Contact InstallShelf
Email is the only way to reach us, and it is read by the people who maintain the list. There is no account, no contact form that stores your message with a third party, and no newsletter.
What to write about
- A broken or changed link. Publisher pages move. Tell us the tool name and the address you expected, and we will correct the link rather than substitute a mirror.
- A factual correction. A licence that changed, a platform we listed wrongly, or a tool whose distribution history no longer meets our filter.
- A suggestion. We would rather explain why something is not on the list than silently ignore it.
- Copyright or trademark complaints. See the DMCA section of our terms for the details we need.
What we cannot help with
We host and distribute no installers, so we cannot supply a download, a licence key, an older version, or technical support for third-party software. For those, contact the publisher using the official link on the relevant guide or category page. We also cannot advise on a specific machine: the guides explain the reasoning, but the decision stays yours.
How quickly we answer
We read everything and answer most messages within a few working days. Corrections to links and licences are prioritised; a correction that changes the list also moves the reviewed date shown at the foot of every page.
Privacy of your message
Your email address is used only to reply to you. The privacy policy sets out what this site processes and what it does not.
Questions we are often asked
Can you add our software to the list?
You can suggest it, and we will look at it against the same four filters described on the About page: obtainable from its publisher, a clean distribution history, a job the operating system does not already do well, and a licence we can state plainly. Popularity is not one of the filters. We will tell you if the answer is no and why, rather than leave you waiting.
Why link to the publisher instead of the download page I sent you?
Because the space between a Download button and the actual file is where bundled toolbars, changed homepages and repackaged installers live. Our guide to checking a download explains the checks we apply and how you can apply them yourself. If the publisher’s own page is hard to use, that is a reason for us to describe it more clearly, not a reason to route the link through another host.
Does a wrong licence or platform detail really matter?
Yes, more than a typo usually would. Free for personal use and free for commercial use are different permissions, and several tools on the list fall into the first category. A wrong platform entry wastes an afternoon. These are the fields we check most carefully, which is why they appear in the comparison table on every category explainer.
Can I republish a guide or a comparison table?
See the terms of use for what is and is not permitted. Short quotations with a link back are usually fine; copying a whole guide is not. If you need a clearer answer for a specific use, write to us and we will give you a straight one.