbox game
League of Legends Online battle arena game
Cruel Chess The Queen's Gambit
DS4Windows Utilise your PS4 controller on your PC
Radeon Software AMD software
GeForce Experience Nvidia software
OBS Studio Streaming and video recording
Betoken RGB RGB Manager
Video Playback and Streaming
Spotify Music streaming
Deezer Music streaming
Apple iTunes Media player
VLC Player Media player
PotPlayer Media histrion
MPC-HC Media player
MPC-Be Media player
MPV Actor Media player
Movist Media player
Plex App and Media Server Streaming app
Hardware Monitoring & Overclocking
MSI Afterburner GPU overclocking
CPU-Z Hardware monitor
HWMonitor System information
HWinfo64 System information
CrystalDiskMark Benchmark software
Hd Sentinel Pro Hard deejay monitoring
SpeedFan / Core Temp Fan controller (Windows)
Macs Fan Control Fan controller (macOS)
Epitome and Video Editing
Paint.net Image editor
GIMP Image editor
Inkscape Paradigm editor
PaintShop Pro Photo editor
iMazing HEIC Converter Image tools
Wondershare Filmora Video editor
DaVinci Resolve Video editor
Handbrake Video converter
File Management
WinDirStat Disk usage viewer (Win)
Space Sniffer Deejay usage viewer (Win)
GrandPerspective Disk usage viewer (macOS)
Disk Drill Disk usage viewer (macOS)
CloneSpy Observe indistinguishable files
Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder Find indistinguishable files
ViDupe Find duplicate videos
Bulk Rename Utility Rename tons of files
Files Meliorate than Windows eleven explorer
I Commander Windows File manager
IrfanView Image viewer
Commander Ane File manager / SFTP (macOS)
Full Commander File manager
Directory Opus File manager
Everything Ameliorate than Windows search
Wox Improve than Windows search
7-Zip File pinch (Windows)
The Unarchiver File compression (macOS)
OS Add-ons
ClipClip Clipboard manager (Windows)
Flycut Clipboard director (macOS)
Teamviewer PC remote access
BCUninstaller Remove stubborn programs
CCleaner Portable Make clean-up tool
Wise Deejay Cleaner Clean-upwardly tool
Display Driver Uninstaller Commuter removal utility
Rufus Create bootable USB drives
Open Shell Classic manner Start Menu
Other Stuff
Google Earth Satellite imagery
qBittorrent Torrent client
Deluge Torrent client
WinAMP Music Thespian
iMazing iTunes replacement
Windscribe VPN
TunnelBear VPN
NordVPN VPN
Calibre E-book managing director

Not Needed Anymore?

There are more apps we used to recommend to install, but we normally don't anymore, often because the OS can do what they practice just every bit well: PDF readers, print-to-PDF utilities, download managers, software firewalls, "night mode" software, DVD burners and WinAMP, to proper noun a few.

Of course, there's all the same use for many of these, but we no longer install them right away unless and until they're needed. Is this list missing something? Tell us about your ain app suggestions and recommendations.