12 Best Photo Viewer for Windows 10

There are numerous benefits in using the new Windows Photo viewer. However, there are quite a few disadvantages as well. When you double click, it would take long time to load your image. It could only work with JPEG and RAW images which means, you will not be able to use it on PSDs. Aside from that, even though the Windows Photo viewer has editing tools, they are limited. Thus, it is not a surprise for many to be looking for other platforms/tools to use as an alternative. We understand you which is why we have decided to feature in this article a list of alternative photo viewers which you could check and try. 

How to set a default photo viewer? 

Take in mind that installing a third party photo viewer app will not be enough. We recommend that you make your preferred third party photo viewer as your default photo viewer. To do that on your Windows 10 device, you will need to go to your search bar. Type Default and go to Default Apps Settings Photo. Select the name of your photo viewer as your default image viewer. 

Best Photo Viewer for Windows 10

Windows Photo Viewer

This Photo Viewer is designed and created by Windows. It is previously known as Windows Picture and Fax Viewer which was renamed and transformed into Windows Photo Viewer. For Windows 10, this tool has replaced its updated version Photos. Fortunately, they have not removed it yet from their system and could still be used and accessed. 

To make this work, you will need to tweak with your registry keys. We highly discourage you from manually editing them but rather you should download .reg files app instead.

Pros:

• Simple UI and has minimal features

Cons:

• Editing could reduce the size
• Does not work with GIFs

How to get Windows Photo Viewer back in Windows 10?

If you have upgrade to Windows 10, you will find Windows photo viewer in the Default Apps under setting. However, if you have installed your Windows 10 from scratch, you will have to do the following:

• Download registry files
• Extract Activate Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10 by double clicking on it
• Restart your computer 
• If you wish, deactivate it and run deactivate Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10 file
• Restart your system

HoneyView

This is a third party image viewer. It is like Windows Photo Viewer in terms of features and functions. The only difference is that HoneyView could work on more image formats such as GIF and PNG. 

Features of HoneyView:

• Rotate images
• Basic resizing
• Editing could be done through Photoshop or Paint
• Allows bookmarking 
• Could work on JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF and PSD

Pros:

• Easy to use 

Cons:

• No inbuilt editing tools

ImageGlass

This is another great photo viewer alternative for Windows 10. It offers a modern UI and is easy to use. It works with JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, WEBP and 72 plus more image formats. 

Features of ImageGlass:

• Allows you to view your photos in slideshow 
• Simple and easy to use
• Allows you to link different image editors to different file formats
• Supports different types of formats

Pros:

• Allows slideshows

Cons:

• Lacks inbuilt editing tools

IrfanView

This photo viewer is a popular third party app. It was created by Irfan Sklijan and is offered for free. The app is light and has the ability to support huge graphics file format. 

Features of IrfanView

• Comes with extra tools
• Supports OCR to read text on image
• Exports the file into editable format
• Allows you to edit the color
• Add watermarks
• Works on BMP, JPEG, GIF, JP2& JPM, TIFF, PNG, EMF, RAW, FSH, ICO, PBM, PCX, PDF, PPM, TGA, Ogg, Flash and text files

Pros: 

• Lightweight
• Easy to use
• Could work on most file formats
• Supports 50 plus plugins

Cons: 

• Does not have the best UI
• Scrolling through folders could be hassle

FastStone Image Viewer

A perfect alternative option to Windows Photo Viewer, FastStone Image Viewer is lightweight and it comes in multiple languages. It also offers slideshow option with numerous transition effects. 

Features of FastStone Image Viewer:

• Audio and video playback
• Multi-monitor configuration
• Allows viewing, renaming and converting files
• Works on BMP, JPEG 2000, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, PCX, ICO, WMF, TGA, RAW, MP3 and MP4

Pros:

• Comes in dark theme
• Supports renaming and converting in batch
• Audio and video playback
• Email sharing 

Cons:

• Slow thumbnail generation
• Slow overall scrolling

JPEGView

This photo viewer is an open source and a good alternative for ACDSee . It is considered as a tool for editing as well. It offers you the ability to edit brightness, color, contrasts and many more. 

Features of JPEGView:

• Inbuilt image file browser
• Extensive editing tools
• Accessible on Preview page
• Could set up as a slideshow 

Pros:

• Extensive editing tools
• Supports renaming and converting in batch

Cons:

• Lacks extensive EXIF data and print button

FocusON Image Viewer

FocusON offers an inbuilt editor and is similar to Adobe Lightroom 2015. It allows its users to adjust brightness, RGB, Contrast, values and sharpness. 

Features of FocusON Image Viewer

• Supports 100 plus image file formats such as JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIF, JP2, PSF, AI, NEF, EPS, DNG, RAW, ARW and many more
• View and delete EXIF data
• Batch rename files 
• Inbuilt image editor

Pros:

• Inbuilt photo editor 
• Inbuilt sharing feature to blog, Facebook, etc. 
• Batch renaming files
• Email sharing option
• Viewing and deleting EXIF data 

Cons:

• Does not allow photo viewing inside an archived folder

XnView

XnView is now available on Windows 10. Aside from being an image viewer, it is also considered as photo organizer and editor. It comes in multiple languages and is a robust software. 

Features of XNView: 

• Works on 500 plus image formats including audio and video formats
• Allows scripting and renaming batch files
• Basic editing tools such as crop, resize, rotate and other effects
• Allows editing on Raster images 

Pros: 

• Supports large file format base
• Scripting for basic tasks

Cons:

• Free for personal use only

QuickLook  

This app comes with smooth interface and is easy to use. It has quick and fast response time. All you need to do is tap your spacebar and you will be able to preview your image already. 

Features of QuickLook

• Runs in the background quietly
• Hotkeys could be used
• Supports image preview in different file formats such as PDF, PSD and text files

Pros:

• Open source
• Free
• Quickly responds

Cons:

• Does not have an option to edit/manipulate the files

Nomacs

Nomacs is free to use and is an open source app which works on Windows 10. 

Features of Nomacs:

• Offers mosaic generation 
• Syncs multiple instances
• Zooming and panning at the exact position
• Overlay with different opacity
• Reads images in zip archives and previews MS office documents
• Add notes to images
• Adjust brightness, contrast, gamma, hue, saturation and exposure

Pros:

• Compare multiple images

Cons:

• Updates made the tool slow

123 Photo Viewer

This app is a great option as an alternative. It is light and is fast. It also supports OneDrive and is compatible with Windows 10. 

Features of 123 Photo Viewer:

• easy to navigate
• includes plenty of filters
• basic editing features
• slideshow viewer 
• supports batch rename and format change
• Works on JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP and many more

Pros:

• Supports OneDrive
• Has the ability to change to Slideshow mode
• Batch rename and format change

Cons:

• Could not auto-detect and auto-scan folders with images

Movavi Photo Manager

This is considered as one of the most advanced photo viewer. It offers face recognition built-in which allows group photos of the same person in the same folder. To make this work you need to add images to Movavi manually. Its UI is easy to navigate and it could sort your images according to geolocation, date and metadata. 

Pros:

• Face recognition 
• Album creation
• Search and group images
• Find and remove duplicate images
• Could handle numerous images

Cons: 

• Images need to be uploaded to the app
• Search lacks contextual queries 

Conclusion:

This concludes our list of photo viewer alternatives. We hope you have enjoyed it and that this article has helped you find the best Photo viewer alternative that would best suit your needs.