Activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10

Nobody knows exactly what reasons, but Windows 10, application Windows Photo Viewer It was hidden from the list of options for viewing images. Perhaps in this way, Microsoft urges users to use application Photos for opening images / pictures. Application that was added as default for opening photos / images, but many users will be able to return to the old application with the tutorial "Activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10".

Compared to Windows Photo Viewer, Photos application a Windows 10 It is more complex, offering multiple possibilities imaging. But it also has its less good parts. Consumes a lot of resources (RAM / CPU), and for just a simple visualization of the images, Windows Photo Viewer it's much faster. Especially on older systems.

Windows Photo Viewer is available Windows 10 only for users who have upgraded from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. For those who have installed Windows 19 (fresh install), Windows Photo Viewer is not available.

The application was not removed altogether, but some registers were removed (Windows Registry) Thereof to no longer be visible in the right-click context menu nor in the list of available applications (Default Apps) To open an image file.

Default Photo Apps in Windows 10
Default Photo Apps in Windows 10

adding Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10, it is done by entering a key in the system registries, to make it visible and to be able to set it as an application default photo viewer.

Activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10

To activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10, all you have to do is download the archive below, extract the .reg file and run it on your system. This file contains the registry key to make the application visible Windows 10.

Download Activate-Windows-Photo-Viewer-on-Windows-10.zip

Double-click on the .reg file inside the archive, then click on “Yes”To add in Windows Registry.

Registry Editor in Windows
Registry Editor in Windows

After you do this, you can set Windows Photo Viewer as an application default in which to open the files .png, .jpg, .gifand .bmp.

Activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10
Activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10

This Windows Registry Tweak is valid only for those who install a new copy of Windows 10. For operating systems Windows 10 which came as an upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, the application Windows Photo Viewer is available on the system, even if it is not set as an application default for .png, .jpg, .gif, and .bmp files.

One can set to automatically open these files in Settings > Default Apps.

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1 thought on "Activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10"

  1. Thank you, really lacks this application;
    Note that to use it I went to the right-click file properties / properties / open with: edit and it just appeared in that list Windows Photo Viewer

    Reply
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