5 macOS features missing on Windows 11 (and how to add them)

When it comes to operating systems, Windows 11 has a larger market share than macOS. But that doesn’t mean it’s a superior operating system. Windows 11 is still missing several macOS features, features that actually help users streamline their workflow.

One of the biggest benefits of the Apple ecosystem, and something missing in Windows, is AirDrop, or a similar feature, for quickly sharing files between devices. Some users are also asking for the inclusion of Spotlight, a feature that lets you quickly find anything on your Mac and across the web. There’s also Quick Look and Hot Corners, both designed to help users work faster. Speaking of missing features, we also can’t ignore the ability to rename multiple files at once with better control on macOS. Windows 11 offers the feature but it pales in comparison.

Windows has improved a lot over the years and now offers many useful but underrated features. But despite Microsoft’s best efforts, many handy features still aren’t available natively in Windows 11. The good news is that you don’t need to upgrade to macOS to get them. There is PowerToys, a collection of system utilities for Windows, and third-party applications to do this easily and for free. So let’s jump straight into adding the missing macOS features to Windows 11.

If you own multiple Apple devices, for example, iPhone, MacBook, and iPad, you must have noticed how quick and easy it is to share files between them with AirDrop. It eliminates the need for cables, cloud storage, or even email, and takes just seconds even for relatively large media files. Windows 11 integrates “Bluetooth File Transfer” and “Nearby Share” to share files with Android smartphones and other Windows PCs, respectively, but these aren’t as fast or seamless as AirDrop. Having used Bluetooth for file transfers on several occasions, I know that it can take a few seconds, even for small screenshots. But you can get AirDrop-like features on Windows 11 through a third-party app.

LocalSend, a free open source application, is available on the official website for Windows, Google Play Store for Android and Apple App Store for iPhone, iPad and MacBook. If you are an experienced user, LocalSend is also available for Linux.

LocalSend transfer speeds are comparable to AirDrop. I tried sending a few files with a total size of around 10MB and it took less than a second. It is also easy to use. Simply install the app on the required devices, go to the one you want to share files with, go to the “Send” tab, choose the file(s) you want to share and click “Send”. The receiving device will need to approve the request, and once it does, the files will be shared wirelessly.

Another macOS feature missing from Windows is Spotlight. It lets you quickly search anything on your PC, including installed apps and the web. The fact that it launches over existing windows makes it all the more practical as it integrates perfectly into your workflow. On Windows 11 you have Windows Search, which tries to do something similar, but the experience is nowhere near as close. You can get a similar and powerful feature on Windows 11 using PowerToys. To do this,

1. Open the Microsoft Store and download PowerToys, if you don’t already have it.
2. Launch PowerToys, go to the PowerToys Run tab and click Open Settings.
3. Here, enable the toggle for PowerToys Run.
4. Now press Alt + Space hotkey and the search bar opens instantly.

PowerToys Run allows you to quickly search for files, folders, applications and active processes. Apart from this, you can solve basic calculations, like adding, subtracting or multiplying two or more numbers, running system commands to troubleshoot the PC and even converting units, for example from cm to feet. And the best part is that PowerToys Run is highly customizable. From changing the default activation shortcut to setting the number of search results displayed to changing the theme and text size, you can do it all in the utility’s settings.

If you work with a large number of files on a MacBook every day, you probably know how useful Quick Look is. On macOS, you can select any file, whether it’s a PDF, document, or image, and press “Spacebar” to preview it. The feature works even when managing multiple files simultaneously and also allows basic editing in the preview window. Although Windows 11 has a preview pane in File Explorer, it is not as capable and you cannot perform any file-related actions. But all this is possible with PowerToys or a third-party app.

In PowerToys you have a utility called Peek, which is similar to Quick Look in many ways. Once enabled, select the file(s) you want to preview and press the “Spacebar” key. It will instantly launch the preview window. If you have selected multiple files, use the cursor keys to navigate between them. And as was the case before, you can change the default activation keyboard shortcut.

Another Windows alternative for this feature is an app called QuickLook, available from the Microsoft Store. Once downloaded, select the file and press “Spacebar” to load the preview window. Keep in mind that PowerToys Peek and the QuickLook app for Windows offer a similar experience and both should get the job done.

From a productivity perspective, another macOS feature that Windows 11 can benefit from is Hot Corners. This is a macOS productivity feature that lets you use the corners of the screen for quick actions like opening Notification Center, launching Quick Note, or putting the MacBook to sleep. Once configured via the “Desktop & Dock” settings, you can perform the configured action by moving the cursor to the corner of the desktop.

Windows 11 doesn’t natively offer this feature, but you can achieve it with a lightweight third-party app called WinXCorners. To do this,

1. Go to the WinXCorners GitHub page and download its latest version.
2. Right-click the downloaded file, select Extract All and click Extract.
3. In the extracted folder, run the WinXCorners file.
4. Open the system tray, click on the WinXCorners icon and configure the action you want to assign to each of the corners.

With WinXCorners, you can assign actions like switch to desktop, load screensaver, launch Action Center, etc. It’s a simple app with a fairly straightforward interface, so you shouldn’t have any trouble setting up the feature on Windows.

Another useful feature built into macOS that users who work with lots of files every day appreciate is having greater control over their renaming. Often I need to rename files in a particular order or add or replace text in file names before uploading them, and macOS does this perfectly while Windows still offers limited control. Remember, you can batch rename multiple files in Windows 11 by selecting them, pressing F2, and adding a name. Windows then automatically assigns the new name followed by a number to each. But you can’t natively replace specific text when managing multiple files, which macOS can do.

The feature can be added to Windows using the PowerRename tool from Microsoft PowerToys. To do this:

1. Launch PowerToys, go to the PowerRename tab, click Open Settings and enable the toggle for PowerRename.
2. Select the file batch, right-click it and choose Rename with PowerRename.
3. In the window that opens, enter the word or phrase you want to replace in the field at the top.
4. Enter the replacement text in the field below.
5. Select the text formatting, preview the changes on the right and if everything is in order, click Apply.

You can work with as many files as you want. I tried it with over 500 files and folders and it worked just as well. So if you’re thinking of switching from Windows to macOS just for one of these features, you no longer need them. With PowerToys and third-party apps, you can customize Windows 11 to look and work more like macOS.