Most people use AI on Windows the same way: a browser tab that gets buried under twenty others. Every question means finding the tab, losing your place, and pasting context back and forth. Here are the realistic options, and where each fits.
1. A pinned browser tab
Free and familiar. Pin claude.ai or chatgpt.com, and use Ctrl+1 to jump to it. The downside is the switch itself: you leave the window you were working in, and dragging files across is clumsy.
2. The official desktop apps
Both Anthropic and OpenAI offer Windows desktop apps tied to your subscription. They're good for long conversations, but they're still full windows — another thing to Alt+Tab to.
3. Install as an app from the browser
Edge and Chrome can install a site as an app with its own taskbar icon. It's a tidier tab, not a different workflow.
4. A notch at the top of your screen
This is why we built TrakNotch. It sits as a small notch at the top edge of your screen. Hover (or press Ctrl+Alt+N) and it expands: ask Claude or OpenAI a question, drop in a file for context, read the answer, and it tucks away again. Your work window never loses focus.
- Uses your own API key. You pay the provider directly for what you use. Note that a ChatGPT Plus subscription doesn't include API access — they're billed separately.
- Keys stay on your machine, stored in Windows Credential Manager.
- Works without AI too — the notch also shows coding-session activity and service checks.
Which should you pick?
If you have long research conversations, the official apps are fine. If you mostly ask quick questions while doing something else — checking a function, rewording an email, summarising a file — something that lives on the edge of your screen saves the most time.
Try TrakNotch
TrakNotch is free for Windows 10 and 11 (x64). It's a beta, so we'd love to hear what works and what doesn't.