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Discussing personal productivity levels feels somewhat inappropriate given the current context. Advocating for “increased productivity” seems almost ludicrous in light of the challenges posed by an unforeseen global pandemic that caught everyone off guard and left us grappling with its impact. Haven’t we collectively faced more than our fair share of adversity? By the way, if you’re looking to enhance your efficiency on Windows, you might want to explore the “Best Productivity Apps for Windows” to see how technology can assist in navigating these trying times.
However, aside from specialised software, there is a wide ocean of Windows apps that may help practically anyone become more productive at work. Calendar and to-do applications, for example, will help you stay organised. Clipboard utilities, for example, take some of the tedium out of working on your computer all day. And automation technologies make your PC do more work in background for you. The majority of the programs on this list are either free or ones we would invest in ourselves.
Best Productivity Apps for Windows
ShareX
If you’ve ever tried taking screenshots with the normal Windows tools (Snip and Sketch), you know how difficult it is. It’s acceptable if you’re only snapping a few screenshots here and there. However, if you need to take a lot of screenshots for work or school, Snip and Sketch is a bit cumbersome. It is particularly lacking in a powerful screenshot editor for cropping and annotating photographs. We offer ShareX as an alternative.
ShareX is a free and open-source Windows screenshot utility. You can record any part of your screen with a handful of keystrokes. After taking a screenshot, ShareX allows you to trim, annotate, and even blur areas of your image. The annotation features in Snip and Sketch are nowhere near as powerful as those in ShareX. The most notable feature of ShareX is optical character recognition (OCR).
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is an excellent office productivity solution for both businesses and students. You’re probably already using an older version of Microsoft Office for your daily requirements, but Microsoft 365 provides you with the best of what Microsoft has to offer. Microsoft 365 includes well-known legacy apps such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, and Outlook.
Microsoft 365 includes OneDrive in addition to a variety of apps from the Office suite. So, not only do you get the best office productivity apps with Microsoft 365, but you also get a dependable cloud-based integration that allows you to view your work from nearly anywhere while also safely backing up crucial files.
QuickLook
If you’ve ever used macOS, you’ll know that the Finder allows you to rapidly preview files without having to open them. Quick Look is a tool that is especially handy for seeing large files that would take a long time to fully open. While such a tool does exist in Windows, it is nowhere near as useful as the macOS equivalent.
Fortunately, QuickLook, a free program, provides this speedy preview feature to Windows. Once QuickLook is installed, you must click on a file and press the spacebar. Then you’ll see a huge graphic previewing the file’s contents. QuickLook will save you a lot of time you’d normally spend waiting for apps to load if you work with a lot of Photoshop files, gifs, or videos.
Asana
Asana is well-known for task management and collaboration. It is a highly adaptable work management application that facilitates team cooperation. The software is designed with a straightforward interface and a plethora of capabilities that make workload management and task assignment extremely efficient.
Asana is not the best project management solution, but it focuses on productivity and effective communication. It is quite simple to keep track of all work assigned to a certain employee, and relevant reports can be generated. What Asana lacks in built-in capabilities, it compensates for with sophisticated integrations that allow Asana to adapt to your workflow.
Notion
We couldn’t compile a list of the top Windows productivity apps without mentioning Notion. Notion is essentially a note-taking program, task organiser, and database application rolled into one. While it can perform a lot of advanced things, we prefer Notion especially if you’re searching for a free, capable note-taking app for Windows.
You’ll find all of the text editing features you’d expect, as well as a number of formatting options for your notes. You may establish as many levels of hierarchy as you like, which makes Notion ideal for implementing systems like Tiago Forte’s PARA. Notion makes it incredibly simple to include photographs, videos, and other media in your notes.
Microsoft Edge
Windows browsers have not always had a good reputation. As a result, you may be shocked to learn that we prefer Microsoft Edge. However, upon closer investigation, you’ll notice that Edge is a tremendous upgrade over its Internet Explorer forefathers. We recommend switching to Edge if you use Google Chrome on Windows. To begin, Edge outperforms Chrome in terms of speed.
The exact number is arguable, but everyone who uses Chrome on a regular basis is aware of how resource-intensive it can be. Edge, fortunately, is built on Chromium, the same open-source code that powers Chrome. This means you can instal extensions from the Chrome Web Store while preserving your current Chrome workflow. Overall, it is one of the best Productivity Apps for Windows that you can download from official website.
Slack
Slack is one of the most effective communication technologies available. It has been a vital necessity in organisational workflow during the last few years. Slack is an outstanding communication and productivity tool in terms of functionality and design. Slack allows your team to hold one-on-one and group conversations, as well as audio/video calls. Organizations typically create distinct “channels” for each team in order to maximise team collaboration.
Aside from professional chats, Slack fosters a sense of community inside the firm by providing dedicated channels for various leisure topics such as sports, reading, and travel. You may even combine Slack with industry-leading products and custom apps to achieve the most effective workflow. Slack may be integrated with a variety of systems, including OneDrive, Google Docs, Microsoft Teams, and Github.
DisplayFusion
Having more than one monitor saves you the time and effort of switching between open windows. However, the display settings in Windows don’t allow you to do much more than choose whether to mirror your primary monitors or extend the laptops to all screens. DisplayFusion is Windows’ most feature-rich multi-monitor tool.
Create profiles for window sizes and locations to arrange your windows exactly how you want them every time you boot up your computer. Have use of screensavers and make your desktop background span all of your displays. Each of your monitors should have a taskbar. Create custom scripts to automate your Windows administration.
Pushbullet
You receive a text message from a buddy, but your phone is somewhere else or buried in your backpack. You discover a fantastic new restaurant but don’t want to email yourself the link so you can access it on the fly. You’re not at your workstation and require a file on your PC that hasn’t been synced with your phone or tablet.
If any of these scenarios sound similar, download Pushbullet. Pushbullet, which is available on all platforms and as a Chrome extension, easily connects all of your devices so you can exchange files and receive notifications no matter where you are. You can pin the standalone Windows program to your taskbar for convenient access to the new Remote Files capability.
TeamViewer
TeamViewer is one of the greatest remote access software solutions for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it’s completely free to use for personal use. Once TeamViewer is installed on a computer, you may connect to and control it from any computer or smartphone device worldwide. Log into your parents’ computer, for example, to help them with their technological issues.
Alternatively, you can share your desktop with others to lead them through a demo. Connect to your home computer to obtain a file when you’re on the road. If you’re lazy like me, you could even run an application on another computer in another room of your house without leaving your workstation.
Final Words
Here are some of the best Productivity Apps for Windows. Your time is valuable, and you must be productive in order to perform your chores efficiently. You can increase your productivity tenfold with the correct collection of apps. If you truly want to work smart, you must utilise the right tools save time, organise your activities, and make your workflow run more smoothly.