AWESOME WINDOWS TOOLS

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on dev.to

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  • awesome-windows-tools

    Discontinued A Curated List of tools and Software for Windows OS

  • audacity

    Audio Editor

  • Audacity - Free, open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds.

  • WorkOS

    The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. The APIs are flexible and easy-to-use, supporting authentication, user identity, and complex enterprise features like SSO and SCIM provisioning.

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  • mixxx

    Mixxx is Free DJ software that gives you everything you need to perform live mixes.

  • Mixxx - Free DJ software that gives you everything you need to perform live mixes, veritable alternative to Traktor.

  • picard

    A cross-platform music tagger powered by the MusicBrainz database. Picard organizes your music collection by updating your tags, renaming your files, and sorting them into a folder structure, exactly the way you want it.

  • MusicBrainz Picard - Picard is a cross-platform music tagger that looks up and rewrite metadata tags.

  • zsh

    Mirror of the Z shell source code repository.

  • Zsh - A powerful command line shell.

  • caprine

    Elegant Facebook Messenger desktop app

  • Caprine - An elegant Facebook Messenger desktop app.

  • riot-web

    Discontinued A glossy Matrix collaboration client for the web. [Moved to: https://github.com/vector-im/element-web]

  • Riot - A decentralised encrypted comms app for the Matrix.org ecosystem.

  • InfluxDB

    Power Real-Time Data Analytics at Scale. Get real-time insights from all types of time series data with InfluxDB. Ingest, query, and analyze billions of data points in real-time with unbounded cardinality.

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  • Vagrant

    Vagrant is a tool for building and distributing development environments.

  • Vagrant - A tool for building and managing virtual machines.

  • Tor

    Discontinued Tor protects your privacy on the Internet by hiding the connection between your Internet address and the services you use. (This is *not* the official repository.) (by katmagic)

  • Tor Project - Enable anonymous communication.

  • franz

    Franz is a free messaging app for services like WhatsApp, Slack, Messenger and many more.

  • Franz - A messaging app for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram and many many more.

  • ScreenToGif

    🎬 ScreenToGif allows you to record a selected area of your screen, edit and save it as a gif or video.

  • ScreenToGif - ScreenToGif allows you to record a selected area of your screen and save it as a gif or video.

  • Classic-Start

    Renamed to NeoClassic-UI then renamed to Open-Shell - https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

  • Classic Start - Use Start Menu and Explorer like it's 2000.

  • EarTrumpet

    EarTrumpet - Volume Control for Windows

  • EarTrumpet - Per application volume control from the system tray.

  • rainmeter

    Desktop customization tool for Windows

  • Rainmeter - Rainmeter allows you to display customizable skins on your desktop, from hardware usage meters to fully functional audio visualizers.

  • openoffice

    Apache OpenOffice

  • OpenOffice - Software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more.

  • search-deflector

    Discontinued A small program that forwards searches from Cortana to your preferred browser and search engine.

  • Search Deflector - A small program that redirects searches made from the Windows Start Menu or Cortana to whatever browser and search engine you prefer.

  • TranslucentTB

    A lightweight utility that makes the Windows taskbar translucent/transparent.

  • TranslucentTB - Make your Windows task bar transparent.

  • ONLYOFFICE

    ONLYOFFICE Docs is a free collaborative online office suite comprising viewers and editors for texts, spreadsheets and presentations, forms and PDF, fully compatible with Office Open XML formats: .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and enabling collaborative editing in real time.

  • OnlyOffice - The most complete and feature-rich office and productivity suite.

  • Windows-10-Login-Background-Changer

    Discontinued Changes the Windows 10 Login Screen Background

  • Windows 10 Login Background Changer - Lets you change the Windows 10 login screen background.

  • LibreOffice

    Read-only LibreOffice core repo - no pull request (use gerrit instead https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/) - don't download zip, use https://dev-www.libreoffice.org/bundles/ instead (by LibreOffice)

  • LibreOffice - Open source office suite.

  • GitExtensions

    Git Extensions is a standalone UI tool for managing git repositories. It also integrates with Windows Explorer and Microsoft Visual Studio (2015/2017/2019).

  • Git Extensions - A powerful and easy to use UI for Git.

  • intellij-plugins

    Open-source plugins included in the distribution of IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate and other IDEs based on the IntelliJ Platform

  • IntelliJ IDEA - A modern Java IDE with free community edition.

  • desktop

    Focus on what matters instead of fighting with Git.

  • GitHub Desktop - GitHub Desktop is an open source Electron-based GitHub app.

  • im-only-resting

    A feature-rich WinForms-based HTTP client

  • I'm Only Resting -A feature-rich WinForms-based HTTP client

  • NSudo

    Discontinued [Deprecated, work in progress alternative: https://github.com/M2Team/NanaRun] Series of System Administration Tools

  • NSudo - A Powerful System Administration Tool.

  • freeciv

    Freeciv is a Free and Open Source empire-building strategy game inspired by the history of human civilization. Upstream repository for the standalone Freeciv client and server. Report bugs and submit patches at https://osdn.net/projects/freeciv/ticket/

  • Freeciv - A Free and Open Source empire-building strategy game inspired by the history of human civilization.

  • TailBlazer

    A modern file tail utility based on Rx.Net which show cases reactive programming and Dynamic Data (see https://github.com/RolandPheasant/DynamicData)

  • TailBlazer - A small fast tool for browsing through logs

  • tortoisegit

    Windows Explorer Extension to Operate Git; Mirror of official repository https://tortoisegit.org/sourcecode

  • TortoiseGit - Git client with full shell integration.

  • vagrant

    Discontinued Vagrant is a tool for building and distributing development environments. [Moved to: https://github.com/hashicorp/vagrant] (by mitchellh)

  • Vagrant - A tool for building and managing virtual machines.

  • Visual Studio Code

    Visual Studio Code

  • Visual Studio Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications.

  • davinci-resolve-linux

    Setup Davinci Resolve on Linux an Fix Issues with Importing and Exporting Media

  • DaVinci Resolve - Professional video creation software for editing, visual effects, color correction, and audio post production.

  • wmie2

  • WMI Explorer - Provides the ability to browse and view WMI namespaces/classes/instances/properties in a single pane of view.

  • sumatrapdf

    SumatraPDF reader

  • Sumatra PDF - PDF, ePub, MOBI, CHM, XPS, DjVu, CBZ, CBR reader.

  • arq_restore

    command-line utility for restoring from Arq backups

  • Arq - Backs up your files to your own cloud account (Amazon Cloud Drive, AWS, Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Cloud Storage, OneDrive, and SFTP).

  • Mailspring

    :love_letter: A beautiful, fast and fully open source mail client for Mac, Windows and Linux.

  • Mailspring - A fast and maintained fork of Nylas Mail, built on modern web technologies.

  • ueli

    Keystroke launcher for Windows, macOS and Linux

  • ueli - A powerful keystroke launcher for Windows.

  • N1

    Discontinued :love_letter: An extensible desktop mail app built on the modern web. Forks welcome! [Moved to: https://github.com/nylas/nylas-mail]

  • Nylas Mail - An extensible desktop mail app built on the modern web.

  • 0ad

    Git mirror of the 0 A.D. source code (http://trac.wildfiregames.com/browser)

  • 0 A.D. - A free, open-source real-time strategy game of ancient warfare.

  • games

    :video_game: A list of popular/awesome video games, add-ons, maps, etc. hosted on GitHub. Any genre. Any platform. Any engine.

  • Awesome Games - List of games hosted on Github.

  • sqlitebrowser

    Official home of the DB Browser for SQLite (DB4S) project. Previously known as "SQLite Database Browser" and "Database Browser for SQLite". Website at:

  • DB Browser for SQLite - High quality, visual, open source tool to create, design, and edit database files compatible with SQLite

  • SpaceVim

    Discontinued A community-driven modular vim/neovim distribution - The ultimate vimrc

  • SpaceVim - A community-driven vim distribution

  • Godot

    Godot Engine – Multi-platform 2D and 3D game engine

  • Godot Engine - Free and open source game engine. Easy to get started and flexible for intermediate users.

  • RetroShare

    RetroShare is a Free and Open Source cross-platform, Friend-2-Friend and secure decentralised communication platform.

  • Retroshare - A platform for secure communications and file sharing between friends.

  • itch

    🎮 The best way to play your itch.io games

  • Itch.io - Install, update and play indie games.

  • Quassel IRC

    Quassel IRC: Chat comfortably. Everywhere.

  • Quassel - Quassel IRC is a modern, cross-platform, distributed IRC client.

  • inkscape

  • Inkscape - Inkscape is a professional vector graphics editor for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

  • obs-studio

    OBS Studio - Free and open source software for live streaming and screen recording

  • Open Broadcaster Software - Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.

  • Atom

    Discontinued :atom: The hackable text editor

  • Atom - A hackable text editor for the 21st Century.

  • notepad-plus-plus

    Notepad++ official repository

  • Notepad++ - A source code editor which supports several programming languages.

  • neovim

    Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability

  • Neovim - literally the future of vim

  • Brackets

    Discontinued An open source code editor for the web, written in JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

  • Brackets - A modern, open source text editor that understands web design.

  • Vim

    The official Vim repository

  • GVim - (G)Vim is a highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing.

  • mpv

    🎥 Command line video player

  • mpv - Media player.

  • Kodi Home Theater Software

    Kodi is an award-winning free and open source home theater/media center software and entertainment hub for digital media. With its beautiful interface and powerful skinning engine, it's available for Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS, tvOS and Windows.

  • Kodi - Free and Open Source home theatre software.

  • Light Table

    Discontinued The Light Table IDE ⛺

  • Light Table - A customizable editor with instant feedback and showing data values flow through your code.

  • oni

    Discontinued Oni: Modern Modal Editing - powered by Neovim

  • SpaceVim - A community-driven vim distribution

  • insomnia

    The open-source, cross-platform API client for GraphQL, REST, WebSockets, SSE and gRPC. With Cloud, Local and Git storage.

  • Insomnia - A modern REST client with a beautiful interface.

  • hyperterm

    A terminal built on web technologies

  • Hyper - A terminal built on web technologies.

  • intellij-community

    IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition & IntelliJ Platform

  • IntelliJ IDEA - A modern Java IDE with free community edition.

  • mockttp

    Powerful friendly HTTP mock server & proxy library

  • HTTP Toolkit - HTTP debugging & mocking tool.

  • Duplicati

    Store securely encrypted backups in the cloud!

  • Duplicati - Free backup software to store encrypted backups online For Windows, macOS and Linux.

  • hexchat

    Discontinued GTK+ IRC client

  • Hexchat - IRC client based on XChat

  • aperture-control

    Windows environment automation tool

  • Aperture Control - Windows environment automation tool with a number of premade recipes and examples available.

  • aperture-control-recipes

    Collection of recipes for aperture-control

  • Aperture Control - Windows environment automation tool with a number of premade recipes and examples available.

  • aperture-control-example

    Example for a standard development environment setup via Aperture Control

  • Aperture Control - Windows environment automation tool with a number of premade recipes and examples available.

  • CommandTrayHost

    A command line program monitor systray for Windows

  • CommandTrayHost - A Command Line program monitor systray for Windows.

  • HandBrake

    HandBrake's main development repository

  • HandBrake - High performance video encoding and conversion tools with a nice GUI.

  • CopyQ

    Clipboard manager with advanced features

  • CopyQ - Clipboard manager with advanced features.

  • Launchy

    Launchy is a good looking launcher for Windows (by OpenNingia)

  • Launchy - The Open Source Keystroke Launcher.

  • Luna

    Discontinued Automatic dark mode for Windows 10 (by adrianmteo)

  • Luna - Automatic dark mode for Windows 10.

  • ShareX

    ShareX is a free and open source program that lets you capture or record any area of your screen and share it with a single press of a key. It also allows uploading images, text or other types of files to many supported destinations you can choose from.

  • ShareX- Lets you take screenshots or screencasts of any selected area with a single key.

  • Scoop

    A command-line installer for Windows.

  • Scoop - A command-line installer for Windows.

  • Wox

    A cross-platform launcher that simply works

  • Wox - An effective launcher for windows.

  • exifcleaner

    Cross-platform desktop GUI app to clean image metadata

  • ExifCleaner - Remove exif metadata from images and videos with drag and drop.

  • Tabby

    A terminal for a more modern age

  • Terminus - modern, highly configurable terminal app based on web technologies.

  • babun

    Babun - a Windows shell you will love!

  • Babun - Alternative Windows shell based on Cygwin.

  • cmder

    Lovely console emulator package for Windows

  • Cmder - Console emulator package with clink shell.

  • Console

    Discontinued The new Windows Terminal and the original Windows console host, all in the same place! [Moved to: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal] (by Microsoft)

  • ColorTool - Set custom color schemes for the Windows Console with support for iTerm color schemes.

  • ConEmu

    Customizable Windows terminal with tabs, splits, quake-style, hotkeys and more

  • ConEmu - Customizable terminal with tabs, splits, quake-style and more.

  • tdesktop

    Telegram Desktop messaging app

  • Telegram - A messaging app with a focus on speed and security, it’s super fast, simple and free.

  • console

    This is a modified version of Console 2 for a better experience under Windows Vista/7/8/10 and a better visual rendering. (by cbucher)

  • ConsoleZ - Modified version of Console 2 for a better experience and a better visual rendering.

  • Cryptomator

    Multi-platform transparent client-side encryption of your files in the cloud

  • Cryptomator - Free client-side encryption for your cloud files.

  • FluentTerminal

    A Terminal Emulator based on UWP and web technologies.

  • FluentTerminal - A Terminal Emulator based on UWP and web technologies.

  • hyper

    Discontinued A terminal built on web technologies [Moved to: https://github.com/vercel/hyper] (by zeit)

  • Hyper - A terminal built on web technologies.

  • Chocolatey

    Chocolatey - the package manager for Windows

  • Chocolatey - A package manager for Windows.

  • Windows Terminal

    The new Windows Terminal and the original Windows console host, all in the same place!

  • Windows Terminal - Microsoft's official new terminal for Windows.

  • Ext3Fsd

    Ext2/3/4 file system driver for Windows

  • Ext2Fsd - Open source ext3/4 file system driver for Windows.

  • fselect

    Find files with SQL-like queries

  • fselect - Command-line tool to search files with SQL-like queries.

  • calibre

    The official source code repository for the calibre ebook manager

  • Calibre - Powerful software for e-book management and conversion.

  • awesome-dva

    A curated list of "damn vulnerable apps" and exploitable VMs / wargames. See contributing.md for information.

  • greenshot

    Greenshot for Windows - Report bugs & features go here: https://greenshot.atlassian.net or look for information on:

  • Greenshot - Take and crop screenshots directly on the screen.

  • httrack

    HTTrack Website Copier, copy websites to your computer (Official repository)

  • HTTrack- Offline browser utility, allowing you to download a website from the Internet to a local directory.

  • AutoHotkey_L

    Discontinued AutoHotkey - macro-creation and automation-oriented scripting utility for Windows. [Moved to: https://github.com/AutoHotkey/AutoHotkey]

  • AutoHotkey - The ultimate automation scripting language for Windows.

  • LightBulb

    Reduces eye strain by adjusting gamma based on the current time

  • LightBulb - Reduces eyestrain by adjusting gamma based on the current time

  • PowerSwitcher

    Power plan switcher for Windows 10. Heavily inspired by EarTrumpet.

  • PowerPlanSwitcher - Provides a quick UI for switching power schemas & automatic switch on AC-plug-in on Windows10.

  • rimraf

    A `rm -rf` util for nodejs

  • rimraf - A deep deletion module for node. Help to delete files and folders with very long paths

  • winreg-cli

    Discontinued Command line tool with a fluent API for modifying the Windows registry

  • winreg-cli - Command line tool with a fluent API for modifying Windows registry.

  • Yacy

    Distributed Peer-to-Peer Web Search Engine and Intranet Search Appliance

  • Yacy - A general search engine by corporations of people, including the search web page, general crawlers, indexing, and ranking functions.

  • ZeroNet

    ZeroNet - Decentralized websites using Bitcoin crypto and BitTorrent network

  • ZeroNet - A decentralized web.

  • algo

    Set up a personal VPN in the cloud

  • Algo - Personal IPSEC VPN in the cloud.

  • olive

    Free open-source non-linear video editor

  • Olive Video Editor - Open source cross-platform non-linear video editor.

  • OBS

    Open Broadcaster Software (Deprecated: See OBS Studio repository instead)

  • Open Broadcaster Software - Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.

  • SaaSHub

    SaaSHub - Software Alternatives and Reviews. SaaSHub helps you find the best software and product alternatives

    SaaSHub logo
NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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