With Windows 10, Microsoft replaced the good-old Windows Photo Viewer with a newer Photos app. Unfortunately, users, including me, aren’t too happy with this app. It's complicated and takes a lot of time to load images.
If you also don’t like the Photos app (I feel you! *virtual hug*) and are looking for its alternatives, you have come to the right place.
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In this post, we have listed 5 best replacements for your Windows 10 Photos app. By the way, if you want to get back the old Windows Photo Viewer, check this.
Photo browsing or viewing should be an effortless task. This is what all these Windows 10 tools offer you. The tools mentioned below are fast, simple and powerful.
Let’s get started.
1. FastStone Image Viewer
If you have been a Picasa user, FastStone Image Viewer will feel familiar. It supports a huge number of image formats such as JPEG, GIF, PNG, RAW, and PSD etc. The user interface is similar to that of Windows Explorer. Unlike Windows Photos, this tool is very fast.
When you open the application, it lists all the folders and images. You can check the preview without opening the images. When you open an image, it opens in full view.
However, interestingly, the tool has all the options and features present on the four sides of an image. All you need to do is move your mouse towards each side and you will unearth a bunch of photo-editing and viewing features.
You get all the photo-editing features such as crop, rotate, blur, color effects, and even adding annotations. It's a freeware fast image-viewer tool that has a built-in image editor and converter as well.
Download FastStone Image Viewer2. IrfanView
One of the oldest photo viewers for Windows is IrfanView. It's a quick and simple photo-editor tool. People who use it once, use it for years. The reason being its simplicity and usefulness.
When you download this tool, you'll find two shortcuts - IrfanView and IrfanView Thumbnails. If you want to see all your images and thumbnails, use the second shortcut.
The images will open in the real tool only. IrfanView also supports other features such as batch editing, slideshows, and change EXIF data etc.
Download IrfanView3. XnView
XnView is another great alternative for Windows Photos. Design-wise, the tool is similar to FastStone Image Viewer. However, it’s not as feature-rich as FastStone.
It supports tab browsing, which means you can view multiple images simultaneously. With support for more than 500 image formats, it also features basic editing tools such as rotation, resize, crop etc.
In addition to that, the tool also supports multiple layouts. You can choose the layout as per your preference.
Download XnView4. Nomacs
Nomacs can be called as the open-source hidden gem. When you launch the tool for the first time, you'll feel the tool is kinda meh! But, once you start to play with its settings and features, you will discover all the good things about it.
Unlike other tools, Nomacs doesn’t support folder view by default. You have to enable the folder view and thumbnails from the Settings. Thankfully, like other software, this one also supports basic photo-editing tools such as crop, rotate, flip, and change exposure etc.
Download Nomacs5. Apowersoft Photo Viewer
Apowersoft is slightly different from the rest of the Photos app alternatives. It’s as if Windows Photos had a baby with MS Paint. It doesn’t support folder view but, once you open an image, it shows the thumbnails of all other images present in the same folder.
Interestingly, the Apowersoft has a nice photo editor, which opens in a separate window. The UI is similar to MS Paint, but it has more features such as pixelate, sharpen, pixelate, and other effects.
Download Apowersoft Photo ViewerHow to Set a Default Photo Viewer in Windows 10
To change or to set a new default photo viewer on Windows 10, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open Settings on your PC from the Start menu. Click on Apps.
Step 2: Then, click on the Default apps option present in the left sidebar.
Step 3: Click Photo Viewer under the Default apps and choose your favorite photo viewer from the menu.
That’s it!
If you want to use any of the above-mentioned tools for only one particular file type, you can do that as well. Navigate to the image in Windows Explorer and right-click it.
Click Open with and select Choose Another app. Now, choose your tool and check the Always use this app to open .abc files option.
To know how to uninstall any software, including the Photo viewers that you just downloaded, click here.
Also Read:How to Turn Off Windows 10 UpdatesApp To See Who Unliked Your Pictures On Instagram
Switch ASAP!
You will thank us once you start using any of the above-mentioned tools instead of the Windows Photos app. These tools feel so fast when compared to the boring Windows Photos app! If you want to improve the boot time of your Windows PC, don't forget to check this out.
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Do let us know your favorite photo-viewer tool in comments below.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
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