We recommend grabbing the OneNote Web Clipper extension for Chrome or Firefox so you can save interesting web pages you’re looking at, too. If you have a fancier Windows tablet, you can even write out or draw your notes with a stylus (or finger). It’s completely free, you can grab OneNote apps for iOS and Android in case you want to synchronize your notes across multiple devices, and it’s already installed on Windows 10 by default. Since our previous favorite, Evernote, tightened up what you can do on its free plan-and its cheapest paid-for plan now costs $8/monthly (RIP Evernote Plus)-we think OneNote is the best, cross-platform note-taking app for Windows users. Wox also supports third-party plugins, so you can do everything from find out your current IP address, to searching YouTube and Twitch streams, to controlling your Spotify playlist. More importantly, it makes it easy to quickly search the web by tapping just a few keys on your keyboard-whether you want a simple Google search or would rather use your own customized prefixes to load your query in a different search engine. We think the open-source app Wox is a great alternative, because it’s a speedy app launcher that’s also great for finding files and folders scattered across your system.

Sure, Windows 10 comes with its own search feature-the Cortana search that you access by poking the Windows button on your keyboard and typing in an app, file name, or anything else you feel like finding on your system (or learning more about). For our always-updating directory of all the best apps, be sure to bookmark our App Directory, where we profile amazing apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS each week-browser extensions, too.

The Lifehacker Pack is an annual snapshot of our favorite, essential applications for each of our favorite platforms. We’ve pored over pages of recommendations, countless forum posts, and lots of comments to come up with this year’s Lifehacker Pack for Windows, a list of software champions across four categories: productivity internet and communications music, photos, and video and utilities.

There are so many Windows apps out there, that picking a list of the very best, most must-install software for your desktop or laptop feels daunting.

Essential software for windows 10