14 PC productivity apps I install on every laptop

Key Takeaways

Organization is key to productivity — apps like Todoist and Microsoft To-Do can help keep tasks in check.
Collaborate seamlessly with team members using Trello or Airtable for efficient project management.
Boost efficiency with tools like Grammarly and Zapier that automate tasks and improve writing quality.

Computers are incredible machines that open up so many possibilities. They let you have fun watching your favorite movies on the best streaming services or playing the best video games.

However, they are even more useful when you need to be productive. Instead of doing all your calculations, spreadsheets, and planning on paper, you can easily consolidate it all within just a few apps and have it handy wherever you go.

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In order to maximize your productivity, a perfect set of apps is necessary. You want whatever processes you have to be straightforward, easy, and as convenient as they can get — luckily, apps can organize all your tasks and streamline their completion.

From managing your tasks, collaborating with your colleagues, or helping you focus on the job at hand — here are the best productivity apps that you absolutely need on your Windows PC.

1 Todoist

Get through all your duties in style

Todoist is an excellent task management app that lets you create various to-do lists, track what you need to do, and filter it all by deadline dates or projects. It makes organizing your life and work much easier and lets you focus on keeping all your responsibilities fulfilled instead of trying to remember what else you had to do that day.

You can even collaborate within the app, which is ideal not only for planning your days, but also for families or business partners.

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2 Microsoft To-Do

Task tracking made easy

Microsoft’s To-Do is an incredible alternative to the well-known Todoist (my first example) that excels at business-centric planning thanks to its built-in Outlook integration. It allows you to create to-do lists easily from your PC or mobile devices, and they automatically upload to your Outlook account, making them available both in all the versions of the app, and when you’re browsing your email.

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3 Trello

Never miss a deadline

If you’re looking for a do-it-all productivity and project management app, Trello is one of the best ones around. It features an easy-to-use, extremely user-friendly board system that makes assigning tasks to team members and tracking the stages of every part of the project easy and easily visible.

It also has various other collaboration options, including comments, attachments, and a chat system that makes communicating with the team a breeze.

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4 Airtable

Makes complicated projects easy as pie

If you’re looking for insanely flexible collaboration software, Airtable is a fantastic choice. Thanks to its template-based structure, you can fit the functionality and the layout of the program exactly to the use case that you have in mind.

Aside from that, Airtable includes extensive collaboration and management options, including various commenting and note systems, categorization and team-management tools, and all the other features that make it an excellent choice for both small and large teams to track their tasks with.

You can fit the functionality and the layout of the program exactly to the use case that you have in mind.

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5 Slack

Keeps you in the loop

Slack is probably the most recognizable business-centered communications app around — and for good reason. It includes everything that you’d need to easily and efficiently keep in touch with the other members of your team. You, of course, have the ability to create private, 1-on-1 chats with your colleagues, but you can also make custom channels for all kinds of discussions, ranging from project-based chats for different teams, to off-topic channels for your fantasy football league.

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6 Zoom

Can we just hop on a quick call?

Even though Zoom has been around for a long time, its first widespread adoption happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this unfortunate circumstance helped show the utility of Zoom as an excellent communications platform that lets you talk to and see the people you’re communicating with, along with easy conversation management tools such as breakout rooms or image enhancements. Combine that with a capacity to host huge calls, even up to 500 participants, and you get an excellent video conferencing tool.

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7 Google Workspace

Productivity and collaboration galore

The most basic productivity tool that you’ll need, regardless of what you need to do, is a great office suite. Google Workspace is just that — a range of office programs straight from Google that enable you and your team to easily get your jobs done. You get the basics, like Docs or Sheets, but also more advanced tools, like a business version of Gmail, or Gemini AI built into all the Google Workspace apps.

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8 Microsoft 365

The gold standard

If there’s one piece of productivity software that everybody knows, it’s Microsoft Office. Thanks to the Microsoft 365 subscription, you get access not only to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, but also more OneDrive cloud storage, cloud saves that enable you to edit your documents on multiple devices, and access to other Microsoft apps and all their premium features.

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9 Obsidian

Take your note-taking to another level

There are various note-taking maps, but few are as powerful and go as deep as Obsidian. Thanks to the insanely powerful interlinking features, it allows you to create links between your notes, making it very easy to connect various concepts and ideas to one another. It makes taking notes so much more efficient, and helps you build your knowledge-base much more efficiently.

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10 OneNote

Covers all the basics

If you prefer a more streamlined approach to note-taking, OneNote is an excellent choice. Microsoft’s note-taking solution features a clean UI and a set of powerful tools that allow you to create your notes by typing, handwriting, or even drawing. Plus, it easily integrates with other Microsoft programs, so you can switch between OneNote and Word when writing bigger assignments.

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11 Brain.fm

Chill music to vibe and focus

Even though music can work wonders in helping you work and be productive, sometimes it’s just not enough. That’s where brain.fm comes in, with its assortment of rhythms and sound patterns designed to help your brain focus on the task at hand. You can choose from a variety of different moods and options, making the experience not only captivating, but also easily personalized for your own musical preferences.

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12 Freedom

No more distractions

Sometimes, it’s difficult to focus on your duties. It might not be for lack of trying, but because of the device distractions. If you really can’t deal with all your electronics always fighting for your attention, Freedom is a great help that lets you cut them out of your life for a certain time. Even better, the app lets you sync your blocks between various devices, so there is no way you can block TikTok on your phone just to pick up your tablet and keep scrolling.

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13 Grammarly

Make fewer mistakes

There are few things as annoying as getting through your assignment once again just to catch all the grammatical mistakes you’ve made. Thanks to Grammarly, you can rest assured they won’t be able to hide from you. It’s an excellent app that works on top of your text editor of choice and helps make your writing better. It detects grammatical mistakes and suggests appropriate changes, and with paid versions, it can even make your writing style and clarity better with more advanced suggestions.

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14 Zapier

Automate the boring stuff

Some of the tasks you might need to do are just mindless, boring things you wish you could automate. Zapier is here to do just that, connecting to all sorts of apps and helping you create automations between them.

You can automatically send out emails when someone buys something in your online store, create orders when an item is sold out, and much more.