About InstallShelf, and how we choose tools
InstallShelf is a short, hand-checked list of the software worth putting on a new computer. It is not a download portal, not a mirror, and not a search engine. It is closer to a recommendation list that a friend who fixes computers for a living might hand you, with one rule attached: every link goes where it says it goes.
Why every link points to the publisher
Most download sites exist to put an advertisement in front of you between clicking a button and receiving a file. That gap is where bundled toolbars, changed homepages, "installers" that install something else entirely, and repackaged software with a payload added all live.
We skipped the gap. When you click a link here, your browser opens the website of the company, foundation or community that actually makes the software. If you download it, you download it from them, under their licence and their privacy policy. We never see it, touch it, or get the chance to modify it.
The consequence is that we sometimes link to pages that are uglier and slower than a clean download button would be. A few publishers make you pick a version, or read a page of release notes first. That is a fair price for knowing exactly whose file you are running.
How tools get on the list
Roughly a thousand programs could be described as essential. About eighty are here. The filter is not popularity:
- It has to be obtainable from its publisher at no cost, or be a paid tool we would pay for ourselves. Nothing here is free because it is adware.
- It has a clean distribution history. A single bundled toolbar in the past decade is enough to keep a program off the list permanently.
- It does something Windows does not already do well. This is why there is no duplicate-file finder, no registry cleaner, and no "PC booster" of any kind.
- The licence is clear. We say plainly which entries are open source, which are free only for personal use, and which require a purchase.
What "Editor's pick" means
It marks the entry we would install first in its category, and it is the answer to the question "I only want one of these, which one?" Eleven tools carry it. Everything else on the page is there because it is a good answer for a different person, not because it is filler.
Picks are decided by us alone. There are no sponsors or advertisers to influence them, and no commercial partner has ever influenced which tools appear. Our notes say when a tool is the wrong choice — including when the built-in Windows alternative is already good enough — because a list that recommends everything recommends nothing.
How this site is paid for
As of 10 November 2026, it is not. InstallShelf carries no advertising, no affiliate links and no sponsored placements. Every outbound link goes straight to the publisher’s own website with no referral identifier attached, and we receive nothing if you install or buy something. There is no account, no newsletter, no store and no payment on this site.
We have applied to display advertising. If that changes, we will label the affected placements and update this page and the footer notice before anything goes live. Ranking, notes and Editor’s picks are editorial decisions and are not for sale.
What hand-checked actually means
The phrase is used loosely on the web, so it is worth being precise. We do not run benchmarks, publish measured performance figures, maintain a test lab, or claim to have tested a particular build of a program. What we check is narrower and verifiable:
- The destination. Each link is checked against the domain of the company, foundation or community that makes the software, never a mirror or a download portal.
- The licence wording. Open source, free but closed source, free for personal use, and paid tiers are kept distinct because the difference matters on a work machine.
- The distribution history. A history of bundled installers rules a program out even when the current version is clean.
- The platforms. What we list is what the publisher says it supports.
The recommendation and the trade-offs are editorial judgement. They are written out on the guides and on each category page so you can disagree with the reasoning rather than only with the conclusion. If a fact is wrong, use the contact page; we would rather correct an entry than defend it.
Where outside evidence comes in
Some pages cite independent reviews, security audits and developer surveys. That is evidence of somebody else’s testing, not ours, and we label it that way. We read the original, summarise the part that changes a decision in our own words, name the organisation and the year, and link to the source. We do not paste review text, star ratings or score tables. Where a lab restricts reuse of its published results, we describe what kind of test it runs and link to the report instead of quoting its numbers.
The full list and the rules are on the sources and citation policy page. A citation never becomes the recommendation: the trade-offs, the when to skip it line and the decision itself stay ours, even where we disagree with the reviewer. Where we cannot find a first-party source we trust, the page carries no citation rather than a borrowed opinion from an aggregator or a generated roundup.
Corrections
Links rot, licences change, and companies get acquired by worse companies. If an entry is out of date, if a download page has moved, or if a tool you trusted has done something that should disqualify it, write to us and we will correct or remove it. We would rather delete an entry than defend it.
Contact
Email [email protected] for corrections, takedown requests or to suggest a tool. Our contact page lists what we can and cannot help with. We read everything; we answer most things within a few working days.
For copyright and trademark complaints, see the DMCA section of our terms, which explains the exact information we need from you.