Favourite Tools

Windows Sanity & Navigation 3 shortcuts

Everything What is it: Instant file indexer. Why is it good: The default Windows search has been broken for years. This indexes every file on your machine instantly and finds what you want the second you type the name. Opens in a new tab. Flow Launcher What is it: Quick-launcher mapped to Alt + Space. Why is it good: Mapped to Alt + Space. Hooks into Everything to find files, but also handles quick terminal commands, maths, and app launching so you rarely touch the Start menu. Opens in a new tab. Open-Shell (Classic Start) What is it: Start menu replacement. Why is it good: Replaces the modern Windows Start menu with a plain Windows 7 style column. No web search suggestions, news feeds, or sponsored apps, just an alphabetical list of what is actually installed. Opens in a new tab.

Drive & Hardware Diagnostics 4 shortcuts

WizTree What is it: High-speed disk space visualiser. Why is it good: Scans an entire drive in about two seconds and gives you a visual map of what is eating storage. Much faster than WinDirStat. Opens in a new tab. CrystalDiskInfo What is it: Drive health and SMART monitor. Why is it good: Shows the SMART health status and temperature of your SSDs and hard drives. Good for catching bad sectors before a drive dies completely. Opens in a new tab. HWiNFO What is it: Real-time component telemetry. Why is it good: Reads every sensor on the motherboard and GPU. Useful when you need to know exact fan speeds, voltages, or whether a component is thermal throttling under load. Opens in a new tab. Bulk Crap Uninstaller What is it: Batch software removal. Why is it good: Standard Windows uninstallers leave registry keys and orphan folders everywhere. This lets you select a dozen programs, click uninstall once, and cleans up the leftovers automatically. Opens in a new tab.

Quick Notes & Working Memory 2 shortcuts

UpNote What is it: Clean, distraction-free markdown notes. Why is it good: Does clean markdown, syncs across devices, and works offline. It stays out of the way, unlike Notion or Obsidian which usually end up feeling like another job to manage. Opens in a new tab. Google Keep What is it: Temporary clipboard and scratchpad. Why is it good: For temporary scratchpad stuff. Good for shopping lists, quick measurements, or phone numbers you just need to copy to another screen quickly. Opens in a new tab.

Audio & Video Production 7 shortcuts

OBS Studio What is it: Screen and video recording. Why is it good: Reliable for local screen recording and webcam capture once you get your audio tracks and canvas resolution sorted. Opens in a new tab. LosslessCut What is it: Direct stream video trimmer. Why is it good: Trims the start and end off raw video captures without re-encoding. A 20 GB file exports in five seconds flat because the video stream is never converted. Opens in a new tab. HandBrake What is it: Batch video transcode and compression. Why is it good: Takes massive recordings from OBS and squashes them into reasonably sized MP4s for sharing. Just pick a preset, drop files into the queue, and walk away. Opens in a new tab. DaVinci Resolve What is it: Non-linear video editing suite. Why is it good: The free version is ridiculous for what it offers. You get proper timeline editing, nodes for colour, and Fairlight audio without needing Adobe's subscription model. Opens in a new tab. Audacity What is it: Waveform audio editor. Why is it good: The UI has barely changed in twenty years, but if you just need to cut dead air out of a voice memo, normalize volume, or trim a track, it takes ten seconds. Opens in a new tab. Vibe What is it: Local speech-to-text transcriber. Why is it good: Runs Whisper models locally to transcribe audio files. Great because nothing gets uploaded to an external server, though it occasionally trips over its own feet. Keep the source audio and skim the text for errors. Opens in a new tab. VLC media player What is it: Universal media player. Why is it good: A timeless piece of software. It has faithfully opened every bizarre, ancient, or corrupted video file I have ever thrown at it without once complaining. It really does just work. Opens in a new tab.

Image & 3D Utilities 3 shortcuts

Photopea What is it: Browser-based raster graphics editor. Why is it good: Photoshop in a browser. Handy on machines where you cannot install software or when you just need to tweak a layered PSD file on the fly. Opens in a new tab. Upscayl What is it: Local AI resolution enhancer. Why is it good: Uses local AI models to upscale low-res images. Works well for reviving tiny scans or old web graphics without paying for web-based tools. Opens in a new tab. Modly What is it: Local photogrammetry tool. Why is it good: Turns photos into textured 3D meshes on your own GPU. You get an actual OBJ or GLB out the other side that you can drag straight into Blender. Opens in a new tab.

File Management & Game Modding 2 shortcuts

Bulk Rename Utility What is it: Batch filename transformer. Why is it good: The interface looks like an air traffic control desk, but nothing beats it for stripping suffixes, adding timestamps, or numbering hundreds of files in bulk. Opens in a new tab. r2modman What is it: Sandboxed mod manager. Why is it good: Mod manager that keeps game files untouched in their install directories. Creates isolated profiles so you can switch between mod setups without breaking the vanilla game. Opens in a new tab.