Menu-bar screenshot tool with scrolling capture, annotation and pin-to-screen. Pro removes the watermark on long captures and unlocks the full editor.

On Windows: Snipaste, PicPick

Tiny, fast screenshot tool with pixel measuring, colour picker, OCR, scrolling capture and redaction. Paid licence for work use.

On Windows: ShareX, Greenshot

The complete kit: screenshots, scrolling capture, screen recording to MP4/GIF, annotation, OCR and hidden desktop icons. Also in Setapp.

On Windows: ShareX

Capture and recording with step-by-step templates and callouts, aimed at docs and tutorials. Subscription-only since 2025.

On Windows: Snagit (also on Windows), ShareX

Simple screen recorder that exports GIF, MP4, WebM and APNG.

On Windows: ShareX, ScreenToGif

Scene-based recording and live streaming — webcam, screen and audio sources mixed together.

On Windows: OBS Studio (also on Windows)

Spotlight replacement with an extension store, window snapping, clipboard history, snippets and quicklinks. Pro adds AI, sync and unlimited history.

On Windows: PowerToys, Flow Launcher

Keyboard launcher and file search. The Powerpack adds workflows, clipboard history, snippets and 1Password integration.

On Windows: Flow Launcher, Listary

Power-user front end for Spotlight's index: multi-criteria file searches you can save and reuse.

On Windows: Everything

Searches file names and contents without an index — finds what Spotlight skips (hidden, system and package files).

On Windows: Everything

Snap windows to halves, thirds and corners by keyboard or by dragging to the edge. Pro adds custom layouts and saved workspaces.

On Windows: PowerToys FancyZones, Win + arrow keys

Drag-to-edge and shortcut window snapping — the same job as Rectangle, bought once from the App Store.

On Windows: PowerToys FancyZones

Hover the green button for a size grid, and save whole-screen layouts to restore with one key.

On Windows: PowerToys FancyZones

Keyboard-first clipboard history in the menu bar: press a shortcut, type to filter, Enter to paste.

On Windows: Ditto, Win+V

Visual clipboard history with pinboards, synced across Mac, iPhone and iPad via iCloud.

On Windows: Ditto

Hides and reorders menu-bar icons so they fit beside the notch. Changed owner in 2024, which sent many users to Ice.

On Windows: Windows taskbar overflow

Open-source Bartender alternative: hide, show on hover and rearrange menu-bar items.

CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery and sensor readings in the menu bar.

On Windows: HWiNFO

The most detailed menu-bar system monitor, with history graphs, sensors, fans and weather.

On Windows: HWiNFO

Caps a MacBook's charge (say at 80%) to slow battery wear. Pro adds heat protection, calibration and sailing mode.

On Windows: Vendor tools (Lenovo Vantage, MyASUS)

Keeps the Mac awake — for a time, while an app runs or a file downloads — even with the lid closed.

On Windows: PowerToys Awake

Drop an app on it to delete the app plus its preferences, caches and support files.

On Windows: Revo Uninstaller, Bulk Crap Uninstaller

Sharp HiDPI scaling on non-Apple monitors, brightness and volume over DDC, and virtual screens.

Remaps any key — Caps Lock to Escape or Hyper, PC keyboard layouts, complex per-app rules.

On Windows: AutoHotkey, PowerToys Keyboard Manager

Smooth scrolling and separate scroll direction for a mouse wheel, leaving the trackpad natural.

Sunburst map of what fills your disk; drill in and drag big folders out to delete.

On Windows: WizTree, WinDirStat

All-in-one cleanup: caches, large files, uninstaller, malware scan and login items. Most of it is doable by hand for free.

On Windows: CCleaner

Opens RAR, 7z and dozens of other formats the built-in Archive Utility cannot. Extract only.

On Windows: 7-Zip

Creates and extracts 7z, zip, tar and more (RAR extract only), with passwords and split archives.

On Windows: 7-Zip, PeaZip

Browse and preview inside archives without extracting, pull out single files, and make encrypted archives.

On Windows: WinRAR, Bandizip

Two-pane Finder replacement with SFTP, S3, SMB and cloud drives, sync and batch rename built in.

On Windows: Total Commander, Directory Opus

Total Commander-style two-pane manager. PRO adds FTP/SFTP, cloud drives, archives as folders and root access.

On Windows: Total Commander

Panic's file transfer client for SFTP, FTP, S3, WebDAV and cloud drives, with folder sync.

On Windows: WinSCP

SFTP, FTP, S3, Azure, Google Drive and Dropbox browser; open files in your editor and it uploads on save.

On Windows: WinSCP, Cyberduck (also on Windows)

Beautiful diff and merge for text, folders and images, with git integration.

On Windows: WinMerge, Beyond Compare

The best folder compare and sync, plus text, table, image and hex compares. Pro adds 3-way merge.

On Windows: Beyond Compare (also on Windows), WinMerge

Apple's side-by-side file and folder diff, bundled with Xcode; run it from the terminal as opendiff.

On Windows: WinMerge

Fast hex editor that opens multi-gigabyte files instantly, with binary diff and templates.

On Windows: HxD, WinHex

Microsoft's code editor with extensions for every language, git, terminal and remote SSH/containers.

On Windows: VS Code (also on Windows)

Very fast editor with multiple cursors and Goto Anything. One licence covers all your machines and OSes.

On Windows: Sublime Text (also on Windows)

Veteran Mac text editor with powerful grep find-and-replace and huge-file handling; keeps working in free mode after the trial.

On Windows: Notepad++, EmEditor

Light, native plain-text editor with syntax highlighting and regex — the nearest thing to Notepad++.

On Windows: Notepad++

Terminal replacement with split panes, search, a drop-down hotkey window and tmux integration.

On Windows: Windows Terminal

Terminal with command blocks, an IDE-like input box and a built-in AI agent. Paid tiers add AI credits.

On Windows: Warp (also on Windows)

The Mac package manager — `brew install --cask` installs most apps on this page in one line.

On Windows: winget, Scoop

Fast, light Docker and Linux VM runtime — a drop-in Docker Desktop replacement that uses far less memory.

On Windows: Docker Desktop, WSL

The official Docker GUI and engine. Paid plan required at 250+ staff or US$10M+ revenue.

On Windows: Docker Desktop (also on Windows)

Native GUI for MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, Redis, Mongo and more. The free version caps open tabs and connections.

On Windows: HeidiSQL, TablePlus (also on Windows)

MySQL and MariaDB client, the maintained successor to Sequel Pro.

On Windows: HeidiSQL

Fast git GUI with interactive rebase, a clear merge-conflict view and side-by-side diffs.

On Windows: Fork (also on Windows)

Modern, native-looking video player built on mpv, with picture-in-picture and online subtitles.

On Windows: PotPlayer, MPC-HC

Plays anything, from any source, with no codec packs.

On Windows: VLC (also on Windows)

Converts and shrinks video to MP4/MKV with ready-made presets for devices and web.

On Windows: HandBrake (also on Windows)

Drag-and-drop converter for video, audio and images — HandBrake without the settings.

On Windows: HandBrake, Format Factory

Multi-track audio recording and editing with noise reduction, effects and plugins.

On Windows: GoldWave, Audacity (also on Windows)

Markdown notes stored as plain files on your disk, with backlinks, graph view and thousands of plugins.

On Windows: Obsidian (also on Windows)

The most polished password manager: passkeys, travel mode, sharing and Watchtower breach alerts.

On Windows: 1Password (also on Windows)

Open-source cloud password manager; the free plan syncs unlimited passwords across devices. Premium adds TOTP, attachments and reports.

On Windows: Bitwarden (also on Windows)

Offline password manager using the KeePass .kdbx file — open the same vault you used with KeePass 2 on Windows.

On Windows: KeePass 2, KeePassXC

The smoothest way to run Windows 11 (Arm) and Linux on a Mac, with Windows apps in their own Mac windows.

On Windows: Hyper-V, VMware Workstation

QEMU-based VMs with a friendly UI — virtualise Arm guests fast, or emulate x86 slowly.

On Windows: VirtualBox, Hyper-V

Full desktop hypervisor, free for all use since late 2024.

On Windows: VMware Workstation

Runs many Windows apps and games directly on the Mac (Wine), without a Windows licence or VM.

Outbound firewall: see which app connects where, on a live world map, and allow or block it.

On Windows: GlassWire, simplewall

Free outbound firewall from Objective-See: asks before an unknown app connects out.

On Windows: simplewall