8 Apps That Will Improve Your Windows 11 Experience

Date First Published: 12th April 2026

Are you looking to improve your Windows desktop experience? We explore 8 essential apps that will boost productivity, and declutter your workflow in 2026. Most of these apps are found in the Microsoft Store, easy to manage, and offer better functionality than built-in alternatives.

1. Microsoft PowerToys

Microsoft PowerToys is a set of free, open-source utilities designed for power users, developers, and Windows users looking to boost productivity and customise their workflow. Maintained by Microsoft and the open-source community, this toolkit offers over 20 utilities managed through a single dashboard that add functionality not found in the native operating system. You will find utilities like a keyboard manager to create custom keyboard shortcuts, a text extractor to copy text anywhere on your screen, a command palette to access frequently used apps from a single interface, and a light switch to automatically switch between light and dark themes based on time of day. It's generally low on resources, typically consuming 50 to 200 MB of memory when idling, making it efficient for most systems.

2. EarTrumpet

EarTrumpet is designed to improve upon the default Windows audio experience. It acts as a powerful audio management tool that allows you to control the volume of individual applications, move apps between audio devices, and manage default playback devices with a modern interface. You can individually adjust the volume of different apps. For example, you can keep Spotify quiet while YouTube is loud rather than relying only on a single volume slider. It matches the Windows aesthetic, providing a sleek flyout menu that displays all active audio channels and apps.

3. QuickLook

QuickLook is an open-source utility available in the Microsoft Store that brings the popular macOS feature to Windows. It allows you to instantly preview the contents of a file in File Explorer by selecting it and pressing the Spacebar. It works with images, text files, PDFs, and videos. It's designed to save time by avoiding the need to fully open applications for a quick glance at a file. It runs quietly in the system tray.

4. Fluent Weather

Fluent Weather is a modern, open-source weather app, focusing on a clean Fluent Design aesthetic. It's designed to be a lightweight, visually appealing alternative to the default MSN Weather app, featuring animated backgrounds that adapt to current conditions. It provides daily, weekly, and detailed hourly forecasts.

5. Windhawk

Windhawk is an open-source, community-driven customization tool designed to modify and enhance the functionality of Windows 10 and 11. It acts as a mod manager for the system, allowing users to install, manage, and customise various tweaks to change how Windows looks and operates, such as modifying the taskbar, Start menu, or adding functional shortcuts. These tweaks work by injecting libraries into system processes to alter their behavior, allowing for deep changes, such as enabling a multi-row taskbar in Windows 11, changing taskbar height, or altering font settings. This app is not available on the Microsoft Store. It's a third-party customisation tool that must be downloaded directly from the official Windhawk website.

6. TranslucentTB

TranslucentTB is a free, lightweight, open-source utility that allows users to customise the appearance of the taskbar, making it translucent, transparent, or opaque. It's widely used to achieve a minimalist, modern aesthetic by removing the default taskbar blur or colour tint, allowing the desktop wallpaper to show through. The appearance of the taskbar can change based on system states, such as when a window is maximised, the start menu is open, or the task view is active. It runs with minimal resources, consuming only a few megabytes of memory when idle.

7. Files App

The Files App, often referred to as Files Community is available on the Microsoft Store as a modern alternative to the default Windows File Explorer. It aims to provide a more customisable experience by offering features, like custom themes, backgrounds, and the ability to choose between light and dark modes. It also includes a pane for previewing images, documents, and videos without opening them. It's available for free, but it can be purchased in the Microsoft Store to support the development team. Overall, it's ideal if you're seeking a more visually appealing and tab-friendly file management experience, though it may be slower than the built-in Windows File Explorer.

8. Flow Launcher

Flow Launcher is a popular, open-source productivity tool designed as a fast, keyboard-driven alternative to the default Windows Search and Start Menu. You can find applications, files, and web results almost instantly by using a customisable overlay activated by a keyboard shortcut. It can also handle system tasks like shutdown, restart, or clearing the clipboard, and acts as a calculator. It's optimised to be faster than Windows search and reduces reliance on the mouse and start menu.

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