6 lightweight tools I install before anything else on a new PC

Published Sep 6, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT João has been covering the tech world for over 7 years, with a heavy focus on laptops and the Windows ecosystem. I also love all things tech and videogames, especially Nintendo, which he's always happy to talk about. Prior to joining XDA in 2021, he worked at Neowin: https://www.neowin.net/news/poster/jo%C3%A3o-carrasqueira/ I've used my fair share of PCs, and having to hop between them or reset them every now and then often means I have to reinstall a lot of the things I'm used to. Some things are more essential than others, though, and they'll be the first things I install on a new PC before I get deep into properly using it. I have a handful of relatively light tools that I always need on my PCs when I plan to use them frequently. Whether it's on Windows 11, macOS, or sometimes Linux, these are apps I'll always seek to install before anything else, and frankly, you might want to do the same. Let's talk about them. Especially on Mac I'm not one to download video files very frequently (you know what I'm talking about), so for a while, I didn't actually need VLC all that much on my PC. However, when I started up my YouTube channel and began editing on my Mac and exporting my files in MP4 format, I realized that QuickTime Player often can't play my exported videos, which can be a bit frustrating. I know I'm definitely preaching to the choir here, but VLC has become a mainstay on my Mac once again because it's the one player that can reliably play my video files, no matter the format. Aside from my own videos, VLC can handle just about any weird video file I might download off the internet, with any format or codec you can dream up. It can also play your DVDs on Windows. I'm sure everyone else already has it on their computer, but I'll say it anyway: VLC is a must-have. VLC A window manager FancyZones and its copycats I've talked about FancyZones and its equivalents multiple times here on XDA, but it always bears repeating. A window manager like this is the perfect addition to any PC, and I've found myself needing it on every computer I set up to use on a large screen (maybe not so much on a laptop screen). On Windows, FancyZones isn't the lightest tool around since it's bundled with the rest of PowerToys (though, even then, it's not exactly a heavyweight), and on macOS you can get MacsyZones as an equivalent, or BentoBox if you're willing to pay up for a slightly smoother experience. Even on Linux, I found an alternative to FancyZones. If you use a GNOME desktop, then you can check out the Tiling Shell GNOME extension to provide a similar tiling window experience, but on KDE Plasma, you actually don't need anything extra — the latest version of Plasma already has a window manager that works very similarly to FancyZones. No matter which OS I'm on or the alternative I go for, a window manager in this style is paramount to my productivity. I can easily organize my windows into the exact size and layout I want and consistently snap them right into place without needing any complicated shortcuts. It's pretty much perfect. MacsyZones A launcher Flow Launcher or Raycast Perhaps the most useful tool in my arsenal is a centralized launcher bar, which I first discovered on Windows with Flow Launcher. Flow Launcher offers a much faster way to do just about anything on your PC, and it's fantastic. If I want to launch an app, I can press the shortcut for Flow Launcher, type the name of the app, and the results update instantly and accurately, making for a far better experience than using the built-in Windows search. Not only that, but thanks to extensions (or plugins), I can do much more than launch apps. Searching files, searching specific websites, even finding information about a Pokémon or controlling things like Home Assistant. These launchers are extremely versatile. Flow Launcher is easily my go-to on Windows, but on macOS, I use an alternative called Raycast, and honestly, it's even better. Raycast should be called the true "everything app", it's just so useful beyond what I can explain in this article. But I can tell you right now it also doubles as my clipboard history and an emoji panel (and it's perfect for both). I haven't spent enough time working on Linux to really find an alternative there, plus the built-in search on Linux is already solid compared to Windows. But if you have a Windows PC or a Mac, then you really need to check out Flow Launcher and Raycast. Flow Launcher Raycast Everything Wait, it's not what you think As I just mentioned, Windows Search is not particularly fast for anything, whether it's launching apps or finding your files. And while Flow Launcher can help with the former, if you want to improve the latter, then you need Everything. Everything is a very lightweight search engine that makes laps around Windows Search. It's an absolutely tiny app that takes mere seconds to index all the files on your PC, and then you can search for them instantly. Seriously, search results update in real time and it finds everything. It's crazy. And what's great is that Everything has a plug-in for the aforementioned Flow Launcher, so you can make it even easier to find your files faster from this centralized search bar. On macOS, I don't really need an extra app for this because Raycast also includes a very reliable file search feature built-in, plus there's a proper file manager extension I can use to navigate through directories in a more manual way. Everything Individual pricing Free Platforms Windows A file manager When File Explorer isn't enough Both Windows and macOS come with file managers built-in that suffer from different problems that make them feel subpar. File Explorer on Windows 11 is notoriously not very fast, and it's not optimized for productivity overall. And on macOS, Finder has some annoying paradigms that make it harder to navigate, like being unable to open folders by pressing Enter. As such, a file manager is one of the first things I need on either of these platforms. On Windows, I typically go for the File Pilot beta, since it's easily the best file manager out there in terms of speed and productivity. Everything about it is incredibly fast and smooth, and it's just unbeatable. But if you're reading this after the beta period ends and you don't want to pay for the full release, then you can also check out OneCommander. On macOS, I'm currently using Path Finder since I got a free review license for it, but if I were sticking to free software, I'd probably go for ForkLift, which has an unlimited free version (with some annoying pop-ups, but it's not outrageous) and is honestly better in some ways. All of these options have features like dual-pane navigation (or more than two, in the case of File Pilot), tab support, better handling of file renaming, and more. They really help me be much more productive. File Pilot ForkLift Monitor manager For my desktops, at least Finally, for the PCs I use connected to my desktop monitor, I need a manager app to control the brightness of said monitor. Surprisingly, neither Windows nor macOS offer good built-in functionality for controlling my monitor, which is fairly annoying when I want to get the right brightness level for my current lighting. I work sitting right next to a single window, so my lighting changes a bit throughout the day and I need that easier control instead of using the monitor's OSD. On Windows, my solution has been either Twinkle Tray or, if you want something lighter, ClickMonitorDDC. I do love the more modern UI of Twinkle Tray, but it's a much larger app, so I wouldn't blame you for wanitng something else. For my Mac, I use an app called MonitorControl, which is also fairly light. Both apps let me adjust the brightness of my monitor using software on the computer itself, which makes my life so much easier. ClickMonitorDDC MonitorControl Making the ideal experience on any PC Those are just the starter apps I need on most of my PCs. Part of me wanted to mention my web browser, Vivaldi, but I struggle to consider a web browser a "lightweight" tool these days, so it didn't feel like a good fit here. Regardless, all of these apps have made my life so much easier since I started using them, and if I ever plan to use a PC for a decent amount of time, I need to set these up. Do you have any must-have apps like this? I'd love to hear about them in the comments.