Double click a photo file on a WindowsOS and Windows Photo Viewer brings up a preview of the photo along with basic alignment options and a slideshow mode. For years we have been using the same app for previewing photos on a Windows PC. But soon after Microsoft decided to push it a little and the new improved version of the app was launched, Photos. The new app was not much welcomed by regular Windows users, even after the added editing tools, due to its slow processing.
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Some of you might wanna switch back to the previous version of the photo viewer app and some of you might like what we dug out from the pool of available third-party apps for the task. Let’s go through them.
Must Read: 9 Best Reminder Apps for Windows
Installing a third-party photo viewer app isn’t going to be enough, you also have to make it your default default Photo viewer app on Windows 10 , to do tht type Default in the search bar > goto Default Apps Settings > Click on Photos. Now you can select any Photo viewer as your default image viewer
Best Photo Viewer for Windows 10
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We have a list of alternatives that you can use if you’re one of us and are looking to use anything but Photos.
1. Windows Photo Viewer
It has been a part of the Windows family for a long time and was previously known as Windows Picture and Fax Viewer (Windows XP) and later renamed as Windows Photo Viewer. Microsoft has replaced this app with its universal platform Photos now. But the developers didn’t remove it completely from the system as it is still in the files just not accessible to the user. You need a special registry file to tweak the registry to make it work. The files can be downloaded from this link and when installed, would allow you to use Windows Photo Viewer like before.
Features: Windows Photo Viewer is a simple native application which lets the user previews the pictures. It has a quick button to rotate those pictures and save them in that orientation. You can use the slideshow button to automatically play the pictures.
File formats: JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, etc.
Pros:
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How to get Windows Photo Viewer back in Windows 10
If you have upgraded to Windows 10 from a previous version of Windows, go to Settings and go to System > Default apps. Under “Photo viewer,” you should see your current default photo viewer. However, if you have installed Windows 10 from scratch follow these steps to activate the tool for your windows:
Windows Media Viewer Update
2. HoneyView
HoneyView is the most basic third-party image viewer, it’s almost similar to Windows Photos Viewer in functionality and features.
Features: It allows you to rotate images and perform basic resizing with it. Editing can be done by attaching a link to either Photoshop or Paint. You can bookmark images with this software for future references.
Format: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, and PSD.
Pros:
Cons:
Download HoneyView (free)
3. IrfanView
One of the most popular third-party image viewing applications. IrfanView is our pick for best photo viewer for Windows 10. IrfanView was created by the creator Irfan Sklijan. It is free to use application for a non-commercial license. The software is pretty light, easy to use and supports a large graphics file format base.
Features: IrfanView is optimized to perform better using the minimum resources, with occupying only 2MB space on your Hard disk. It is not just an image viewing software but comes with a few inbuilt editing tools as well. For instance, it supports OCR to “read” text on an image and export it to an editable text, you can color correct pictures, insert text/ watermark to your pictures and add a few different effects.
Format: BMP, GIF, JPEG, JP2 & JPM, PNG, TIFF, RAW, ECW, EMF, FSH, ICO, PCX, PBM, PDF, PGM, PPM, TGA, Flash, Ogg and text files
Pros:
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Download IrfanView (free)
4. FastStone Image Viewer
The FastStone image viewer is a free windows based image viewer and supports many languages as well. It has a slideshow with many attractive transition effects.
Features: It supports multi-monitor configuration which would come in handy if you work with a large number of images. You can also rename and convert a batch of files with this software. You can view a batch of files relatively fast without opening each file. It has a compact version which can be copied to a flash drive which essentially allows the software to run without installation. You can directly attach the files to your emails.
Format: BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO, and TGA), RAW
Pros:
Cons:
Download Faststone (Free)
5. XnView
When looking for an image viewer it’s always a perk if you get additional features right? Initially supporting Unix systems as well, Xnview now only supports Windows Systems and offers not just an image viewer but an organizer and editor too. XnView is a robust software and supports multiple languages.
Features: XnView Supports 500 image formats and a few video and audio formats as well. Scripting to rename a batch of files in a single stretch is offered by this software. You can edit files using basic tools like crop, resize, orientation, and a bunch of effects. you can edit Raster images with this software.
Format: JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF, close to 500 image file formats.
Pros:
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DownloadXnView (free)
![]() 6. ACDSee Ultimate
If you’re a fan of the Rock band AC/DC you’ll know the name of this software is just a play on words. As awesome as the band, this software is full of special talents. It offers thumbnail view, lossless rotation, resize and crop.
Features: One of the better features of this software is that it allows you to look at the images inside a zip file without extracting it. ACDSee allows you to adjust exposure, colors, and contrast of an image. Red-eye removal is just a button away if you have a lot of low light images that may have caused you to look like a demon.
Format: JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, and PSD. It also supports most of the raw file formats.
Pros:
Cons:
Download ACDSee (1-month free trial)
7. QuickLook:
QuickLook is a tool developed for windows keeping Quicklook, a MacOS tool developed by Apple for quick previews of contents of a file quickly. Its smooth loading interface and quick response time bring it at par with Apple’s Quick Look feature.
If you haven’t used Quick Look on mac, here is how it looks like – simply click on a file and then press the spacebar. A preview of the item pops up —like a picture, audio, PDF or even a video file. Once done, press spacebar again to close the preview.
And guess what, to get the Mac’s QuickLook feature on Windows, you can use this new app – QuickLook. The app is free and works quite well in our testing. You might face minor bugs as it is still under development.
How is it different from preview mode in the file explorer?
Yes, you can use preview pane. But, a small sidebar isn’t very practical (imagine doing this with PDF file), while a dedicated pop-out window is a lot more intuitive and detailed.
Features: It allows a user to preview the file contents just by pressing a hotkeys ‘space bar’. Quicklook runs in the background quietly and listens for the hotkeys trigger, a few different hotkeys to control the environment of the file are available.
Format: images, videos, and text files.
Pros:
Cons:
Download Quicklook (free)
8. Nomacs
Everyone loves free stuff and if the product works well that’s even better. Nomacs is a free to use Open source image viewer which lets you do more than just view images.
Features: Nomacs offers mosaic generation by taking an image and overlaying a database of images based on similarities of their histograms. A unique feature of Nomacs is the synchronization of multiple instances. With this feature, you can easily compare images by zooming and/or panning at the exact same position or even by overlaying them with different opacity. You can activate cache and reduce image switch times. Not only it reads images in the zip archives but MS office documents as well, you can add notes to the images to keep track of their origin. Nomacs includes image manipulation methods for adjusting brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, gamma, exposure.
Format: It supports all the popular image formats including camera raw formats.
Pros:
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Cons:
Download Nomacs (free)
Read: 7 Best PDF voice reader for Windows
Final Thoughts: Best Photo Viewer for Windows 10
We listed a few of the best photo viewers available for Windows, every software has its own selling point. Irfanview takes a spot because of its lightning-fast interface. If you like keeping your system clean FastStone is for you as you can keep the software on a small flash drive. Xnview and Nomacs best for handling a batch of images, either to rename or convert them to a more compatible image format. HoneyView is best if for some reason you can’t have the Windows Photo Viewer and want something similar, while Windows Photo Viewer is for people looking to go back to the simple image viewer.
If you're still using Windows Media Player, you're missing out. Although the venerable music and video player still runs on Windows 10, and is available to download from Microsoft (for now), it hasn't been updated since 2009 and it's only a matter of time before Microsoft ends support for it.
It also lacks the features you'd expect from a modern media player, including the ability to handle 4K, 3D and 360-degree video, connection with streaming services, and support for VR headsets.
With so many factors to consider, choosing a new media player is no mean feat. That's why we've rounded up the very best options available.
1. VLC Media Player
Flexible, customizable and free – the best media player around
Plays media from any source
Can convert files
A true stalwart of the media playing software world, VLC Media Player's reputation is unrivaled. Eschewing the fancy looks of more recent software, this is a program that focuses on getting the job done, and doing it well.
Using VLC can be as simple as loading up a music or video files, or you can use it to play discs, streams and more while taking advantage of options such as subtitles, audio and video syncing, and picture and sound filters. VLC Media Player was also the first free media player to support 360-degree video.
If you like the idea of personalization, there's a range of skins available or – if you're feeling adventurous – you can create your own. There's also a host of plugins for extending its already impressive functionality, but even without those extras, VLC Media Player's amazing format support, incredible playback control, and amazing performance make it is a winner. Give it a try – you won't miss Windows Media Player.
2. Kodi
Organize your media and stream it across your home network
Streams media across your home
Can be used as a PVR
Kodi is less of a media player in the traditional sense of the word, and more of a home media hub – something given away by the fact that this used to be known as XBMC (Xbox Media Center). It's available for just about every platform out there, and it's even possible to buy dedicated Kodi boxes that can be plugged straight into a TV or monitor.
Kodi will play almost all local and network video and audio files, and can also stream content from the web. If you have a large video collection, Kodi will help you to organize it neatly and, unlike Windows Media Player, will download posters, movie and show information in addition to the usual metadata.
Kodi functions as a PVR, supports a wide range of remote controls, and can be extended through the use of plugins. In short, it has everything you could want from a free media player. Newcomers might find the learning curve steep, but it's well worth the effort.
Windows Media Viewer Free Download Mac Version3. MediaMonkey
A media player with advanced file management and streaming
Manages media on networked drives
Syncs media with mobile devices
MediaMonkey is more than just a Windows Media Player replacement – it's an advanced media management system that can take care of all of your local and network-stored music and video, while also catering for your web streaming needs.
In addition to basic playback modes, there's also a jukebox option and the ability to push media to UPnP, Chromecast and DLNA devices. If you're not very good at keeping your music collection properly tagged, MediaMonkey will help you to do this automatically, and you can sync content to your phone or portable media player for entertainment on the move.
The standard version of MediaMonkey is free, but there's also a Gold Edition that includes extra features like faster disc burning, advanced searching, and automatic background media organization.
MediaMonkey is available as an Android app, and the desktop version can be used as a portable app so you can take it with you on a USB drive.
Windows Media Viewer Free Download File Hippo4. GOM PlayerWindows Media Player Free Download For Android
A media player that will stand you in good stead in the future
No additional codecs required
Bundled extra software
The claim that GOM Player is 'the only media player you need' may seem a little grand, it's probably not far off the mark. There's great support for a range of media formats out of the box, and if you stumble across a file that can’t be played, the player will try to track down the necessary codec for you.
GOM Player supports 360-degree video, which might be a little niche, but is only going to gain popularity, and there are excellent control and tweaking options to ensure that you get the best possible entertainment experience.
Pay attention while installing GOM Player because you'll be prompted to install a browser extension. Despite appearances, dismissing this option won't cancel the installation. GOM Player's interface also contains some ads. These aren't obstructive, but if they bother you, consider one of the other Windows Media Player alternatives here.
5. Media Player Classic Home Cinema
A lightweight free media player designed specifically for video
Can fine-tune playback
Media Player Classic Home Cinema is so called because it is based on the look of the original Media Player software that was bundled with Windows, but it's evolved far beyond its humble beginnings.
As the name implies, the focus here is on video, but it also handles music very well. With a massive range of built-in codecs, you'll be hard pressed to find a file it can't play.
Media Player Classic Home Cinema also works as a TV tuner provided you have a TV card installed, and you can adjust the appearance of your chosen movie or programme as it's playing.
If you're looking for software to manage your media collection, you're probably best looking elsewhere, but as a lightweight playback tool, Media Player Classic Home Cinema brilliant – and highly customizable to boot.
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