The idea of this article is to highlight the best standalone apps across a variety of categories. Portable apps are available as standalone solutions - meaning you grab only the ones you need - or as part of a bigger platform or suite of apps that offer a variety of software to choose from – the most popular of which is the PortableApps suite. It may be technically possible to do things like hammering out a document for your boss, touching up a photo, or editing some code thanks to the cornucopia of mobile apps on the market, but we find we're most efficient when we have the right tool for the job, and often times that tool is a bona fide computer.Ī laptop is the logical solution that most users will arrive at in terms of flexibility, but did you know that you can effectively carry around a comprehensive suite of productivity software, handy tools, media players and even games complete with user preferences intact and use them on virtually any PC?

While smartphones allow us to be productive on the go when needed, it's not always as glamorous as it sounds. This is especially useful in situations where you may not have administrative rights to install software, on public computers at a library, university, or at work.

Portable apps don't modify the Windows registry or leave behind configuration files on the host computer. These can come in really handy as executables and any files associated with their operation are contained within a single folder, meaning you can run them directly from a USB drive or a cloud folder synced across PCs. Portable apps are lightweight versions of applications - either in size, functionality, or both - that don't use an installer.

Check out our latest list: The Best Portable Apps for Your Software Toolbox

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