Windows ships with almost everything an everyday user would need in their day-to-day workflow. Whether it is file management, screenshots, web browsing, or media playback, it’s all there, and it works well. Most users open what’s there, use it, and move on without a second thought. For a long time, I was in the same boat; I used whatever came pre-installed.

I didn’t plan to replace the default apps. But over time, ‘works well’ became just 'works.' The shift started with a single app and then another. Not because the apps were unusable, but because small things started to add up, like Explorer behaving inconsistently and the Snipping Tool interrupting my workflow.

I didn’t replace all the apps at once; it happened gradually. Over a few weeks, I started replacing apps when friction became difficult to ignore. What started as a few small tweaks turned out to be a complete overhaul in my daily workflow.

Why the defaults had to go

Good enough wasn’t enough

Windows 11, by default, comes with several pre-installed apps. Those apps work fine for day-to-day usage. Most of the apps are developed by Microsoft, so users feel they are reliable, and most users are familiar with them. So sticking with the default apps makes sense for the majority of Windows 11 users.

It starts to create friction when your workflow evolves, but not the apps. Core apps like File Explorer and Films & TV rarely get a major update. They solve general problems and use cases, but they are not optimized for specific workflows. For reference, I use these four core Windows 11 apps daily in my workflow: Edge browser, Snipping Tool, File Explorer, and Films & TV.

File Explorer is one core app that everyone uses, but it has several inconsistencies, and it feels patched over time, like the UI lacks cohesion and features look half-baked. As a full-time writer, I use Snipping Tool in almost every article I write, but it only has a simple way of taking screenshots — nothing after that is good about the app. Similarly, the Edge browser is good, but it is bloated with Microsoft services, and it always tries to nudge you toward the ecosystem. The same goes for media consumption; the Films & TV app is good if you need nothing more than basic playback.

With the core apps, Microsoft always tries to force you to accept subtle bloat, background integrations, and sometimes forced defaults. This was all tolerable for a casual user, and these frictions were easy to overlook. But for a power user, these inefficiencies were hard to ignore. To cope with these, I started to replace the core apps gradually with better open-source alternatives that actually fit my workflow.

The replacements I landed on

Rabbit holes and pleasant surprises

I didn’t go searching for the "best apps." I started looking for an alternative when the friction became obvious. There were no technicalities here, nor was I looking for benchmarks. I already had a powerful PC, a Ryzen 7 7700X paired with an RTX 4070 Ti and 32 GB of RAM. So, lightweight or heavy wasn’t on my checklist; I was looking for a better experience while I used the app. Being lightweight was a bonus, not a necessity.

The first app that needed an alternative was the default File Explorer. It felt inconsistent, and a bit dated. New features like tabs helped, but they didn’t fix the underlying issues. If you are a long-time Windows user like me, you might have noticed that Windows 11 File Explorer has one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve encountered across Windows editions. I tried the Files app as an alternative. On the first launch, it felt like a proper upgrade. The app is open-source and uses ~300 MB of storage. It was everything I wished Microsoft had done. Features like custom key bindings, sorting files and folders with tags, and file hash comparison made Explorer ancient by comparison. The Git integration was a nice-to-have feature but not essential for a Files app. Finally, the cleaner UI, more predictable navigation, and intentional design not only added more power but also removed the friction.

Another friction point in my workflow was the screenshot tool. Working as a technical writer requires a ton of screenshotting. The default Snipping Tool works, but it only does half of the task. Sure, pressing Win + Shift + S to open the overlay and snip is easy. But after that, it is a mess. I would have to open another tool just to do a few basic edits. The default Snipping Tool does come with an editing tool, but it lacks essential features. Then I moved to ShareX, a free, lightweight, and open-source application with features that look like they were purposefully designed for power users. It is an all-in-one productivity tool for screenshots and screen recording, with instant capturing using hotkeys, built-in editing, and automated cloud uploads and URL sharing. It does everything. This is when I realized the shift, and there was no going back.

As someone who researches constantly, my browser choice mattered. Though the Edge browser is a massive improvement over Internet Explorer, it is still a Microsoft product. With the Chromium engine, it is fast but heavily integrated with MS microservices. It constantly nudged me towards MS services; for example, if I opened Google, it would recommend that I move to Bing. Brave felt cleaner out of the box, offering fewer distractions and more control over browsing environments. It wouldn't be fair if I called it 100% open-source. It is based on the open-source Chromium engine, but there are a few features, like Brave Rewards and Brave Shields, that are proprietary. I considered Firefox, but I preferred staying with a Chromium-based browser for compatibility and familiarity.

Last but not least, anything that involved opening media always felt inconsistent. Viewing a photo or playing a media file shouldn’t require thinking. Windows’ Photos, Films & TV apps looked polished, but delays and incompatibility with formats were frequent. There were also unnecessary UI layers that felt bloated during regular use. I gradually moved to VLC Player and ImageGlass for all my media and image needs. ImageGlass loads instantly and has a minimal UI; it gets out of the way and just displays images. Similarly, VLC Player just works; you don’t need any setup or thinking; you just open a media file without looking at the format.

Weeks later, no regrets

Easier than I expected

The best thing after using the apps for several weeks is that I don’t think about them anymore. Initially, they felt like a proper upgrade, but after using them for a couple of days, they didn’t feel temporary and experimental. They were embedded in my workflow, and there was no friction.

The improvements were based on a few factors: speed, responsiveness, fewer interruptions, and more predictability. The apps were now opening faster, and there were no delays with simpler tasks like viewing images or taking screenshots. Browsing involved fewer prompts, nudges, and forced flows like redirects and pop-ups pushing me toward MS services. The apps behaved exactly like they were supposed to. There were no surprises or inconsistencies.

The workflow shift took a little bit of time, as I relied more on habit and muscle memory; for example, it was set in my mind that to open File Explorer, I could just press Win + E, and for taking a screenshot, Win + Shift + S. Though all the alternatives did have their own keyboard shortcuts, it was years and years of habit from Windows default apps. Not everything was as smooth as expected; the ShareX app has a ton of features, but at any given time, I would only need one, and navigating to that exact feature was tedious.

The real change wasn’t the apps themselves; you can find several alternatives that fit your specific workflow and requirements. The real change was the control — no telemetry, no forced updates, and no MS account prompts.

Your workflow, not Microsoft's

I wasn’t actively trying to find a better app, mostly because I was already so deep into Windows 11 defaults for my workflow. It was hard to realize how much of my workflow relied on the defaults I never chose. It was the small points of friction that added up and were eventually difficult to ignore.

Once I started replacing the defaults, even gradually, everything started to feel different: smoother and a lot quieter. I chose these specific apps because they fit my workflow perfectly. For you, the ideal replacements might be completely different.

I wasn’t working around the tools anymore — they were working the way they were supposed to.