29 Best Windows 10 Apps to Use

29 Best Windows 10 Apps to Use

Even though the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 devices isn’t as populated as Google’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store, it most certainly features a decent selection of apps that you can use for a variety of things. You can find everything ranging from simple personalization apps to programs that will help boost your productivity but,

in my experience, finding these apps could prove to be a chore as Microsoft Store’s search and discovery isn’t really all that great. So, if you’re on the lookout for some great apps for your PC or laptop, here are the 50 best Windows 10 apps you should use in 2022 to make the most out of your device

Best Windows 10 Apps You Should Use in 2022

Here, we have categorized all the best apps for Windows 10 so you can easily pick an app for your need. You can use the table of content below and jump to the corresponding section easily

Note that some of these app might misbehave if you have not activated Windows. I would suggest that you use our tutorial to get yourself a Windows 10 key for free or cheap, and activate Windows on your device

 

Best Windows 10 Entertainment Apps

. VLC

Did you know that the popular VLC media player is also available as a Windows 10 UWP app? Well, it is and it looks a whole lot better than the desktop version – that’s one reason why you should get it right away. The app features support for a variety of different video formats, including mp4, mkv, avi, and a lot more

On top of that, the app also includes a bunch of additional features, including the ability to add subtitles, sync audio, and video, and use any video as a live wallpaper. VLC is one of the best media players you can get for your Windows 10 device and you should definitely go ahead and download it without thinking twice

Download VLC (Free)

Download VLC from Microsoft Store (Free — UWP)

. Spotify Music

Spotify is also available on the Windows Store, meaning you don’t necessarily have to download the desktop version to enjoy listening to some great music

The app includes all the features you’d find on the Spotify app on any other platform, making it a must-have for all music (and podcast) lovers, especially those who want to discover great music – Spotify’s recommendations are just that great

The app has a really clean user interface, it’s simple to use and it syncs all of your data across all platforms, so you can seamlessly switch from your desktop to your mobile device without missing a beat.

Download Spotify Music (Free, requires paid subscription)

. Tidal

Tidal is another great music streaming service you can get, which, although a bit expensive, should be the go-to app for audiophiles. Not only does Tidal have a larger music library than Spotify, but it also boasts of Hi-Fi audio output which is great for anyone who wants to stream and listen to high-quality music on their Windows 10 device

On the downside, however, Tidal isn’t available in as many locations as Spotify, so some of you might not be able to make use of the music streaming service

Download Tidal (Free, requires paid subscription)

. Amazon Music

Amazon Music is a great music streaming app for people who are already subscribed to Amazon Prime. The app lets you access a curated selection of 2 million songs for free without any ads. You also get unlimited skips and offline music download

These are the features that are reserved for the paid tier of other music streaming services like Spotify. You might have noticed that the music selection here is far lesser than what is offered by Spotify (over 30 million songs), however, I rarely found a popular song that was missing on this platform

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This is a great app for music lovers who don’t want to pay extra for streaming music. On the other hand, if you do want a larger selection, you can subscribe to Amazon Music unlimited service that gives you access to 50 million songs at $7.99/month. Non-Prime members will have to pay the full price at $9.99/month

Download Amazon Music: (Free, Unlimited Plan requires a subscription)

. Netflix

In case you’re looking to stream videos, and not music, on your device then you’d be glad to hear that Netflix is also available on the Microsoft Store. Now that you know this, there’s no need for you to watch Netflix on the web and considering the fact that the Netflix app allows you to download videos for offline viewing

I know am not going back to watching Netflix on my browser again. More so, when it supports 4K playback. The Netflix app is a must-have for anyone with a Windows 10 device and a Netflix subscription.

Note: Check out our list of best Netflix Originals, movies, TV-shows, comedies, action movies, and more.

Download Netflix (Free, requires paid subscription)

. Hulu

If you’re not much of a “Netflix and Chill” person and swear by Hulu instead, then you’d be happy to know that you can get the Hulu app on Windows as well. With the Hulu app you can watch the latest episodes of your favorite TV show on your device

However, it doesn’t offer as great of an experience as the web version of the service and doesn’t include quite a few features which is rather disappointing. Another thing worth noting that the Hulu app for Windows 10 doesn’t include the option to download videos for offline viewing, which is another major setback for the app

Download Hulu (Free, requires paid subscription)

. Kodi

If you have a big offline media library and want to be able to easily manage it and stream it across devices, you should install Kodi. The best part about Kodi is that it is completely free to use. Once you set up Kodi on your device, you will be able to use it as a home server and stream content using Kodi on any device.

Not only that, but Kodi also comes with various plug-ins which lets you enhance its power. For example, you can install Kodi add-ons for Live TV shows and various Kodi repositories to stream content for free. If you are a media buff, there is no better Windows 10 app out there. If you have never used Kodi, be sure to check out our beginner’s guide on Kodi to get started

Download Kodi: Free

. Audible

I have loved books for as long as I can remember. However, as life went on, I found less and less time to read books and I missed doing that a lot. That is until I discovered Audible. Audible is an audiobook service that lets you listen to books on the go. I subscribed to Audible almost a year back and was able to go through 18 books till now

I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. Thanks to Audible, now I can consume books when I am traveling, doing chores at home, or just lying in bed sleepless. Now, the jury on reading books vs listening to books is still out there, but I believe that there’s plenty of space for them to co-exist

I still go for a physical book on the quiet Sunday afternoon but after a hard day at work, nothing relaxes me more than listening to an audiobook on my way home. If you love books, you should install this app on your Windows 10 machine

Download Audible: (Free (first book), $14.99/month)

Best Windows 10 Educational Apps

. Duolingo

One of the highest-rated language learning apps – Duolingo – is also available on the Microsoft Store, allowing you to pick up a new language from the comfort of your home. The app includes support for a number of languages, including widely used ones like Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, etc, and it gamifies the learning course to help you pick up languages quickly

Duolingo picks up each course right from the basics, but if you’re just looking for a refresher on a language you already know, then you can even tackle higher-level courses on the app itself

Download Duolingo (Free)

. WeDo 2.0 LEGO Education

WeDo 2.0 LEGO Education is a great app for kids that can help them pick up the basics of coding using LEGO bricks. The app has a very simple user interface which makes it easy for kids to pick it up on their own and it can also be used as a tool by teachers to teach their students simple programming skills

Not only that, the app can also be used to teach students crucial science and engineering practices, including problem-solving, modeling, prototyping, investigating, analyzing and interpreting data. WeDo 2.0 LEGO Education is a must-have app for anyone with young kids who wishes to teach them coding in a simple and playful manner.

Download WeDo 2.0 LEGO Education (Free)

. TED

TED is another great educational app which you can install on Windows and keep up to date with the latest TED Talk videos and audio. The app has a really minimal user interface and it categorizes all of its videos in curated lists, making it easy for you to watch all the latest and popular TED Talks

The app features over 1700 TED Talks on a variety of different topics and it keeps adding more, so you’ll never run out of cool educational videos to watch. Download the TED app on your system and I’m sure you’ll be able to learn a whole lot from the platform

Download TED (Free)

. FlashQuiz

Do you ever use flashcards while studying? Even if you don’t you should definitely check out FlashQuiz on your device as it will allow you to study more efficiently with the help of flashcards

The app features a variety of flashcards which will allow you to memorize things like world flags, world capitals, world currencies, and the periodic table, but if none of the included flashcards are of much use, you can even create flashcards of your own and embed text, images, and sounds to help you memorize whatever topic you want to focus on

Download FlashQuiz (Free, includes in-app purchases)

. Reading Trainer

Next up is another great learning app for kids called Reading Trainer which, as its name suggests, serves to improve the reading speed and retention rate in kids using fun exercises

The app claims that you can double your reading speed in just two days of training and that can really come in handy if you’ve got to complete reading a large volume of material in very little time. The eye-exercises play a major part in improving anyone’s reading speed and I’m sure slow readers everywhere will benefit from using this Windows 10 app

Download Reading Trainer ($3.99, offers a free trial)

Best Windows 10 Multimedia Design Apps

. Adobe Photoshop Elements

In case you’re looking for a great image editing app for Windows, you should definitely consider purchasing Adobe Photoshop Elements. You can use the app for anything from editing images to creating your own memes and thanks to its relatively simple user interface, the app is pretty great for beginners as well

Granted, it doesn’t offer all the features you’d find in the full-fledged desktop version of Photoshop, but it’s pretty great for a start and it’ll really come in handy for Windows 10 users who don’t have devices powerful enough to run the desktop version of the app

Download Adobe Photoshop Elements ($99.99, offers a free trial)

. Autodesk SketchBook

Autodesk SketchBook is another great app for creative professionals and artists alike, offering an expansive set of tools to help users create masterpieces on their PC. The app comes with complete touch input support

It’s great for users with touch-screen devices and it also includes support for the Microsoft Surface Dial, making it a great app to have in case you have a Surface Studio

Download Autodesk SketchBook (Free, offers in-app purchases)

. Paint.NET

If you’re looking for a simple yet functional drawing and image editing software that is geared at casual users, then you should definitely check out Paint.NET. Don’t let the app’s name fool you, it’s nothing like Paint or Paint 3D on Windows

It offers a much wider selection of tools and features that you can use to edit or create stunning projects. On top of that, the app has an active online community which provides useful plugins that go a long way in improving user experience

Download Paint.NET ($6.99)

. PhotoDirector 10 Essential

PhotoDirector 10 Essential is another excellent image editing app that offers a plethora of professional, easy-to-use tools for editing photos. Granted, the app’s user interface might seem a bit intimidating for beginners, but once you get a hang of it, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with its capabilities

It’s worth noting that PhotoDirector 10 Essential offers all premium features for a period of 30 days, after which users will only be able to use the app’s basic features. In case you wish to use any of the premium features, you’ll need to purchase PhotoDirector 10 Ultra from the Microsoft Store

Download PhotoDirector 10 Essential (Free)

. Affinity Photo

Rounding off the list of multimedia design apps for Windows 10 is Affinity Photo – another great image editing tool that will allow you to create stunning masterpieces with any photo. The app is directed at creative professionals and as such, it includes a ton of useful features

It has support for different color spaces, full 16- and 32-bit per channel editing, support for unlimited layers, and a lot more. Try out Affinity Photo on your device if you’re looking for a great (and more affordable) Photoshop alternative that offers as many, if not more, useful features

Download Affinity Photo ($49.99)

Best Windows 10 Personalization Apps

. TaskbarX

After the announcement of Windows 10X, people are really excited about the new UI with a centered taskbar. A developed named Chris Andriessen‬ has brought the same feature on Windows 10 and it’s called TaskbarX. It allows you to move your apps in the taskbar to the center and believe me, it looks really cool

TaskbarX also offers many transition effects and animations while switching between apps. On top of that, you can make the taskbar transparent, blur it, adjust opacity, and much more. I would say, TaskbarX is one of the best apps for Windows 10 in the personalization segment. You can learn how to center Taskbar icons on Windows 10 from our linked guide

Download TaskbarX (Free)

Buy from Microsoft Store ($1.09)

. Files UWP

If you love UWP designed-apps then Files UWP is among the must-have apps for Windows 10. It’s a file explorer just like the default Windows Explorer but built using Fluent design guidelines. The app looks pretty cool and you can do a bunch of useful things

For example, you can pin folders in the left pane, sort files and folders based on multiple metrics, enable dark mode, and more. Simply put, if you are looking for a modern-looking file explorer for Windows 10 then Files UWP is your best bet. Keep in mind, the app is still in beta so there might some quirks

Download Files UWP (Free)

. Seer Pro

If you’ve ever used a macOS device before, you’d be familiar with the platform’s quick look tool which allows you to view file contents without even opening the file. Seer Pro brings that same macOS feature to Windows

With Seer Pro, you can quickly preview files by pressing the spacebar. The app comes with support for several file formats and it allows you to copy video frames, images or text right from the preview. Seer Pro is a handy app which will definitely go a long way in improving the way you interact with files on your PC or laptop

Download Seer Pro ($7.49)

. TouchMe Gesture Studio

Even though there are several Windows 10 devices with touch screens in the market these days, not many of these devices come with handy gestures for you to speed up your workflow. This is exactly where the TouchMe Gesture Studio app comes into play

The Windows 10 app allows you to create personalized touch screen gestures for your system, featuring support for 2/3/4/5 finger gestures. You can customize these gestures to do pretty much everything from launching apps to shutting down your system. however, for these gestures to work on your Windows 10 device you’ll need a gesture engine, which is conveniently linked within the app

Download TouchMe Gesture Studio (Free, offers in-app purchases)

. Wallpaper Studio 10

Bored of your desktop background? Get the Wallpaper Studio 10 app and get access to thousands of high-quality wallpapers for your desktop. The app not only allows you to set up cool wallpapers on your device, but it can also be used to create Windows themes using a bunch of your photos

You can even upload your own images to the platform, allowing other users around the world to download and use your wallpapers on their system. With the app, you can instantly set a new wallpaper for your desktop and lock screen, without messing around with any Windows settings

Download Wallpaper Studio 10 (Free, offers in-app purchases)

. TranslucentTB

TranslucentTB is a simple and functional app for Windows 10 that does exactly what its name suggests – it makes your taskbar translucent. With this app, you can customize the look of your system’s taskbar, with options to adjust the opacity

You can also customize the accent color and combine states which allow you to give your taskbar a dynamic experience that changes depending on your actions

In case you’re like me and like to keep your taskbar hidden when not in use you could give TranslucentTB a shot, you might like even more than having the taskbar hidden (I know I did!)

Download TranslucentTB (Free)

. Accent Applicator

Another great personalization app for Windows, Accent Applicator is fairly self-explanatory. The app allows you to customize the color of the selected text and other UI elements in desktop applications

You can even create brighter and dimmer accents for particular UI elements, which is a great option. The app is fairly simple to use and will help you give your PC or laptop a more unique appearance

Download Accent Applicator (Free)

Best Windows 10 Productivity Apps

Dropbox

Popular file-hosting service Dropbox needs no introduction but in case you’ve been living under a rock, Dropbox is a cloud-storage service that also doubles up as a modern workspace, allowing you to stay connected to your team and access all your files securely in one place

Whether you want to share large files with your team or free up some space on your device, the Dropbox app has a variety of different applications and it’s definitely worth downloading for anyone with a Windows 10 device. That said, if Dropbox isn’t your cup of tea, you can check out some great Dropbox alternatives as well

Download Dropbox (Free, Premium plan starts at $9.99 per month)

. OneNote

While OneNote is generally clubbed with Microsoft Office apps, but I must mention it separately because it has become a powerful note-taking app on Windows 10 and has carved a space for itself. You can jot down your notes, ideas on a whiteboard with support for multiple pens, images, screen clippings, audio commentaries, and more

And now with further improvements, it supports multi-user collaboration too. To sum up, if you want a note-taking app like Evernote then OneNote is the best software for Windows 10 in this category

Download OneNote (Free)

. iA Writer

iA Writer is one of the best writing apps for PC that you can find in the market. It has a fluid and clean interface which helps you avoid distractions and focus more on the writing itself. You can use the syntax (Markdown) to format your text. You can also create sheets and search between the sheets using keywords

One of the cool features of iA Writer is that when you are writing, only the current line is highlighted while the rest of the text is greyed out. This helps you focus more on what are you writing. Apart from that, it alsohas a dark theme to go with it. Simply put, the writing environment is fabulous and the app is very light and never lags

Download iA Writer (Free trial for 14 days, $29.90)

. Bamboo Paper

Turn your Windows 10 touch screen device into a notebook with Bamboo Paper, a Windows 10 app from Wacom which allows you to take notes or sketch on your Windows device with surprising accuracy

The app includes a wide variety of tools, including different pens and brushes, which will allow you to write, draw, color or annotate documents on the fly. Thanks to its minimal user interface, it’s quite easy to get started with the app and I’m sure you’ll find it quite handy if you’ve got a 2-in-1 Windows laptop

Download Bamboo Paper (Free, offers in-app purchases)