diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/draganddrop.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/draganddrop.cpp
index 626148c8c3..c99e97e37d 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/draganddrop.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/draganddrop.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ namespace MWGui
             playerModel->update();
 
             ItemModel::ModelIndex newIndex = -1;
-            for (unsigned int i = 0; i < playerModel->getItemCount(); ++i)
+            for (size_t i = 0; i < playerModel->getItemCount(); ++i)
             {
                 if (playerModel->getItem(i).mBase == item)
                 {
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/inventorywindow.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/inventorywindow.cpp
index e3f209fa2e..d96db97353 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/inventorywindow.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/inventorywindow.cpp
@@ -779,7 +779,7 @@ namespace MWGui
         if (selected != -1)
             lastId = model.getItem(selected).mBase.getCellRef().getRefId();
         ItemModel::ModelIndex cycled = selected;
-        for (unsigned int i = 0; i < model.getItemCount(); ++i)
+        for (size_t i = 0; i < model.getItemCount(); ++i)
         {
             cycled += incr;
             cycled = (cycled + model.getItemCount()) % model.getItemCount();
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/journalviewmodel.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/journalviewmodel.cpp
index fd5f7b73c7..57c768aeac 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/journalviewmodel.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/journalviewmodel.cpp
@@ -116,10 +116,10 @@ namespace MWGui
                             std::string link = utf8text.substr(pos_begin + 1, pos_end - pos_begin - 1);
                             const char specialPseudoAsteriskCharacter = 127;
                             std::replace(link.begin(), link.end(), specialPseudoAsteriskCharacter, '*');
-                            std::string topicName = MWBase::Environment::get()
-                                                        .getWindowManager()
-                                                        ->getTranslationDataStorage()
-                                                        .topicStandardForm(link);
+                            std::string_view topicName = MWBase::Environment::get()
+                                                             .getWindowManager()
+                                                             ->getTranslationDataStorage()
+                                                             .topicStandardForm(link);
 
                             std::string displayName = link;
                             while (displayName[displayName.size() - 1] == '*')
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/settingswindow.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/settingswindow.cpp
index 2ac12828a8..76ef5c4cdb 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/settingswindow.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/settingswindow.cpp
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ namespace MWGui
 
     void SettingsWindow::onResolutionAccept()
     {
-        std::string resStr = mResolutionList->getItemNameAt(mResolutionList->getIndexSelected());
+        const std::string& resStr = mResolutionList->getItemNameAt(mResolutionList->getIndexSelected());
         int resX, resY;
         parseResolution(resX, resY, resStr);
 
@@ -844,7 +844,7 @@ namespace MWGui
             // check if this resolution is supported in fullscreen
             if (mResolutionList->getIndexSelected() != MyGUI::ITEM_NONE)
             {
-                std::string resStr = mResolutionList->getItemNameAt(mResolutionList->getIndexSelected());
+                const std::string& resStr = mResolutionList->getItemNameAt(mResolutionList->getIndexSelected());
                 int resX, resY;
                 parseResolution(resX, resY, resStr);
                 Settings::Manager::setInt("resolution x", "Video", resX);
@@ -853,9 +853,9 @@ namespace MWGui
 
             bool supported = false;
             int fallbackX = 0, fallbackY = 0;
-            for (unsigned int i = 0; i < mResolutionList->getItemCount(); ++i)
+            for (size_t i = 0; i < mResolutionList->getItemCount(); ++i)
             {
-                std::string resStr = mResolutionList->getItemNameAt(i);
+                const std::string& resStr = mResolutionList->getItemNameAt(i);
                 int resX, resY;
                 parseResolution(resX, resY, resStr);
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/spellview.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/spellview.cpp
index 39aa0eec06..b60ec24440 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/spellview.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/spellview.cpp
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ namespace MWGui
 
                 // match model against line
                 // if don't match, then major change has happened, so do a full update
-                if (mModel->getItemCount() <= static_cast<unsigned>(spellIndex))
+                if (mModel->getItemCount() <= static_cast<size_t>(spellIndex))
                 {
                     fullUpdateRequired = true;
                     break;
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp
index 20444e5e7e..4f2979b72b 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp
@@ -1096,26 +1096,25 @@ namespace MWGui
 
     void WindowManager::onRetrieveTag(const MyGUI::UString& _tag, MyGUI::UString& _result)
     {
-        std::string tag(_tag);
+        std::string_view tag = _tag.asUTF8();
 
-        std::string MyGuiPrefix = "setting=";
-        size_t MyGuiPrefixLength = MyGuiPrefix.length();
+        std::string_view MyGuiPrefix = "setting=";
 
-        std::string tokenToFind = "sCell=";
-        size_t tokenLength = tokenToFind.length();
+        std::string_view tokenToFind = "sCell=";
 
-        if (tag.compare(0, MyGuiPrefixLength, MyGuiPrefix) == 0)
+        if (tag.starts_with(MyGuiPrefix))
         {
-            tag = tag.substr(MyGuiPrefixLength, tag.length());
+            tag = tag.substr(MyGuiPrefix.length());
             size_t comma_pos = tag.find(',');
-            std::string settingSection = tag.substr(0, comma_pos);
-            std::string settingTag = tag.substr(comma_pos + 1, tag.length());
+            std::string_view settingSection = tag.substr(0, comma_pos);
+            std::string_view settingTag = tag.substr(comma_pos + 1, tag.length());
 
             _result = Settings::Manager::getString(settingTag, settingSection);
         }
-        else if (tag.compare(0, tokenLength, tokenToFind) == 0)
+        else if (tag.starts_with(tokenToFind))
         {
-            _result = mTranslationDataStorage.translateCellName(tag.substr(tokenLength));
+            std::string_view cellName = mTranslationDataStorage.translateCellName(tag.substr(tokenToFind.length()));
+            _result.assign(cellName.data(), cellName.size());
             _result = MyGUI::TextIterator::toTagsString(_result);
         }
         else if (Gui::replaceTag(tag, _result))
@@ -1125,7 +1124,7 @@ namespace MWGui
         else
         {
             std::vector<std::string> split;
-            Misc::StringUtils::split(tag, split, ":");
+            Misc::StringUtils::split(std::string{ tag }, split, ":");
 
             l10n::Manager& l10nManager = *MWBase::Environment::get().getL10nManager();
 
@@ -1141,7 +1140,7 @@ namespace MWGui
             {
                 Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: WindowManager::onRetrieveTag: no Store set up yet, can not replace '"
                                   << tag << "'";
-                _result = tag;
+                _result.assign(tag.data(), tag.size());
                 return;
             }
             const ESM::GameSetting* setting = mStore->get<ESM::GameSetting>().search(tag);
@@ -1149,7 +1148,7 @@ namespace MWGui
             if (setting && setting->mValue.getType() == ESM::VT_String)
                 _result = setting->mValue.getString();
             else
-                _result = tag;
+                _result.assign(tag.data(), tag.size());
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/components/translation/translation.cpp b/components/translation/translation.cpp
index 30ba12853f..517a60512f 100644
--- a/components/translation/translation.cpp
+++ b/components/translation/translation.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ namespace Translation
     {
     }
 
-    void Storage::loadTranslationData(const Files::Collections& dataFileCollections, const std::string& esmFileName)
+    void Storage::loadTranslationData(const Files::Collections& dataFileCollections, std::string_view esmFileName)
     {
         std::string esmNameNoExtension(Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(esmFileName));
         // changing the extension
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ namespace Translation
         }
     }
 
-    std::string Storage::translateCellName(const std::string& cellName) const
+    std::string_view Storage::translateCellName(std::string_view cellName) const
     {
-        std::map<std::string, std::string>::const_iterator entry = mCellNamesTranslations.find(cellName);
+        auto entry = mCellNamesTranslations.find(cellName);
 
         if (entry == mCellNamesTranslations.end())
             return cellName;
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@ namespace Translation
         return entry->second;
     }
 
-    std::string Storage::topicID(const std::string& phrase) const
+    std::string_view Storage::topicID(std::string_view phrase) const
     {
-        std::string result = topicStandardForm(phrase);
+        std::string_view result = topicStandardForm(phrase);
 
         // seeking for the topic ID
-        std::map<std::string, std::string>::const_iterator topicIDIterator = mTopicIDs.find(result);
+        auto topicIDIterator = mTopicIDs.find(result);
 
         if (topicIDIterator != mTopicIDs.end())
             result = topicIDIterator->second;
@@ -87,9 +87,9 @@ namespace Translation
         return result;
     }
 
-    std::string Storage::topicStandardForm(const std::string& phrase) const
+    std::string_view Storage::topicStandardForm(std::string_view phrase) const
     {
-        std::map<std::string, std::string>::const_iterator phraseFormsIterator = mPhraseForms.find(phrase);
+        auto phraseFormsIterator = mPhraseForms.find(phrase);
 
         if (phraseFormsIterator != mPhraseForms.end())
             return phraseFormsIterator->second;
diff --git a/components/translation/translation.hpp b/components/translation/translation.hpp
index ee679c4f9b..a7b6087ac7 100644
--- a/components/translation/translation.hpp
+++ b/components/translation/translation.hpp
@@ -11,20 +11,20 @@ namespace Translation
     public:
         Storage();
 
-        void loadTranslationData(const Files::Collections& dataFileCollections, const std::string& esmFileName);
+        void loadTranslationData(const Files::Collections& dataFileCollections, std::string_view esmFileName);
 
-        std::string translateCellName(const std::string& cellName) const;
-        std::string topicID(const std::string& phrase) const;
+        std::string_view translateCellName(std::string_view cellName) const;
+        std::string_view topicID(std::string_view phrase) const;
 
         // Standard form usually means nominative case
-        std::string topicStandardForm(const std::string& phrase) const;
+        std::string_view topicStandardForm(std::string_view phrase) const;
 
         void setEncoder(ToUTF8::Utf8Encoder* encoder);
 
         bool hasTranslation() const;
 
     private:
-        typedef std::map<std::string, std::string> ContainerType;
+        typedef std::map<std::string, std::string, std::less<>> ContainerType;
 
         void loadData(ContainerType& container, const std::string& fileNameNoExtension, const std::string& extension,
             const Files::Collections& dataFileCollections);
diff --git a/components/widgets/list.cpp b/components/widgets/list.cpp
index de1c160288..b4784299a5 100644
--- a/components/widgets/list.cpp
+++ b/components/widgets/list.cpp
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ namespace Gui
 
     void MWList::addSeparator()
     {
-        mItems.emplace_back("");
+        mItems.emplace_back(std::string{});
     }
 
     void MWList::adjustSize()
@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ namespace Gui
 
     void MWList::redraw(bool scrollbarShown)
     {
-        const int _scrollBarWidth = 20; // fetch this from skin?
+        constexpr int _scrollBarWidth = 20; // fetch this from skin?
         const int scrollBarWidth = scrollbarShown ? _scrollBarWidth : 0;
-        const int spacing = 3;
+        constexpr int spacing = 3;
         int viewPosition = -mScrollView->getViewOffset().top;
 
         while (mScrollView->getChildCount())
@@ -58,16 +58,16 @@ namespace Gui
 
         mItemHeight = 0;
         int i = 0;
-        for (std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator it = mItems.begin(); it != mItems.end(); ++it)
+        for (const auto& item : mItems)
         {
-            if (*it != "")
+            if (!item.empty())
             {
                 if (mListItemSkin.empty())
                     return;
                 MyGUI::Button* button = mScrollView->createWidget<MyGUI::Button>(mListItemSkin,
                     MyGUI::IntCoord(0, mItemHeight, mScrollView->getSize().width - scrollBarWidth - 2, 24),
-                    MyGUI::Align::Left | MyGUI::Align::Top, getName() + "_item_" + (*it));
-                button->setCaption((*it));
+                    MyGUI::Align::Left | MyGUI::Align::Top, getName() + "_item_" + item);
+                button->setCaption(item);
                 button->getSubWidgetText()->setWordWrap(true);
                 button->getSubWidgetText()->setTextAlign(MyGUI::Align::Left);
                 button->eventMouseWheel += MyGUI::newDelegate(this, &MWList::onMouseWheelMoved);
@@ -115,12 +115,12 @@ namespace Gui
             Base::setPropertyOverride(_key, _value);
     }
 
-    unsigned int MWList::getItemCount()
+    size_t MWList::getItemCount()
     {
-        return static_cast<unsigned int>(mItems.size());
+        return mItems.size();
     }
 
-    std::string MWList::getItemNameAt(unsigned int at)
+    const std::string& MWList::getItemNameAt(size_t at)
     {
         assert(at < mItems.size() && "List item out of bounds");
         return mItems[at];
@@ -134,8 +134,9 @@ namespace Gui
 
     void MWList::removeItem(const std::string& name)
     {
-        assert(std::find(mItems.begin(), mItems.end(), name) != mItems.end());
-        mItems.erase(std::find(mItems.begin(), mItems.end(), name));
+        auto it = std::find(mItems.begin(), mItems.end(), name);
+        assert(it != mItems.end());
+        mItems.erase(it);
     }
 
     void MWList::clear()
diff --git a/components/widgets/list.hpp b/components/widgets/list.hpp
index b9e397f1a8..217fb1370f 100644
--- a/components/widgets/list.hpp
+++ b/components/widgets/list.hpp
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ namespace Gui
         void addItem(std::string_view name);
         void addSeparator(); ///< add a seperator between the current and the next item.
         void removeItem(const std::string& name);
-        unsigned int getItemCount();
-        std::string getItemNameAt(unsigned int at); ///< \attention if there are separators, this method will return ""
-                                                    ///< at the place where the separator is
+        size_t getItemCount();
+        const std::string& getItemNameAt(size_t at); ///< \attention if there are separators, this method will return ""
+                                                     ///< at the place where the separator is
         void clear();
 
         MyGUI::Button* getItemWidget(std::string_view name);
diff --git a/components/widgets/tags.cpp b/components/widgets/tags.cpp
index 488913233c..3fe72480b7 100644
--- a/components/widgets/tags.cpp
+++ b/components/widgets/tags.cpp
@@ -7,17 +7,16 @@
 namespace Gui
 {
 
-    bool replaceTag(const MyGUI::UString& tag, MyGUI::UString& out)
+    bool replaceTag(std::string_view tag, MyGUI::UString& out)
     {
-        std::string fontcolour = "fontcolour=";
-        size_t fontcolourLength = fontcolour.length();
+        std::string_view fontcolour = "fontcolour=";
 
-        std::string fontcolourhtml = "fontcolourhtml=";
-        size_t fontcolourhtmlLength = fontcolourhtml.length();
+        std::string_view fontcolourhtml = "fontcolourhtml=";
 
-        if (tag.compare(0, fontcolourLength, fontcolour) == 0)
+        if (tag.starts_with(fontcolour))
         {
-            std::string fallbackName = "FontColor_color_" + tag.substr(fontcolourLength);
+            std::string fallbackName = "FontColor_color_";
+            fallbackName += tag.substr(fontcolour.length());
             std::string_view str = Fallback::Map::getString(fallbackName);
             if (str.empty())
                 throw std::runtime_error("Unknown fallback name: " + fallbackName);
@@ -36,9 +35,10 @@ namespace Gui
             out = col.print();
             return true;
         }
-        else if (tag.compare(0, fontcolourhtmlLength, fontcolourhtml) == 0)
+        else if (tag.starts_with(fontcolourhtml))
         {
-            std::string fallbackName = "FontColor_color_" + tag.substr(fontcolourhtmlLength);
+            std::string fallbackName = "FontColor_color_";
+            fallbackName += tag.substr(fontcolourhtml.length());
             std::string_view str = Fallback::Map::getString(fallbackName);
             if (str.empty())
                 throw std::runtime_error("Unknown fallback name: " + fallbackName);
diff --git a/components/widgets/tags.hpp b/components/widgets/tags.hpp
index 8999cfa960..26b6e708b9 100644
--- a/components/widgets/tags.hpp
+++ b/components/widgets/tags.hpp
@@ -2,14 +2,13 @@
 #define OPENMW_WIDGETS_TAGS_H
 
 #include <MyGUI_UString.h>
-#include <map>
-#include <string>
+#include <string_view>
 
 namespace Gui
 {
 
     /// Try to replace a tag. Returns true on success and writes the result to \a out.
-    bool replaceTag(const MyGUI::UString& tag, MyGUI::UString& out);
+    bool replaceTag(std::string_view tag, MyGUI::UString& out);
 
 }