20 free ‘hidden gem’ apps I install on every Windows PC

Ferdium for centralizing all the web apps and services you use in one place

Ferdium

If you have a lot of permanently open browser tabs for all the different web apps you use every day, then you can make things easier for yourself by organizing them with Ferdium. (Have you heard of Rambox or Franz? Ferdium is like those except open-source and totally free.)

Ferdium lets you run separate tabs for hundreds of web services, including chat apps (like Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp, etc.) and social apps (like Slack, Discord, etc.) as well as email apps, calendar apps, media apps, AI chatbots, and more. All of those apps can reside right within Ferdium, letting you consolidate all of that to one place.

I love Ferdium for how it fences everything off into its own app. I no longer have to reach for my phone to check WhatsApp or catch up on Teams notifications or pull up Gmail or Google Calendar. It’s all just one click away on my PC and it’s less distracting overall.

PDFgear for PDF editing, converting, merging, annotating, and more

PDFgear

PDFgear is one of those diamonds in the rough, one that we’ve been evangelizing for a while now. But just because it isn’t as well-known as others doesn’t mean it isn’t an excellent PDF editor.

If you’ve ever been frustrated by how difficult it is to find a high-quality offline PDF editor that doesn’t charge you for personal use, then PDFgear is the end goal you’ve been looking for. This app is super capable at editing PDFs, whether through annotations or direct file editing.

It works with text, images, and graphics. It can merge PDFs together. It can convert PDFs into different file types. It can do just about anything else you’d want to do with a PDF. It even has a built-in AI assistant that can search, summarize, aid with editing, and more.

SitApp for developing better posture

SitApp

If you work or game at your PC for hours at a time, then maintaining good posture and proper back health is something that’s well worth the effort. But maybe all you really need is a gentle prod whenever you start to slouch, in which case you could benefit greatly from SitApp.

SitApp is a useful app that uses your webcam to analyze your posture and detect when you’re slouching — and when you are, the app shows a little pop-up reminder to let you know. It also tracks your posture history so you can compete against yourself to see how long you can maintain good posture. My record is 92% over eight hours. How about you?

BreakTimer for regular break reminders

BreakTimer

If you’re always on your PC, good posture isn’t the only thing to worry about. It’s important to get up and walk around, rest your eyes, drink water, stretch, and maybe even exercise. But it’s easy to forget to do all of that, especially if you lock onto a task or get absorbed into a game.

BreakTimer sits in the background and periodically reminds you to take a break. You can customize the alerts to whatever frequency you want, however long you want the breaks to be, which days you want them to be active on, and more. It’s simple but life-changing — and free!

Mouse Without Borders for using one mouse and keyboard with multiple PCs

Wish you could control multiple computers with one set of mouse and keyboard? One way to do that is to buy a KVM switch and go through the hassle of setting it up. Or you could just get Mouse Without Borders.

Mouse Without Borders is a Microsoft Garage project that was put together by developer Truong Do during his off-hours, and it works fantastically well for controlling up to four PCs with a single mouse and keyboard. It’s not perfect, but it’s quick, easy to use, and entirely free, making it a great alternative to hardware KVMs.

4K Video Downloader Plus for downloading videos anywhere online

4K Download

Lots of video downloader tools have come and gone over the years, useful for when you want to save videos from YouTube, Facebook, and other sites. But most of those tools eventually turn into malware, slow down to a crawl when they gain too many users, or simply die off overnight and leave you dry and forsaken.

On the other hand, 4K Video Downloader Plus works almost flawlessly, stays regularly updated, and doesn’t suffer from malware infections, all in a fast and lightweight package. What more could you ask for?

Foobar2000 for reliable music playback

Foobar2000

Are you in the minority of people who haven’t yet jumped aboard the Spotify train? Do you have a large MP3 collection instead? And are you using Windows Media Player to listen to it? If so, then I have a gift for you: Foobar2000, a simple and lightweight music player.

Windows Media Player has its foibles when it comes to managing large music collections, organizing playlists, customizing the interface, converting between file formats, and offering all kinds of other advanced features. Foobar2000 does it all plus more, and it’s been around since 2002, and it’s been completely free for that entire time.

This streamlined music player went from super popular to obscure over the last decade or so, and these days it’s sort of a hidden gem again. Its interface is barebones out of the box, but it also has deep customization options that let you make it truly your own.

MPC-BE for hassle-free video playback