Users are actively searching for alternatives to Windows Photo Viewer to speed up image browsing and get more advanced viewing features. I’ve collected 10 programs that can replace Photo Viewer.
Windows Photo Viewer alternatives listed below are useful for photographers and designers who are looking for convenient programs for viewing, organizing and editing images. Choose a simple software for viewing or the best photo album software in accordance with your needs.
Top 3 Windows Photo Viewer Alternatives:
- The best alternative: IrfanView
- Renewed for Windows 10: Microsoft Photos
- With a full-screen mode: FastStone Image Viewer
Windows Photo Viewer is a Windows-native program for viewing images. This is one of the best photo viewers capable of displaying individual pictures, show all photos in a folder as slide show, rotate them 90 degrees, print and send them via email.
Also Reviewed:
- Supported HEIC images: Apowersoft Photo Viewer
- Zoom in 1 click: 123 Photo Viewer
- Lightweight viewer: JPEGView
- Works with multiple images: XnView
- With synchronization features: Nomacs
- Open source viewer: ImageGlass
- Simple viewer: HoneyView
1. IrfanView
IrfanView is suitable for photographers and designers, who need an efficient program for viewing images, converting files and performing basic edits. You can quickly view images or create slide shows, edit photos in the built-in editor, scale pictures and perform batch conversion.
IrfanView is one of the best free image converters that won’t take up much space on a PC, because it weighs only 3MB. In addition, the program doesn’t have firmware.
The program supports 100+ file formats, including RAW files, PSD and PDF.
Pros+
- Built-in photo editor
- Re-sampling feature
- Fast batch editing
- Supports over 100 formats
- IrfanView plug-ins to extend the functionality
Cons-
- UI looks a bit dated
Main IrfanView Features:
- Thumbnail/preview option
- Paint option
- Lossless JPG rotation
- Batch conversion
- Scan (batch scan) support
- Screen Capturing
The features of the program are very similar to those available in the earlier version of Windows Photo Viewer. IrfanView has drawing tools, so you can draw lines, circles, arrows. It is also possible to change the color depth, use the tools for cropping photos and adding watermarks.
Another strong point of IrfanView Windows Photo Viewer is conversion. Users can quickly rename or convert several files to a different format simultaneously, while completely controlling the settings.
If the available functions aren’t sufficient for you, you can extend the functionality with the help of plug-ins.
2. Microsoft Photos
Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10 has been replaced by Microsoft Photos. The program has almost the same functionality, with several new additions. Besides viewing images, you can also edit photos and videos.
This Windows Photo Viewer replacement supports the highest quality image formats including RAW files. You can view images not only in local folders, but also in the cloud, and import photos from any connected devices.
Pros+
- Remarkable photo browsing and searching
- Amazing set of photo editing instruments
- Automatic photo album creation
- Supports video editing
- RAW format support
Cons-
- You can’t change a format while viewing content
- No panorama stitching or selective focus
Main Microsoft Photos Features:
- Automatic creation of albums by date
- Enhance tool
- 15 integrated filters
- Red-eye and blemish removal tools
- Video-editing features: Video Remix, Video Projects, and Album
- 42 ready-made 3D video effects
You can add pictures to photos, and background music and 3D effects to a video. Since all objects are marked automatically, you can quickly find them in folders.
The Enhance tool increases contrast and saturation, fixes white balance. You can brighten the sky or keep warm colors in indoor shots. There is a special slider, which allows adjusting the intensity of the effect. In addition, you can adjust the glare and shadow in the pictures.
3. FastStone Image Viewer
Using FastStone Image Viewer Mac you can convert, edit and manage images. Being one of the best free photo organizing software, it allows you to open images in full screen to edit them more precisely.
Looking through the settings, you’ll find color management, histogram viewing, lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image annotation, and more. The program supports both main graphic formats and RAW files.
Pros+
- Full-screen mode for photo editing
- Basic image editing instruments
- Amazing keyboard controls
- Very agile
- PDF Help file will appeal to beginner users
Cons-
- Lags while performing certain actions
- Rarely updated
Main FastStone Image Viewer Features:
- 150+ transition effects and music available for creating slideshows
- Draw geometrical shapes, add captions and callout objects on pictures
- Resize/resample tools
- Adjust basic image parameters
- Program versions optimized for mobile devices
- Image color and special effects
This alternative to Windows Photo Viewer contains tools for rotating, resizing and adding text, adjusting colors and applying special effects. I like creating slideshows. The process is very straightforward, you can add your own music and use 150+ transitions to create unique projects.
There are other useful tools – high-quality magnifier, scanner support, and histogram. The program also supports batch conversion and image comparison. You can compare from 2 to 4 photos at a time.
4. Apowersoft Photo Viewer
Apowersoft Photo Viewer comes to rescue when you need not only to view images, but also to change the format, take screenshots or share files. The program supports batch operations with images.
The software supports both standard and new file formats, e.g. HEIC. You can open the file in this format without additional extensions. In addition, the program allows viewing images from image editors such as Adobe Photoshop (PSD) and CorelDRAW (CDR).
Pros+
- Supports HEIC files
- Eliminates the need for conversion to JPEG
- User-friendly
- Batch actions with photos
- Comes with an integrated photo editor
Cons-
- No image management option
- Only basic photo editing functions
Main Apowersoft Photo Viewer Features:
- Tools for viewing and editing HEIC files
- Image conversion
- Screenshot tool
- Batch conversion, resizing and renaming
- Sharing features
- Zoom in and out
Users can quickly view all images in one folder, zoom in and out, rotate and edit photos, as well as apply some simple effects.
This replacement for Windows Photo Viewer has tools for working with HEIC files. If you can’t open your photos from iPhone on a computer running on Windows, Apowersoft Photo Viewer will help cope with this task. You can not only view files in this format, but also edit them.
5. 123 Photo Viewer
123 Photo Viewer is similar to Windows Photo Viewer, but the program loads images a little faster, and also provides a number of tools for quick photo editing.
This photo enlargement software supports many file formats, including Apple .livp format and .bpg format. By viewing vector images in SVG format, you can enlarge a photo without losing quality.
Pros+
- Tools for fast image editing
- Quick uploading process
- Supports such rare formats as .livp и .bpg
- Zooming in SVG photos without quality loss
- Convenient image navigation
Cons-
- Can’t autodetect folders with images
- The program may freeze while viewing imported files
Main 123 Photo Viewer Features:
- Allows managing GIF, APNG and WebP
- Single-click zooming in
- Rotate, rename, crop functions
- Customizable filters
- A slideshow viewer
- Batch renaming option
123 Photo Viewer supports batch operations, for example, file conversion, image resizing and renaming. You can also use this Windows Image Viewer alternative if you need to work with animated files, such as WebP, APNG, GIF.
It is possible to pause and continue animation playback, move back and forth frame by frame, and save animation frames as separate files.
6. JPEGView
JPEG Viewer Windows 10 is primarily distinguished by its size. This image viewer takes up just 2MB of memory. You get an efficient program without CPU overload.
With this program, you can open JPEG, BMP, PNG, WEBP, TGA, GIF and TIFF images. By default, all images are opened in a full screen mode, but you can also switch to the window mode.
Pros+
- Lightweight
- Supports popular file formats
- Batch file renaming/coping
- Convenient navigation and viewing
- Full-screen mode
Cons-
- Occasional crashes
- No advanced features
Main JPEGView Features:
- Top-notch resampling filter
- Movie mode
- Basic photo editing instruments
- Color correction
- Fast navigation
- Photo enhancements
JPEGView Windows photo viewer offers several photo editing features, such as color correction and photo enhancement. You can adjust basic parameters such as sharpness, contrast, and perspective, use rotation, slide shows, quick navigation, easy access to EXIF data and more.
This image viewer has a high-quality resampling filter, which will help maintain the sharpness of the photo. For more convenient viewing, you can enable movie mode to examine all JPEG files from a folder.
7. XnView
XnView is an image viewer for Windows. You can view images in a full screen or in a slideshow mode, sort them and edit.
Basic photo editing tools include image rotation, cropping and resizing. The software supports more than 500 formats, and you can install it on Windows, Linux, or Mac OS.
Pros+
- Cross-platform
- Simple image editing tools
- Supports over 500 formats
- Photo batch processing mode
- Allows installing additional plug-ins
Cons-
- Paid program for commercial use
- The scaling isn’t really smooth
Main XnView Features:
- Color correction
- Image resizing
- Metadata editing (IPTC, XMP)
- Batch conversion and renaming
- Duplicate search and image comparison
- Creates slideshows
XnView image comparison software differs from other programs because it can process multiple images in one window. Thanks to this, it is easier for a user to view all photos at once, for example, to compare them. You can place images in one window to examine them in detail.
8. Nomacs
Nomacs is an open source photo viewer for PC. The software has a user-friendly interface and loads quickly images. Here you can use such basic functions as scaling, cropping, printing and more.
To make the workflow as convenient as possible, the program has a built-in tree of folders, a panel for previewing thumbnails, and several sorting options. This cross-platform program is suitable for working with images in popular formats, including RAW and PSD.
Pros+
- Cross-platform
- Quick viewing
- Standard UI
- Doesn’t freeze when working with large images
- Built-in image editor
Cons-
- Some regular features are located in a very strange way
- Short delay between uploads
Main Nomacs Features:
- Frameless viewing
- Batch editing
- Creates notes
- Synchronization
- A slideshow mode
- Resizing, cropping, rotating, or renaming functions
You can use the batch processing function to resize all selected images, rotate or crop them, rename or convert to another format.
Also, there are options for normalizing images, creating notes, changing the opacity and editing settings directly in the photo viewing window.
9. ImageGlass
ImageGlass differs from other programs with its modern and user-friendly interface. Users can find all important functions, such as rotation, scaling, printing, right on the top panel.
The program doesn’t have advanced functions, but it boasts good performance: images are uploaded instantly so that you can preview them. ImageGlass supports more than 70 formats, including GIF, RAW and SVG.
Pros+
- Supports 70+ formats
- Instant image uploading
- You can add ImageGlass to context menus
- Quick scaling
- Simple photo navigation
Cons-
- The scaling affect quality
Main ImageGlass Features:
- Scale the image to the screen/the screen to the image
- Scaling smoothing
- File conversions
- ImageBooster
- Color selection option
- Zoom in/out GIFs
ImageGlass has a feature that uses RAM to preload an image. Thanks to this, a photo loads several times faster than in Photo Viewer. This feature also speeds up the process of resizing and rotating an image.
ImageGlass automatically detects all pictures in a folder and displays them as thumbnails at the bottom of the screen. You can quickly navigate through the images. There is a special color selection option, using which you can choose a color code of the photo for further work.
10. HoneyView
You won’t find advanced photo editing functions in HoneyView, but the program quickly copes with the main task - downloading and viewing images.
You can use such options as cropping, rotation, slide shows and others. This basic photo viewer supports popular graphic formats, including RAW, animation and archives.
Pros+
- Great viewing speed
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Several image viewing modes
- You can bookmark a photo
- Quick photo gallery viewer
Cons-
- Inconvenient notification window during scaling
- No conversion function
Main HoneyView Features:
- Displays EXIF in JPEG format
- Batch image conversion and resizing
- Allows viewing archives without extracting files
- Fill and Parallel View image viewing modes
- Slideshows with transition effects
- Favorite Images
Two functions that set this Windows Photo Viewer alternative apart from other software are bookmarks and an image clipboard. You can bookmark a picture to quickly find it when viewing photos on your computer. You can also copy several images to the clipboard and paste them into selected folders.
Eva Williams
Hi there, I'm Eva Williams - a professional blogger, read more
