Best Free Office and Spreadsheet Software Since the rise of productivity tools like Google Docs, LibreOffice ( Windows, Mac), Google Keep (Android, iOS), and Evernote, Microsoft Office is no.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared at TechSoup.org, where you can find many other nonprofit technology resources. We’re grateful for the financial support our friends there provided for this article.
How do open-source productivity suites compare to Office 2016—and does it make sense for your organization to choose free, community-based software rather than the commercially licensed offering from Microsoft? We compare three toolsets on philosophy, price, and features to help you decide.
Microsoft Office continues to dominate the productivity software marketplace. However, open-source options such as Apache OpenOffice and the Document Foundation’s LibreOffice have emerged—and many users feel they are as good or better than Microsoft Office.
How do these open-source suites differ from Microsoft Office? Should your nonprofit consider one of them? To help you decide, we compared key features of the 2016 version of Microsoft’s productivity suite to Apache OpenOffice 4.1 and LibreOffice 5.1.
Both open-source suites offer tools with the same names — Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), and Impress (slide presentations) — to compete with Microsoft’s equivalent products — Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The open-source options also include “Base,” a database similar to Microsoft Access; a tool called “Draw” that’s similar to Microsoft Visio; a chart-creation module called “Charts”; and an equation editor called “Math.” Although some desktop versions of Microsoft Office don’t include the desktop-publishing application Publisher, all now offer OneNote, a note-taking and sharing tool. Office 2016 also includes Outlook. Neither of the open-source alternatives provides an email or calendaring tool or an analogue for OneNote.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation tools.
Open Source Versus Commercial
Before we look at specific features of the competing suites, it may be helpful to take a step back. Let’s compare the philosophical differences between the three packages and how those differences might affect how you purchase and use the suites.
Commercially licensed software, such as Microsoft Office, is developed by a single vendor. Its sales help fund product development, testing, marketing, salaries, and shareholder dividends. In contrast, open-source software is developed collaboratively, often by volunteers, and made available for free. Anyone who wishes to use, redistribute, adapt, or improve the code can do so without permission or payment of any kind.
The open-source philosophy is about more than software. It is born out of a deep distrust of large corporations, an enthusiasm for individual innovation, and a belief that community action is effective in solving problems. Not surprisingly, it can attract loyal adherents who are committed to sharing information and building better software.
On the other hand, some consumers are more comfortable with a for-profit model they feel rewards and incentivizes ingenuity. If you have deep a conviction in either direction, it’s not likely that we’ll change your mind. For the rest of you, each model has tangible advantages and disadvantages that we’ll look at in closer detail.
First, the cost: Open-source applications often cost nothing. OpenOffice and LibreOffice are both free. Microsoft Office 2016, however, costs from $149.99 to $399.99 depending on the edition, but is available to eligible U.S.-based nonprofits and libraries through TechSoup at a significant discount.
Updates to the latest-and-greatest versions of the open-source applications are also free, but the same is not always true for Microsoft Office users. Office 2013 users who want to upgrade to Office 2016 have to pay for the new edition, for example. However, smaller updates between major releases are free. (Note: If you currently hold a valid license of Office with Software Assurance, a support-and-benefits service available to volume-licensing customers, you may be able to upgrade to newer versions released during your coverage period for free.)
Related to price, licensing is another advantage of open-source software. You don’t have to worry about how many copies of LibreOffice you’ve installed at home or the office. There’s no cost no matter how many times you download or install it. However, when you buy or receive a version of Office 2016, you may only install it on a specified number of computers within your organization — the number depends on which edition of the suite you purchase, so you’ll need to keep track of exactly where it’s been installed.
Another advantage of open-source code — if you’re a programmer — is that you can do what you like with it. You can study OpenOffice or LibreOffice and customize it to your needs, improve it, or use the code to create something completely new and release your changes to the public. Unless you’re a programmer or have one on staff, this may not be a feature you need, but for some users it’s a valuable selling point. Microsoft doesn’t offer anything comparable.
What Microsoft does offer is a company that has a strong incentive to create applications that it can sell. This means its features, support, and interface need to be attractive enough for users to purchase year after year. Microsoft has built a vast pool of talented developers, a mature platform, and polished user interfaces. Also, by virtue of being the largest software provider in this space, there are hundreds of Microsoft Office suite experts who can help troubleshoot issues and offer tips for power users.
The mandates for open-source applications also tend to be fuzzy. Tech-savvy programmers are not always focused on the interface or user experience. Documentation can be spotty.
However, because open-source code is available to all, OpenOffice and LibreOffice are not solely dependent on their current crop of developers and corporate sponsors. Even if all those people supporting the project were to disappear, the code would still exist, and other people could pick up where they left off. Commercial products tend to keep their code secret, so if the company goes under, so does the software. That said, it is unlikely Microsoft will be unable to support its Office suite in the foreseeable future.
What About Office 365?
Office 365 is the online software subscription version of Microsoft Office. It offers all of the tools available in the desktop version of Office 2016 and many more that are not available for download. Users simply have an account that gives them online access to their Office apps and the files created on those apps. Qualified nonprofits and libraries can get Office 365 for free or at discount, depending on which plan they choose.
It’s no secret that Microsoft wants to move more people to its software as a service (SaaS) model, where upgrades and new features are automatic and customers are locked into an annual payment to use their product. Critics of Microsoft don’t like the feeling of being “locked” into regular payments and worry that they will lose control of their data. Of course, there are benefits to a Internet-based Office as well, namely the increased ability to share documents and access them on multiple devices.
However you feel about Office 365, this article focuses on the desktop version of Office 2016 because it’s a more apples-to-apples comparison with the open-source options. As a result, many of the new features in the online version of Office 2016 will not be covered here.
Comparing Office Productivity Suites
Whether open source or commercial, how do each of the three suites compare against the others?
First, a little about the two open-source tools: OpenOffice and LibreOffice are very similar products. In fact, they were both built upon the same source code. When Sun Microsystems acquired OpenOffice, and was subsequently taken over by Oracle, the community split and LibreOffice was created in parallel. (The OpenOffice project has since been handed over to the Apache Foundation.) For practical purposes, users won’t see much of a difference between the two tools, although it’s generally believed that LibreOffice is quicker to update and offer new features.
Usability and Interface
Microsoft Office’s interface is the de-facto standard for how office suites operate.
Many past innovations in the Microsoft Office user interface were met with scorn and frustration — most notably the introduction of the “ribbon” toolbar in Office 2007. Office 2016 is similar in look and feel to the previous version, which means the ribbon is still there. Hopefully you’re used to it by now. There’s a new gray theme that improves visibility for some users and more charts in Excel, but for the most part Microsoft has decided that its desktop offering is sticking to the basics.
However, a few new usability features stand out. If you’ve ever been working on a document and suddenly wanted to find more information, you can now get what you need without switching screens. You just select the text and choose Smart Lookup from the Home menu. Office 2016 also offers more targeted help. Its new Tell Me feature lets you type in a description of the feature you need and spits out links that will take you directly there. Outlook also makes it just a little easier to send a document in an email by using its Recent Documents feature.
OpenOffice and LibreOffice, on the other hand, lack the ribbon toolbar and instead offer a more traditional interface — which makes them intriguing options for Office 2003’s steadfast supporters. Anyone who has used Word or Excel 2003 will feel comfortable using their open-source competitors, Write and Calc, while those familiar with newer versions of Office will find them somewhat retro.
This is not to say that the open-source applications aren’t also improving usability. LibreOffice has worked to simplify its menus while providing finer controls for charts and images across all of its applications.
System Requirements
OpenOffice, LibreOffice, and Microsoft Office 2016 will all work fine on most computers, but if your office machines are significantly older, slower, or less powerful than the average modern machine, you’ll find OpenOffice and LibreOffice better suited than Office 2016.
For instance, Office 2016 requires a minimum of 2 GB RAM and 3 GB of hard-disk space. In contrast, both LibreOffice and OpenOffice need just 256 MB of RAM (although both recommend 512 MB) and 1.5 GB of hard-disk space. However, both open-source options need Java installed to take advantage of certain features, most notably Base. Office 2016 requires at least Windows 7 Service Pack 1, but notes that Windows 10 offers the “best experience.” LibreOffice and OpenOffice will run on older Windows versions, including XP or Vista, and OpenOffice can even run on Windows 2003.
In addition, both open-source suites will run on most Mac computers running OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or higher. In order to run the new Microsoft Office on a Mac, you no longer need to subscribe to Office 365, as was required with Office 2013. You will, however, need more memory — 4 GB of RAM and 6 GB of hard-disk space.
OpenOffice and LibreOffice will run on a Linux system — and Linux runs much more effectively than Windows 7 or XP on older computers. That advantage makes Linux and OpenOffice or LibreOffice a practical combination on older computers. It’s especially true for older computers that require additional applications (such as those that as you might find in a public computer lab setting).
Support
If your IT team is small — or nonexistent — you can expect to need occasional support from other sources. Thanks to Microsoft’s vastness, there’s more support for Office than anyone could possibly take advantage of. It includes official support from Microsoft, authorized support from licensed vendors and consultants, and professional call centers. Plus there are dozens of books and countless websites offering tips and guides for modifying, configuring, and using Office software.
However, some users report difficulty getting support for Office 2016; Microsoft appears to be encouraging consumers to switch to the subscription-based Office 365. Some free resources specifically for nonprofits exist, but expect such tailored support to cost more.
Support for OpenOffice and LibreOffice is community-driven and generally free, and includes documentation projects and volunteer-led discussion forums. With these open-source projects, common issues and bugs are often addressed through updates. In general, LibreOffice’s development community tends to address these issues more quickly and release updates more frequently than the OpenOffice community. Users more familiar with Microsoft’s ecosystem may find this support model unfamiliar, and may feel more comfortable with training and support for Microsoft Office.
Document Sharing
In general, files created by all three suites can be read by the others, although there are caveats.
In the case of Office 2016, Microsoft has established de facto file standards such as .doc and .docx for Word documents and .xls and .xlsx for Excel. If you need to share files with anyone running Office 2003 or older, you may need to convert them to older formats. Microsoft offers a free utility to do this.
Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice, on the other hand, use open standards for their native files, but can read and write files using Microsoft’s format. In fact, users can choose to automatically save files in .doc or .docx formats by default. The open-source community has invested a lot of effort in ensuring that Writer, Calc, and Impress users can share documents with Microsoft users, and has succeeded in all but a few specific cases.
If you’ve created Word documents that make extensive use of columns, header formats, or embedded images, the file is likely to show up in Writer with minor formatting issues. These formatting problems will have to be adjusted manually. These adjustments aren’t likely to be prohibitive for a document or two, but could be time-consuming for a whole library of templates and collateral. However, both OpenOffice and LibreOffice have begun to implement better support for Microsoft file formats — for example, LibreOffice has improved its utility to import .docx files to handle more images and formatting.
Office 2016 and its open-source competitors are also incompatible when it comes to macros or spreadsheet pivot tables. All three suites do support both features (in OpenOffice and LibreOffice, pivot tables are created with a feature called Data Pilot). However, you will not be able to use macros or pivot tables created in Office 2016 with the open-source tools, or vice versa. You may also have minor issues translating charts between the suites’ spreadsheet programs.
Interestingly, OpenOffice can open files that have been saved in substantially older versions of Microsoft Office than Office 2016 can. Open Space can even open some corrupted Word files that Office 2016 can’t. For an IT department, it might be worth having a copy installed for that reason alone.
Finally, all three applications provide the ability to export any file as a PDF, ensuring that viewers see the document exactly as you intended.
Keep in mind, compatibility issues are only relevant if documents are being passed back and forth between people using different software. If your whole organization is using the same office tools and you don’t frequently exchange documents with people outside your organization, then you don’t have to worry.
Remote Access
In Office 2016, Microsoft continues the web collaboration features it introduced in Office 2010 and Office 365. Its integration with OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) makes documents portable and easy to edit on multiple devices. Office 2016 also has the ability to collaborate in real time on a desktop version of Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. To take advantage of this feature, users need to hit the Share button and direct who they want to share the document with. They also must have a shared folder in OneDrive — a Microsoft online storage service.
LibreOffice has recently ventured out into the mobile, online world. It offers mobile apps and allows users to connect to some online storage services. It has also promised an online version to rival Office 365 and Google Docs, but the release is still in a “preview” or testing phase. OpenOffice has an extension that allows users to access and save files to online storage services, but does not currently offer an online version.
Security
Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, and LibreOffice are reasonably secure as long as you follow standard security procedures. Make sure you (or your IT staff) install updates and patches as soon as they’re released, and maintain firewalls, antivirus, and anti-spyware software.
The open-source community publicizes possible security issues with both open-source tools — allowing users to protect themselves and hackers to potentially exploit issues. In contrast, Microsoft keeps security issues closely guarded in an effort to prevent hackers from finding out about them.
Generally speaking, if you follow the standard precautions, all three tools are fairly safe.
Email Integration
For many people, one of the big advantages of Office 2016 is its integration with Microsoft Outlook. (Outlook provides email and calendaring features, among other things.) This integration allows you to send documents directly from Office tools. For instance, you can send a Word document in an email directly from the Word interface. You can also preview Office documents directly in Outlook.
OpenOffice and LibreOffice don’t offer similar native email clients. However, a number of third-party and open-source email solutions do exist that allow you to send documents via email using the office application. (Keep in mind that none of these provide the same level of integration that Microsoft Office does.)
Specific Features: A Comparison
Let’s get on with it, then — ready for a head-to-head comparison of features? It turns out such a comparison is difficult, primarily because the three suites are so fundamentally similar — for years, they’ve been copying each other’s best enhancements and innovations. Your needs must be pretty complex before you start to find one of them lacking.
Spelling and Grammar
Both Microsoft Word and LibreOffice have built-in spell-checking tools. LibreOffice’s grammar-checking tool and other language tools are separate extensions. The OpenOffice community has provided a few add-ons that you could install to provide spelling and grammar checking, but they’re generally less robust than Word’s default options.
Conditional Formatting
All three spreadsheet packages offer conditional formatting — the ability to automatically format cells based on the properties of the data within them. However, Microsoft offers a lot more flexibility and control in this realm. On the other hand, OpenOffice and LibreOffice tend to be somewhat simpler to understand, and can export to more useful file formats.
Suite-Wide Interface
Both OpenOffice and LibreOffice provide a gateway to easily access any of the individual components, whereas Office 2016 requires users to open each application separately.
File Size
In general, the native formats of OpenOffice and LibreOffice will create smaller files than Office 2016. When saving files into Microsoft file formats, however — for example, to create files that can be opened in Word — file sizes are similar to Microsoft’s. File size is less of an issue than it once was, though, because of increased hard-drive capacity, email clients allowing larger attachments, and online storage options.
HTML Production
All three tools let users create and edit files in HTML — the coding language behind the Internet. However, purists tend to favor Writer’s HTML markup to Word’s — though few people with knowledge of HTML use any word processing program to produce web pages. For simple tasks, Writer’s Web Wizard makes it incredibly easy to produce web pages that incorporate HTML, PDF files, and images.
Which Office Productivity Suite Should You Get?
Differences, features, prices — you’ve got all the information you need to make a decision. Still looking for a little guidance? We’ll leave you with a few specific scenarios for when one package might work better than another:
- Your office is happily using donated Microsoft Office licenses. Are you able to get Office 2016 for free or very little money — or even the still quite functional Office 2010? Is your staff happy with it and comfortable using it to get your work done? Then we don’t see any advantage in changing for the sake of change.
- Your office is happily using donated Microsoft Office 2003 licenses. In general, your organization probably should no longer be using Office 2003 — Microsoft ended support for it, along with Windows XP, on April 8, 2014. Upgrading to Office 2016 means adopting the ribbon toolbar interface, a significant change that will require a learning curve and possible training for your staff. OpenOffice and LibreOffice will be more familiar (and completely free), but you’ll miss out on some advanced features and the ability to seamlessly open highly formatted documents, charts, pivot tables, and macros that current versions of Office provide. Does your staff actually need these features? Do you have a sizable repository of complex documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that you need to frequently open and edit? For instance, it may be challenging to move your accounting staff — which may in fact be creating complex spreadsheets with macros and charts — from Excel to another tool. In this case, it likely makes sense to take a careful look at what your staff is actually doing with Microsoft Office. Then you can decide whether to transition to Office 2016, or away from Microsoft Office entirely.
- You have a small, technically comfortable staff philosophically aligned with open-source tools. Perhaps your staff would prefer open source over Microsoft for philosophical reasons and can live with small changes in interface and less formal support. In that case, OpenOffice and LibreOffice are viable alternatives that don’t sacrifice productivity.
- Your staff depends on sharing highly formatted documents or complex Excel functionality. Do you create a lot of highly formatted Word documents or pivot tables, or use a lot of macros? Do you share these files with other organizations? Then it may not make sense to move to LibreOffice or OpenOffice.
- Your staff needs to share and collaborate on documents online. LibreOffice and OpenOffice don’t provide online versions of their suites, or the ability for more than one person to edit documents at the same time. While many users may turn to Google Docs in addition to their office suites to approximate these functions, Microsoft can provide both through Office 365 and SharePoint.
- You need email and calendaring tools. Microsoft Outlook is included in most editions of Office 2016. In contrast, LibreOffice and OpenOffice don’t include an email client — although Mozilla’s Thunderbird and Lightning tools provide open-source email and calendar functionality, respectively.
- You need to provide basic office software on old computers. Maybe you are looking to support only basic functionality and need to use older computers — for a public computer lab, for instance. In this case, a combination of Linux and OpenOffice or LibreOffice is hard to beat.
Wrapping Up
There are strong arguments to be made for Microsoft Office and the open-source alternatives alike. All three options are solid platforms that support office productivity. For most nonprofits, the decision for any software should come down to how well it fits your organization’s needs. You might consider installing two or more office suites to allow users the opportunity to find the tool that works best for them. However, for organizations that share a lot of files, you’re likely better off standardizing with a single suite.
Are you happy with your existing suite? Then it’s not likely to be worth the time transitioning your entire office to a new one. However, if you need to upgrade from an older version of Microsoft Office, you have three solid choices to meet your particular interests.
Additional Resources
- Feature Comparison: Libre Office–Microsoft Office, from the Document Foundation, is a comprehensive wiki listing and side-by-side comparison of the two applications.
- Battle of the Office Suites: Microsoft Office and LibreOffice Compared by productivity blog Lifehacker compares Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access point by point with LibreOffice’s Writer, Calc, Impress, and Base.
- What’s New: LibreOffice, written by LibreOffice, compiles a summary of the latest upgrades and innovations in LibreOffice.
- Screenshot Tour: What’s New in Office 2016, by How-To Geek, gives you screenshots and mini how-tos for the most important new Microsoft Office 2016 features.
- Comparing Microsoft Office 2013 to Office 365, by Idealware, breaks down the differences between all editions of Microsoft Office 2013.
Contributors
- Allen Gunn, Aspiration
- Sarah Dougherty, DESC
Many of us need specific tools to get our jobs done. You might use QuickBooks for accounting and invoicing, Microsoft Visual Studio for developing computer programs, Scrivener for writing a book, or AutoCAD for creating 2D or 3D designs.
But beyond specialized software, there's a vast ocean of Windows apps that can help almost anyone be more productive at work. Calendar apps and to-do apps, for example, will keep you on task. Utilities like a clipboard tool take some of the hassle out of working on your computer all day. And automation tools make your PC do more work for you in the background.
Here are the 20 Windows productivity apps and software we think everyone should have—or at least try. Whatever your role, they'll save you time and effort. Let's get to boosting your PC productivity!
The Best Windows Productivity Apps and Software: How We Chose
For this roundup, we focused on categories of apps that would help most people work faster and more efficiently, rather than tools someone might use primarily to do their work. We looked at the most popular options in various productivity categories and tested them for both ease of use and how well they worked on Windows 10 (whether traditional desktop software or apps from the Windows App Store). The majority of programs on this list are free or at least ones we'd invest in ourselves.
Note: we didn't include built-in Windows programs, like OneDrive or Snipping Tool, since you already have them. And while this list focuses specifically on Windows software and Windows 10 apps, many of the apps on this list are cross-platform and appear on our list of best productivity apps for Mac, Android, iPhone, and/or iPad as well (along with other recommended productivity apps for those OSes).
Windows and PC Management
Customize your desktop the way you prefer to work, enhance Windows with simple tweaks, and teach your computer to play nicely with other devices. This section of our roundup contains the most recommendations, because, often, the easiest way to work more productively is to fix the annoyances you face daily.
Seer
Quickly preview files of different types, like Quick Look on macOS
MacOS has one awesome feature that's sorely missing in Windows: Quick Look, which lets you peek at the contents of photos, PDFs, other file types, and folders without opening them. All you have to do is press the Spacebar. That means you can instantly grab copy from a text file, watch a video, and more without waiting for it to load in another program. Windows doesn't come with this feature by default, but, thankfully, Seer fills that void. It works like the Mac version but has more options. You can customize settings like which key triggers the preview or add plugins to support additional file types. (Note that in our tests, some of the plugins didn't work, including the Microsoft Office plugin. The core program still supports hundreds of common file types, though.)
Seer Price: Free; $12.18 for a lifetime license per PC, which supports the developer and keeps the program up-to-date
Seer works for Windows Vista and newer, but if you want a more modern alternative, check out QuickLook (also free). It's not as customizable as Seer, but it is fast and fits in seamlessly with Windows 10's sleek window design.
F.lux
Automatically adjust the color of your computer so you sleep better and reduce eyestrain
A growing body of research shows that blue light–the kind thrown off by our screens–interrupts the quality of our sleep. If you tend to work into the evenings or late at night on your computer, this is an issue that can affect your productivity the next day and your overall health. F.lux to the rescue. Enter your location and the kind of lighting in your workspace, and the small utility will automatically adjust the color of your monitor to the time of day. Your screen will be bright during the day and take on a warm, dimmer light when the sun sets. You can also adjust the color settings for different scenarios, such as 'reduce eyestrain' (tints your display both day and night) or 'color fidelity' (smaller adjustments, for more color accuracy). One of my favorite, less talked about features of the app: It will gently nudge you to stop working when you're waking up in, say, six hours. F.lux is also available for Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
F.lux Price: Free for personal use; corporate license for company-wide use
DisplayFusion
Manage multiple monitors precisely
Having more than one monitor saves you the time and hassle of switching back and forth between your open windows. However, Windows' display settings don't let you do much beyond choosing whether to mirror your primary display or extend the desktop to all screens. DisplayFusion is the most feature-rich multi-monitor utility for Windows. Create profiles for window sizes and positions to organize your windows just the way you like every time you start your computer. Use screensavers and set your desktop wallpaper to span all your displays. Add a taskbar to each of your monitors. Build custom scripts to automate your windows management. You'd be hard pressed to find what you can't customize in your multi-monitor setup with DisplayFusion. That power comes with a learning curve, but it's worth the effort if you want to get the most out of your screens. Note: Most of the advanced and most popular uses for DisplayFusion require a license.
DisplayFusion Price: Free; from $29 for pro features including window position profiles and monitor fading
A free, lightweight alternative to DisplayVersion is MultiMonitorTool. The small utility offers essential controls like moving windows to another monitor and saving each monitor's configuration, such as screen resolution and monitor position.
AquaSnap
Organize windows to maximize your screen real estate
If you often work with several windows open at once, AquaSnap can keep them organized for you in, well, a snap. Although Windows 10's Aero Snap function is handy on its own, AquaSnap adds more functionality. You can quickly align one window with another by dragging it in place, stretch a window to the edge of your screen in one direction with a double-click, make one window always stay on top, and even move windows together in groups. It works for multiple monitors, too (pro version required).
AquaSnap Price: Free for personal use; $18 professional license, which includes features like mouse shortcuts and moving windows together
TidyTabs
Combine program windows into browser-like tabs
From Nurgo Software, the folks behind AquaSnap, TidyTabs adds a tabbed interface to programs that lack it, such as Microsoft Office programs, Windows Explorer, and Notepad. Hover over the window's title bar and drag the tab to the window you want to group it with. It even works if you want to combine windows from different programs into a tabbed group. This way, you can save screen real estate and avoid visual clutter, which means more focus on the task at hand.
TidyTabs Price: Free for personal use; $9 professional license for multi-monitor support, auto-grouping windows, and grouping more than 3 windows together
Groupy is an alternative to TidyTabs that fits in more seamlessly with Windows 10's design and adds features like a plus sign in the tabs bar to quickly add a new tab to a window. Groupy costs $9.99 after the free 30-day trial (email signup required).
Quick Access Popup
Launch your favorite programs, files, and more from anywhere on your computer
Shortcuts make the productivity world go round. Quick Access Popup, as the name implies, gives you easy access to items on your computer or on the web in a popup menu. Click your middle mouse button anywhere to bring up the menu. You can customize Quick Access Popup to add your favorite folders, files, programs, links, text snippets, and more. It's like the ever-useful right-click context menu in Explorer, but one you curate and can use everywhere. Get to your destination more quickly than the standard pecking and searching on your computer.
Quick Access Popup Price: Free
Pushbullet
Send texts, files, and links to and from all your devices
You get a text message from a friend, but your phone is in another room or buried in your bag. You find a great new place to eat, but don't want to email yourself the link to access it on the go. You're away from your desk and need a file on your computer that wasn't synced to your phone or tablet. If any of these situations sound familiar to you, go download Pushbullet. Available on every platform and also as a Chrome extension, Pushbullet simply connects all your devices so you can share files and get notifications no matter where you are. The standalone Windows app gives you the new Remote Files access feature and you can pin it to your taskbar for easy access.
Pushbullet Price: Free for 100 SMS or chat messages a month; from $4.99/month for unlimited messages
TeamViewer
Access your computer remotely
TeamViewer is one of the best remote access software options for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it's free for personal use. Once you have TeamViewer installed on a computer, you can connect to and control it from anywhere in the world using another computer or your mobile device. Log into your parents' PC, for example, to troubleshoot their technical problems. Or share your desktop with others to walk them through a demo. Or connect to your home computer when you're on the road to retrieve a file. Or even, if you're lazy like me, run a program on another computer in another room in your house without leaving your desk. TeamViewer combines remote access with online meeting and screen-sharing tools. Note that if you use TeamViewer for work, you'll need a license.
TeamViewer Price: Free; from $49/month for business license
While TeamViewer is one of the most comprehensive remote access apps, if you don't need multiple-monitor support or online meeting tools, RemotePC is a simpler option with a wallet-friendlier price tag of $69.50/year for 10 computers. Or for a completely free option, there's Chrome Remote Desktop, which, as the name implies, is for Chrome, rather than a desktop program.
Note-Taking
Getting things out of your head and onto paper (or digital paper) is one of the best ways to preserve your mental bandwidth. The software below will help you do that.
OneNote
Take detailed, intuitively organized notes that capture images, audio, text, and more
OneNote is one of the most versatile and feature-rich note-taking apps around. The interface mimics real-world notebooks or binders, so you can have separate notebooks for your personal and work projects or create notebooks for different clients or class subjects. Within each notebook, you can organize your notes intuitively in colorful tabbed sections and group notes together in a stack. Beyond the organization features, OneNote offers many ways to make your notes come alive: Inking tools let you create handwritten or drawn notes; tags can be added to any part of the page; and text, tables, and images can be placed anywhere on the page for a truly flexible note-taking approach. It's like writing on paper, but with search, tagging, and other smart digital features built in.
OneNote is part of Microsoft Office 365, but the desktop version will no longer be supported by Microsoft starting in 2019. It is, however, also available as a free Windows 10 app, with matching Mac, mobile, and web apps. If you have a Windows PC or tablet that supports stylus input, OneNote should be your go-to note-taking app.
OneNote Price: Free; from $69.99/year as part of the Microsoft Office Suite
If you create a large number of notes or clip a ton of web pages for reference, Evernote is a good alternative, since this note-taking app offers a robust search feature–one that even integrates with your Google searches, so you can search the web and your notes at the same time.
Microsoft Sticky Notes
Jot down anything quickly for easy reference
Throughout the day, you'll often come across information you need to jot down–a phone number, an offer code, your takeout order details–that you don't want to clutter up your more important notebooks with. That's where Sticky Notes come in. Microsoft's Windows 10 app saves trees and a trip to the office supply store while adding intelligent features like Cortana Reminders for notes that have a date and time or maps for addresses you add to a note. It also supports handwriting and typing. It's the digital scratchpad that's both smart and simple to use.
Microsoft Sticky Notes Price: Free
Notepad++
Edit text intelligently
If you prefer taking notes in plain text format but Notepad is too limited for you, Notepad++ is the solution. It's the free, souped-up alternative to Notepad, with a lot of tricks up its sleeves. Some of the most useful yet basic features include a tabbed interface, auto-saving, and collapsing or uncollapsing levels in an outline or other structured document. There's syntax highlighting if you write in code, word auto-completion suggestions, and an impressive 'multi-column' editing feature.
And you can make Notepadd++ even more powerful by running macros or installing plugins.
Notepad++ Price: Free
Focus and Time Management
Distractions are the enemy of productivity. Staying focused, though, isn't easy, with Slack messages pinging you and social media sites tempting you to take a quick peek to see what's going on beyond your desk. Thankfully, several programs can keep you on track.
Microsoft To-Do
Focus on your daily tasks in a simple, intuitive task manager
You need a place to jot down all the things you need to do, but long lists of tasks can be overwhelming–making you less productive, not more. Microsoft To-Do helps you organize all your to-dos while prioritizing the ones that matter most now. After acquiring Wunderlist, Microsoft has been incorporating some of that to-do app's best features, such as a custom lists, subtasks, and sharing–but in a more simplified lists view. Although Microsoft To-Do doesn't have smart lists (yet) like Wunderlist, Microsoft To-Do offers intelligent suggestions on tasks you should work on each day. And with its unique My Day feature, you'll see only the to-dos you need to work on today, which then wipes clean so you start fresh the next day. Microsoft To-Do is available on Windows, the web, iOS, and Android, so you can focus on your tasks from any device.
Microsoft To-Do Price: Free
There are tons of to-do apps you can choose from, so it all boils down to what features are most important to you. See our list of the best to-do apps for suggestions.
Focus Booster
Work in Pomodoro timer sprints and get reports for your time usage
Working in timed sprints helps you get more done: It's like having mini-deadlines throughout the day for that extra nudge to stay focused. In the Pomodoro timer methodology, you work in a 25-minute sprint, followed by a rewarding 5-minute break. But you can adjust this timing for your needs. Focus Booster is a simple yet customizable Pomodoro Timer for Windows, Mac, mobile, and web. There's a small floating timer window that stays out of your way (and, thankfully, the ticking sound can be turned off). Enter your task label and your client (optional), click start, and you're on your way to finishing your first Pomodoro. You can easily adjust the timing for each sprint if the 25/5-minute default doesn't work for you. One of the standout features of Focus Booster compared to other Pomodoro Timers is you can have your sessions logged automatically in a timesheet, for easy reporting.
Focus Booster Price: Free (limited to 20 Pomodoro sessions/month); $3/month (200 Pomodoro sessions + data export); $5/month (unlimited Pomodoro sessions + client and revenue tracking)
Cold Turkey
Block distracting websites and apps so you can reclaim your attention
Instead of fighting your temptation to watch another YouTube video or go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole, remove the temptations altogether–at least when you need to focus on work. Cold Turkey puts you in control by blocking access to sites and apps on your block lists. You can even block all internet access for a time or lock your computer (great for those of us who have a hard time not working). You can set how long the block lasts, schedule blocks, see statistics, and more.
Cold Turkey Price: Free; $25 CAD for pro features like app blocking, scheduling, and daily time limits
RescueTime
Understand where your time is going
If you've ever wondered at the end of the week where all the time went, you're not alone. One key to becoming more productive is knowing your habits and how you spend your time, so you can take steps to become more efficient. RescueTime will help you do that. Once you install the Windows app (or Mac or mobile apps), RescueTime will sit quietly in the background logging your time on websites and apps. In the online dashboard, you'll see at a glance how productive you've been, based on the categories of sites and apps you've used. The categories are customizable, so if YouTube is a productivity tool for you and not a time-suck, you can change that. Upgrade to the Premium plan to get features like distraction blocking, more powerful reports, and integration with Zapier for automated alerts.
RescueTime Price: Free; $9/month for Premium
Automation and Text Expansion
When you have shortcuts at your fingertips and your computer doing most of the legwork for you, you're bound to have a more productive day. Automation tools shave minutes off of tedious tasks, which adds up to much more time for you to concentrate your important tasks.
LightKey
Type less with this fast and accurate predictive text app
You know how convenient it is when you start typing a search phrase in Google and it knows what you're thinking? Or when your phone suggests the word to insert so you can save time pecking at the keys? LightKey is like that but for your computer. Once you have the app installed, LightKey will start suggesting words as you type. It's predictive text, not autocorrect, so you don't have to deal with autocorrect fails. But by simply clicking the Tab key, you can accept the word and start typing at lightning speed. The program takes into consideration specialized words you might use for your industry, such as technology or healthcare, and learns from your most-typed words and phrases. It works in Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as Gmail (Chrome extension required) and a few other mail and chat programs. The company estimates you can save boost your productivity as much as 40%. It's like a text expansion app, but without you having to set it up.
LightKey Price: Free
Ditto Clipboard
Add more items to your clipboard for easy access any time
Ditto Clipboard is a customizable, easy to use clipboard manager. Instead of being stuck with only the last thing you copied, now you can quickly copy and paste multiple items, including images and HTML. The Windows 10 app has a minimalist interface, but it also packs helpful options, such as keeping the window always on top, customizable hotkeys, and quick paste features. The search feature works well, too. Go copy and paste to your heart's content.
Ditto Clipboard Price:: Free
If you work on multiple Windows computers and want to sync your clipboard between them, check out Copy Space. This clipboard manager offers syncing through OneDrive in exchange for a $2 in-app purchase.
PhraseExpress
Take the tedium out of typing
You probably type the same words, day in and day out. 'Best regards, [your name]' or 'Please let me know if you have any questions or comments' or 'I'm doing fine, Mom, thanks.' A text expander like PhraseExpress reduces the number of keystrokes needed to get those phrases on the page, so typing something like
;em
automatically becomes '[youremailaddress]@gmail.com'. Available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, PhraseExpress is one of the more customizable and feature-rich text expanders around. In addition to text snippets and the ability to expand text in any program, PhraseExpress offers a macro recorder, so you can record and play repetitive tasks. You can share or sync snippets over your local network or through cloud storage, and the program integrates with Outlook too.PhraseExpress Pricing: Free for personal use; from $49.95 lifetime license for professional use
Several other text expanders work as well as PhraseExpress, but differ in 'extra' features and pricing. For other options, see our text expansion apps roundup.
AutoHotKey
Create your own hotkeys and scripts to automate anything in Windows
AutoHotKey is a powerful, open-source scripting language that lets you run Windows tasks with keyboard shortcuts. Coding your own scripts might sound daunting, but don't let that scare you. It's simple to learn even if you have no coding background, and once you get started you'll dramatically cut the time you spend on things like clicking through menus. For example, you can set up a shortcut to empty the recycle bin, hide all the windows except for your active one, restore a minimized window in a second, and more. (Protip: Lifehacker offers script examples to get you started.)
AutoHotKey Price: Free
FastKeys
Access multiple automation tools in one app
FastKeys is like a Swiss-Army knife of automation utilities. In addition to a text expander and clipboard manager, FastKeys lets you set up keyboard shortcuts for running programs and controlling Windows (e.g., adjusting the audio settings or taking a screenshot). There's also a macro recorder to teach your computer to do a sequence of tasks automatically, mouse gestures, and a customizable start menu you can access by moving your mouse to one corner of the screen. Because it comes with hundreds of presets, using FastKeys is easy, even though it's so powerful.
FastKeys Price: $19 license for up to 3 computers
The best productivity apps are those that get out of your way while still helping you get more done. Although there are hundreds of productivity apps for every platform you can choose from, the ones above stand out for us as excellent Windows software we'd recommend to anyone who's moving from Mac to Windows or just trying to make the most out of their setup.
Looking for more productivity app options? Check out our roundups of software that everyone needs: a backup tool, an email app, a calendar app, a cloud storage service, and a to-do list app. There are dozens of options for each, many of which work on the web and across platforms, so check the linked roundups above for recommendations there. Learn more about how we select apps to feature.
Title image via Microsoft