Windows has a problem: useful settings are scattered everywhere — the Settings app, Control Panel, the registry, PowerShell. WinToys is basically a control panel for Windows that puts a lot of useful tweaks and maintenance tools in one place.
Cleanup
Remove temporary files, clear caches, and uninstall apps — all from one screen instead of three.
Tweak Windows
Change taskbar behaviour, adjust visual effects like transparency, and modify privacy-related settings.
Kill the noise
Disable annoying pop-ups and Windows notifications that interrupt you mid-work.
Performance
Manage startup apps, reduce unnecessary background activity, and change your power plan.
App management
See what's installed and delete apps easily — including the ones Windows makes hard to remove.
System info
CPU, RAM usage, available storage, and other system details in one glanceable panel.
Most Windows tweaks require digging through three menus and a registry key you probably shouldn't touch. WinToys collapses all of that into one window with switches instead of checkboxes you have to look up.
A collection of small utilities that each do one thing well — but together they quietly rewrite how you use Windows. This is the one app on this list I'd call a genuine must-have.
PowerToys Run Start Here
An app and file launcher. Search for apps, settings, and files, search the web, do quick calculations, manage clipboard history, check the time and date, or peek at system performance — all from one hotkey.
Awake
Keeps your computer awake when you don't want it drifting into sleep mode. Useful for downloads, renders, and long tasks.
PowerRename
Bulk-rename files in one go. Saves a huge amount of time compared to renaming each file manually.
Text Extractor
Extract text from anything on screen — including text inside images that you normally can't select or copy.
Color Picker
Grab the exact colour value from any pixel on your screen. Simple, fast, and always available.
Image Resizer
Right-click any image and pick a size. No opening Photoshop or online tools just to shrink a screenshot.
Keyboard Manager
Remap any key to any other key. For example, make Caps Lock work as Ctrl — one of the most common quality-of-life remaps for anyone who codes or types a lot.
You won't use every utility in PowerToys. But you'll use three or four of them daily once you know they exist. That's the whole point — it's a drawer of small wins.
If you've ever wanted Windows to look like a completely different operating system, this is the app for that. WindHawk is a modding platform for Windows — it changes how Windows looks and feels, not just what it does.
Transparency everywhere
Make your Start menu, taskbar, and notification area transparent — a look Windows itself won't give you.
Bring back Windows 7
Restore the classic Windows 7-style taskbar if the modern one has never felt right to you.
Vertical taskbar
Turn the taskbar vertical for a different screen layout — useful on ultrawide monitors.
Custom app grouping
Change how apps get grouped in the taskbar. Small detail, but it changes how you actually use it.
These mods are built by random developers. Not all mods inside WindHawk are created by the person who built WindHawk itself. Because of that, it's reasonable to assume some mods may carry malware.
I'm not saying skip the app. I am saying: take precautions when installing a mod. Check the author, look at what it does, and don't install anything you don't understand.
A Windows File Explorer alternative, built from scratch. The whole package is less than 3 MB — smaller than most songs on your drive. And it's noticeably faster than what Windows ships with.
Instant folder opening
Folders open immediately. No spinner, no waiting — just the contents.
Smooth scrolling
The kind of smooth scrolling the default Windows File Explorer still hasn't figured out.
Multiple themes
Change the appearance to fit the rest of your setup.
Quick view control
Change view settings with a slider. Click any file and press space to preview it in the side panel.
File Pilot is currently in beta and free — but that may not always be the case. Once it's fully released, it'll likely sit behind a paywall. Right now, you can download the beta version for free.
The Five, One Line Each
These are the five apps that changed how Windows feels for me day to day. One line each, so you can decide which to grab first.
Where to Go Next
If you're into useful open-source apps, this is the kind of thing I cover on the channel — real tools I actually use, not listicles of things I've never opened.
More app guides like this are on the way.
Four of the five apps on this list are free and open source. WinToys, WindHawk, ShareX, and File Pilot's beta are all free to grab right now. PowerToys is free from Microsoft. There's no catch on any of them — the only caution flag is WindHawk's community mods, and that's on a per-mod basis, not on the app itself.