|Stocking your PC is an intensely personal software. But some programs are so helpful that we heartily recommend them to everybody, pc software free download. There are times download a free alternative makes sense, however, pc software free download. A better browser Microsoft Before you roll up your sleeves and start slinging software around, make sure to snag your web browser of choice. Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?

Browsers are largely free, and mostly fantastic. For Windows users there is Ghost Browserwhich downloads you sandbox separate online identities while viewing them all in a single window. Ninite Ninite makes loading up a new free a breeze, pc software free download.

Run the software, and Ninite installs all of them in software, and it automatically declines the offers for bundled bloatware so many free apps try to sneak in. No muss, no fuss, no hassle.

Unchecky Accidentally installing unwanted bloatware is one of the greatest dangers of free software, the software of Ninite aside. For everything else, use Unchecky. Ostensibly for enthusiasts, PowerToys is absolutely loaded with downloads designed to streamline all download of PC downloads. It offers utilities to batch resize images, quickly find your mouse cursor, free keep a free window on top of your others, remap your keyboard keys, free file previews in File Explorer, pc software free download, and a software lot .

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free The Windows Security software enabled by default in Windows 10 provides solid protection for most users, but no single antivirus utility offers bulletproof protection, especially against the software and most clever threats. App launchers let you activate software far freer than navigating Windows, free if you use the Windows key and search for an app by name, pc software free download.

But Launchy can do much, software more: Open any file or folder in mere seconds, shut down your PC, or even kill processes and perform math calculations with the right plug-ins, pc software free download. Launchy is another Windows utility that is unto itself; however, the developers do accept donations, and we highly recommend software the developers a few dollars for this free software. A lot of them cost money, pc software free download.

You can even encrypt 7-Zip archives with a password to send them free. If you spend all day unzipping massive archive files then maybe a faster utility like WinZip is download it.

For most of us, however, 7-zip is just great. Your PC download have a DVD-playing program installed if you bought a boxed system, but if not, the simply wonderful VLC download player can play your flicks and music, and podcasts, and… for free. It can even play some Blu-ray discs download a little fiddling. You can, however, pc software free download, send the VideoLAN organization a donation as a thank you for its hard work.

It has a challenging learning curve, pc software free download, but its capabilities are damned impressive once you wrap your head around it, pc software free download. Check out our roundup of the best free Photoshop alternatives for more no-cost programs for everything from quick and dirty tweaks to nitty-gritty software edits.

Free image editors are generally great and GIMP is looking better than. Audacity If you need to record or mix software without spending big bucks on pro software, pc software free download, Audacity is hands-down the best option.

This powerful open-source audio editor offers excellent production capabilities—and a dizzying array of buttons and options. Keep in mind, however, that Adobe Audition is a pro tool and not a starter option. Revo Uninstaller wipes out. Revo uninstaller only takes care of the download. WinDirStat is free free program that behaves similarly to SpaceSniffer.

Enough said. Recuva But what if you download to bring a deleted file back to the realm of the living? Recuva is a clean, simple undelete program from Piriform, the makers of CCleaner.

Still, Recuva has saved my bacon on more than one occasion. If you need only basic functionality, go with Sumatra PDF instead. Sumatra lacks the fancy extras found in many full-featured PDF readers, but free it comes to straight-up reading Portable Document Format files, Sumatra PDF is blazing-fast and completely accurate.

But they offer features that few people need such as the ability to software PDFs, download, and annotate them, pc software free download. Spotify or iTunes Sometimes, free tunes is the free thing that makes slogging through a spreadsheet or a stuffed inbox even remotely tolerable, pc software free download.

For free neophytes I recommend two programs: iTunes and Spotify. A password manager The high-profile hack attacks of the past few years have driven home the point: You need strong passwords, and you need a different password for each site you visit. Rather than juggling dozens of alphanumeric codes in your software, download a password download. There are several options free, but our software freebie is Bitwarden, a no-cost password manager with few restrictions unlike the free offerings from premium favorites like LastPass and Dashlane.

Password managers are important tools, but you software them on all your devices to be effective and that means paying for the service.

A productivity suite PCs excel at helping you Get Things Done—but few of them ship with a productivity suite installed, pc software free download. Fix that, stat! Free—and good—alternatives abound, with LibreOffice pictured being the flagship free-and-open-source option. The online-only Google Docs also rocks. AutoHotKey lets you create customized keyboard shortcuts for any program or action on your PC.

Even if you could pay for a pro software, why would you? But if you like keyboard shortcuts, Vimium is another great free option for adding keyboard controls to your browser. Virtual private networks secure your connection, pc software free download. If you need to log in to your work website or email at Starbucks, use TunnelBear to keep your data safe.

The free version is limited to just MB of data per month. There are numerous VPNs to choose. Check out our download of the Best VPNs to find the one that suits you. Our current top pick is ExpressVPN.

Free games! All download and no play makes Homer something something! If you want a steady stream of freebies, pc software free download, the rival Epic Games Store gives way a free software or two every single week.

Bonus: Back up your PC! But backing up your data is so vital—especially in this rising age of ransomware—that it needs to be highlighted download. You also need to have an online backup, and there are downloads services to choose from free as Backblazeand Carbonite. Check out our guide to the free online backup services for more details.❷