Best Portable Apps for a USB Drive: What Still Works

Put the PortableApps.com Platform on the drive first. It is a free, open-source menu and app store that installs portable programs onto the drive and keeps them updated, and its directory holds most of what is listed below. Then add only what you will use. An office suite, a PDF reader, a password manager, a media player and 7-Zip cover most needs.

This page began in 2013 as a list of fifty programs. We checked each one against PortableApps.com’s directory and its maker’s own site. About a third still have a portable version that gets updates. Several more have a clear successor, and the rest are gone from the list.

What a portable app is

A portable app runs without being installed into Windows. By PortableApps.com’s guidelines it sits in a single folder and leaves no files or registry entries behind on the PC beyond what Windows writes by itself. Put that folder on a USB drive or in a synced cloud folder and the program comes with you to any Windows PC.

There are two ways to get one. Some makers publish their own portable build, usually as a zip file: Notepad++, KeePass, VeraCrypt, Revo Uninstaller, Sumatra PDF and Audacity all do. For the rest, PortableApps.com packages the program itself. The makers of LibreOffice link to that package from their own download page.

Portable apps at a glance

Every app in the table except Allway Sync is in the PortableApps.com directory. KeePass is listed there in two editions, Classic and Professional.

Start with the launcher

The PortableApps.com Platform takes over from PStart, the launcher we listed in 2013. PStart is still on its author’s site, at version 2.11, and it is a simple menu for starting programs. The Platform adds an app store and updates the apps on the drive for you. Its download page lists Windows XP through Windows 11.

To add a program, open the Platform’s menu, click Apps, then Get More Apps. Without the Platform, download the app’s installer from its page in the directory, run it and choose the USB drive as the place to install.

Documents and text

LibreOffice Portable replaces AbiWord, which PortableApps.com says is no longer developed or supported by its publisher. It is a full office suite and takes 681MB to 800MB on the drive, so leave room for it.

For PDFs there are two choices. Sumatra PDF is open source, opens ebooks and comics as well, and takes 37MB. Foxit Reader Portable was on the old list and is still updated. It does more, including annotating and filling in forms, and takes 400MB.

Notepad++ is still the text editor to carry.

Files and clean-up

7-Zip Portable opens and makes archives and takes 14MB. Revo Uninstaller is still free, and its maker offers the portable version on its own site.

CCleaner is a different story. The portable build on CCleaner’s site is version 6.41, while the installed program has moved on to version 7. PortableApps.com says version 7 runs as a permanent service on the PC and will not be made portable. BleachBit Portable is the open-source cleaner in the directory.

Restoration, the old file-recovery pick, has no page in the directory. Wise Data Recovery Portable does the same job, and the directory also has a launcher for Recuva.

Allway Sync still offers an edition that installs onto a USB drive, free for moderate personal use. Its site now names GoodSync as its new home, so expect that to change.

Passwords and security

KeePass publishes a portable zip of both its editions and tells newcomers to take version 2 if in doubt. The directory also carries KeePassXC.

VeraCrypt replaces TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt’s own page warns that it is not secure and that development ended in 2014. Two cautions about VeraCrypt. Its documentation says portable mode needs administrator rights, so it will not open your encrypted files on a locked-down work or library PC. And current versions no longer open old TrueCrypt volumes. The project keeps version 1.25.9 available for that.

Trellix Stinger is the tool the old list called McAfee Stinger. It scans for a set of common malware and, as PortableApps.com puts it, is not a replacement for a full antivirus. It also needs administrator rights.

Internet

FileZilla and PuTTY are both current. PuTTY has always been portable in spirit: its site offers putty.exe as a single file.

For chat, Pidgin Portable is still updated. Miranda IM is marked as deprecated in the directory, which points to Miranda NG. Skype is gone altogether: Microsoft retired it on 5 May 2025 and moved its users to Teams.

TightVNC is still developed, but its site offers only installers. TeamViewer Portable fills the remote-support gap, for personal use only.

The old list had no browser. The directory has Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition and Google Chrome Portable. It notes that Chrome ties saved passwords to the PC they were saved on, so they do not travel with the drive by default.

Pictures, sound and video

IrfanView, GIMP, VLC and Audacity are all still updated and all in the directory. GIMP needs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11.

FastStone Capture has changed. It is now paid software, $29.95 after a 30-day trial, though its maker still offers a portable package. The directory carries the last free version and warns that it copes poorly with window edges in modern Windows. ShareX Portable is the free, open-source screenshot tool to use instead.

VirtualDub is out. Its site still shows version 1.10.4 as current, and the portable package dates from 2013.

Small extras

ConvertAll Portable is the unit converter in the directory. Convert, the one we listed in 2013, is still a free 153KB download on its author’s site, which lists Windows versions from 95 to 11. It needs no installing, but its author says it keeps its settings in the Windows registry, so it is not portable in the strict sense.

The directory’s Games section has about seventy titles. Recently updated ones include OpenTTD, SuperTux, SuperTuxKart and Lucas Chess.

What we dropped

• Retired or ended: Skype, TrueCrypt, AbiWord and Miranda IM.
• No release in over a decade: ImgBurn, whose last version came out in June 2013, InfraRecorder, VirtualDub and Lingoes. NirSoft marks Asterisk Logger as obsolete and says it does not work on Windows Vista or 7.
• No portable build: TightVNC, and CCleaner from version 7.
• No longer needed: On-Screen Keyboard Portable is still in the directory, last updated in 2018, but all it does is open the on-screen keyboard that Windows already has.
• Not in the directory: Restoration, RockXP, SendMail, KillAd, Fatbits, Resize, HJSplit, Folder2ISO, BurnCDCC, Qm, Country Codes, StartUpLite, TrayURL, iKill, Tiny USB Office, SG TCP Optimizer and FSuite. Most were small single-purpose tools from the Windows XP years, and several of their download pages no longer open. We did not chase each one further.
• Left out on purpose: the video downloader and the tool for cracking Office passwords.

Quick answers

How do I install portable apps on a USB drive?

Install the PortableApps.com Platform onto the drive, open its menu and click Apps, then Get More Apps. Or download a single app from the directory, run its installer and choose the drive as the destination.

Is PortableApps.com safe?

We cannot vouch for any download. What can be checked: the site says its packages contain no bundled extras, it publishes a SHA256 hash for each download, the Platform is open source, and LibreOffice’s makers send their own users there for the portable version.

Do portable apps work on Windows 11?

Yes. The Platform lists Windows 11, and each app’s page gives its own requirements. Some, such as GIMP, need 64-bit Windows 10 or 11.

Can I run portable apps without administrator rights?

Many of them, since nothing is installed into Windows. Tools that work on the system itself are different: VeraCrypt’s documentation and the directory’s page for Trellix Stinger both say they need administrator rights.

Is there a portable version of Chrome or Firefox?

Both are in the PortableApps.com directory. Firefox is the easier one to carry between PCs, because Chrome ties saved passwords and some settings to the computer they were set on.