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. Sponsors cannot buy one, and no advertiser 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
Three sources, in order of size:
| Source | How it works |
|---|---|
| Affiliate links | A handful of entries link to a publisher that runs an affiliate programme. If you buy something after arriving from here, we may receive a commission. The price you pay is identical. |
| Sponsored placements | Paid positions, always labelled Sponsored on the card and marked in the
HTML with rel="sponsored". A sponsorship buys visibility. It does not
buy a recommendation, a rating, or a place in any scenario list. |
| Display advertising | Banner units, served only after a visitor has actively consented to cookies. Advertisers have no say in the list. |
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 hello@installshelf.com for corrections, takedown requests, sponsorship enquiries, or to suggest a tool. 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.