I recently switched from macOS to Windows after using the former for five long years. Well, at least when I'm working from my desk. I made some changes to my home office, including building a new gaming PC, which means my MacBook is reserved for when I'm traveling or occasionally working in a café. While the transition was smoother than I expected, there are some features on macOS that completely spoiled me. Things like Spotlight Search and Quick Look are extremely helpful, saving a ton of hassle on a daily basis.

When I realized Windows didn't have these features built in, I knew I had to look for alternatives. Thankfully, it didn't take me long to find equivalent apps on Windows to replicate my favorite macOS features. So, if you too have recently switched to Windows, or you're forced to the OS on your work laptop - or perhaps you even love Windows but have a bit of FOMO - here's how you can get the best macOS features and functions on your Windows PC.

6 QuickLook

Preview your files with the press of a button

Despite the fact that Windows Explorer on Windows 11 is miles ahead of Finder on macOS, both in terms of features and usability, there's one feature natively missing from the file explorer that is a part of macOS: QuickLook. As the name suggests, QuickLook lets you quickly preview a document, image, or video without opening it. This saves you a ton of time when you're hunting for a specific file with multiple iterations or versions.

To get the functionality on your Windows PC, all you have to do is download the app called QuickLook. Once you run the app, make sure to enable auto-start so it automatically opens at startup. Then, simply click on the file you want to preview and hit the space bar on your keyboard. The best part is that QuickLook not only lets you preview the file but also allows you to interact with elements in the file. For example, you can play and pause a video or select the text inside a Word document.

There are times when I have multiple screenshots to add to an article. QuickLook allows me to quickly peruse them without double-clicking and opening every single file. You'll only realize how much time the feature saves you once you start using it on a regular basis.

5 Spotlight Search

Search from anywhere

Along with QuickLook, one of my most-used tools on macOS is Spotlight Search. The fact that I can press a key combo and fire up a universal search bar from anywhere makes finding things extremely quick and simple. Moreover, Spotlight doesn't just search for apps or files. It even looks for relevant results in your photos and notes. In fact, it also searches the web for results and can even be a quick way to look for a word in the dictionary.

If that sounds interesting to you, and you want similar functionality on your Windows PC, all you have to do is enable a toggle within PowerToys. For the unaware, PowerToys is a set of tools and utilities aimed at power users. You can enable certain features or improve your experience of using Windows with the help of these tools. While PowerToys is developed by Microsoft, it's unfortunately not part of Windows 11 by default. It's rather simple to install though. Here's how to get PowerToys on your PC and enable Spotlight Search.

1. Download PowerToys from the Microsoft Store and open the app.
2. Select PowerToys Run in the left pane and click on Launch PowerToys Run.

The feature will then be enabled on your PC. Every time you want to access the search bar, all you have to do is hit Alt + Space and start typing.

4 AirDrop (but better)

Transfer files across devices

We all know how popular AirDrop is for sending and receiving files across devices in the Apple ecosystem. But, what if I told you there's an app that is better than AirDrop and is available on all major platforms? I'm talking about LocalSend. Now, I know Nearby Share is available on Windows, and it's a nice tool for transferring files between Windows and Android. But, if you're also dealing with other platforms, LocalSend is an absolute godsend.

The app is available across ecosystems for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux. It's quicker than AirDrop, has a clean UI without ads, and is open-source. I highly recommend using the app for all your file transfer needs across platforms. As a matter of fact, it's so good that I use it even when transferring files between my Apple devices instead of AirDrop.

3 File Converter

Change file formats with a click

My job involves dealing with different types of file formats all the time. The screenshots I capture for articles are in PNG, while images taken via my camera are in JPG. Similarly, I work with audio files that are either in MP3 or WAV. Working with a lot of different formats can get difficult, which is why I like converting all my files of a similar type to a single format. macOS lets me do this straight via the contextual menu. However, Windows 11 doesn't have this option.

Just when I was about to convince myself to manually convert each file via a web service, I came across the File Converter app on GitHub. Installing the app does exactly what my Mac did. I can select all the files of the same type, right-click on them, and convert them with a single click. It's completely free to use and supports a wide variety of formats. An absolute time-saver if you ask me! Not sure why Microsoft hasn't added the feature natively.

2 Smooth Scrolling

Why is it so janky?

The first thing I did after setting up my PC, like any normal person, was open Edge to download Chrome. When scrolling through the search results on Edge, I realized the scrolling was extremely janky. It looked almost like my PC was dropping frames. I thought it was probably an issue with the browser, so I tested the same once Chrome was downloaded. Unfortunately, the results were the same. That's when I realized scrolling on macOS is so much smoother compared to Windows. Thankfully, I found an app that replicated the same scrolling motion from macOS on my Windows PC.

Aptly called SmoothScroll, the app makes the scrolling experience buttery smooth when using the scroll wheel on an external mouse. All you have to do is install the app, and it will automatically start running. If you're using Chrome, the developer suggests disabling Chrome's smooth scrolling feature by going to chrome://flags/#smooth-scrolling. Trust me, this might sound paltry, but you'll fall in love with how smooth the scrolling feels on your PC after using this app!

The SmoothScoll icon always lives in your taskbar, so if you wish to disable it for certain apps like Notepad, you can. Some use-cases may require precise scrolling, in which case I recommend turning it off.

1 Hot Corners

Perform tasks with a mouse swipe

Mac computers have a pretty useful feature baked into macOS called Hot Corners. Essentially, it allows you to assign tasks or apps to the four corners of the screen. Then, you can quickly launch these shortcuts when you hover your mouse on any of these corners. For example, hovering my mouse in the bottom-right corner of my Mac launches the Notes app. This way, I can quickly jot down important notes. Similarly, I've assigned the top-right corner to show my notification tray. Once you get used to this feature, there's no going back.

On Windows 11, Microsoft does provide you with the option to show the desktop when you hover your mouse in the bottom-right corner. But, that's that. The rest of the corners don't serve any purpose. Well, WinXcorners is here to solve that. Just like Hot Corners on Mac, WinXcorners allows you to assign tasks or apps to each corner of your Windows PC. Then, all you have to do is take your mouse pointer to those corners to trigger the corresponding function.

I recommend adding your frequently used apps or quick shortcuts like putting your computer to sleep or bringing up the screensaver every time you want to head out for a short break.

Add a touch of macOS to your Windows PC

Sure, Macs won't game like a PC, and the OS is rather limiting for power users. However, there are a few features on macOS that can truly improve your computing experience or make life a lot easier when working for long hours. Personally, both QuickLook and Spotlight Search are among my favorites and are two features I absolutely cannot live without. Thank goodness I can use them on Windows now.