Best Free Software for Windows

When setting up a fresh Windows installation, it is easy to get caught up installing bloated shareware. Here are essential utilities that are lightweight, completely free, and contain zero spyware or annoying upsells.

Clean Installation Recommendation

We prioritize Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) whenever possible because it guarantees that there are no tracking modules or surprise subscription paywalls down the line.

Essential Tools Breakdown

1

7-Zip or NanaZip (File Archiver)

Ditch trial archivers. NanaZip is a modern fork of 7-Zip designed with full Windows 11 context menu integration and support for RAR, 7z, and ZIP formats.

2

VLC Media Player (Video & Audio)

The gold standard for playing virtually any audio or video codec out of the box without needing to download sketchy third-party codec packs.

3

Everything by Voidtools (Instant File Search)

Finds any file or folder across all hard drives in less than a second, outperforming Windows default search by orders of magnitude.

4

ShareX (Screenshots & Screen Recording)

Open-source tool with automated workflows, OCR text extraction, scrolling screenshot capture, and instantaneous clipboard sharing.

Download Links

Everything by Voidtools

Lightning-fast local filename search engine for Windows.

VLC Media Player

Free, open-source cross-platform multimedia player that plays most multimedia files.

ShareX

Free and open source program that lets you capture or record any area of your screen.