If your Photos app on Windows 11 and Windows 10 is slow to open & takes a long time to load, or if it is or not opening at all, then fix the problem by following these suggestions. In Windows 11/10, Microsoft replaced Windows Photo Viewer with the Photos app. While it’s a great app, it may give you problems at times.
Windows Photos app is slow to open or not opening
If the Photos app is not starting or opening or is slow to open & takes a long time to load on your Windows 11/10 PC, take these steps to fix the issue:
- Repair or Reset Photos app
- Reinstall Photos app.
- Unlink OneDrive Connection
Before we go ahead, make sure you have updated the Photos app to the latest version. Check in Microsoft Store for an update.
1] Repair or Reset Photos app
The very first thing you should do is to reset the Photos app on your Windows 11/10 machine. To do this, open Settings panel > Apps > Apps & features tab. Now, scroll down and find out Photos and select the Advanced options.
From the next screen, first, try to Repair it and see. If it does not help, click on the Reset button to initiate the process.
In Windows 11, you will see the options to Repair or Reset the Photos app here:
Open Windows 11 Settings > Apps > Apps and features > Locate Photos app > Advanced options.
It may take a few moments to complete the process, and your Windows Store app will be reset to its default settings.
2] Reinstall Photos app
PowerShell is a convenient tool when you need to uninstall any pre-installed app.
To do so, open Windows PowerShell with administrator privileges and enter this command-
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers
Then, note down the full package name of Microsoft.Windows.Photos. In my case, you will see:
Microsoft.Windows.Photos_2017.35071.13510.0_neutral_split.scale-125_8wekyb3d8bbwe
Now enter this following command next and hit Enter-
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.Photos_2017.35071.13510.0_neutral_split.scale-125_8wekyb3d8bbwe | Remove-AppxPackage
Once the app is installed, open Windows Store and search for Microsoft Photos and install that app right from the Windows Store.
Alternatively, you may use our10AppsManager to uninstall, reinstall Windows 11/10 preinstalled Store apps easily with a click.
Related: Photos app crashing or closing with a File system error.
3] Unlink OneDrive Connection
Photos app is connected to OneDrive, and displays photos from your cloud collection. While it works, the biggest problem is fetching all the photo previews slows down the experience.
Open Photos app, and let it load. Then click on the Settings icon on the top left. Once it opens, toggle off the option Show my Cloud-only content from OneDrive. Relaunch the app, and it should load a lot faster than before.
These solutions should help you solve the slow Photos app issue in Windows 11/10.
Helpful reads:
Why can’t I open my Pictures in Windows?
if you are unable to open any of the pictures, there can be two reasons. First, there is no internet connection, and second, there is a cache issue with the application. Make sure the internet is there as it is needed when the app is connected with OneDrive. See this post if you receive This app can’t open error when opening Photos
Related: Microsoft Store apps too long to load
How to open app with Photo Viewer in Windows?
Open Windows Setttings, and navigate Apps > Default Apps. Locate Choose defaults by file type at the bottom of the section. Click to open it. Here you can type the extension of the image you want to view with Photo Viewer.
Once it appears in the list, click on it, and you will get the option to change the default viewer. Select Photo Viewer and apply the changes.
However, if the problem persists, you may enable Windows Photo Viewer and set it as the default photo opener.
