Before the release of Windows 10 and 11, users were accustomed to a familiar tool for viewing images called the “Windows Photo Viewer“. This simple yet effective application was a staple in previous versions of Windows, offering basic functions such as printing, sharing, and quick image viewing without unnecessary features. However, with Windows 10, Microsoft introduced a new “Photos” app that replaced the classic viewer. Although the Photos app provides additional features like OneDrive integration, photo editing, and more, many users still long for the straightforwardness of the old Windows Photo Viewer.
1. Differences Between Old and New Photo Viewers.
In Windows 10 and 11, the Photos app offers a wide range of capabilities, such as automatic image organization, cloud sync, and basic editing tools. While these enhancements are valuable for certain users, others find the new app overly complex and slow for simple image viewing. The old Windows Photo Viewer was lightweight, fast, and had no distracting features, which made it an ideal tool for basic image browsing.
2. How to Bring Back the Old Photo Viewer.
If you miss the classic photo viewer after upgrading to Windows 10 or 11, there is good news—it hasn’t been completely removed from the system. The old Windows Photo Viewer is still present in these versions of Windows as a dynamic link library (DLL), but it’s hidden by default. With a few simple steps, you can easily restore and use this familiar tool.
To restore the old Windows Photo Viewer, follow these steps:
- Open Notepad and enter the following command:
rundll32 "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll", ImageView_Fullscreen [image path]
- Replace “[image path]” with the full path of the image you want to view.
- Save the file as a .bat file, for example, “OpenPhotoViewer.bat“.
- Double-click the .bat file. This will execute the command and open your image using the classic Windows Photo Viewer.
3. Important Considerations.
If your version of Windows 10 or 11 was upgraded from Windows 7 or 8, you may see the old Windows Photo Viewer in the “Open with” option when right-clicking an image.
For those who have performed a clean installation of Windows 10 or 11, the old viewer will not appear by default in the “Open with” list. Instead, you will need to use the .bat file to launch it manually. To view different images, simply modify the image path in the .bat file.
By following these steps, you can restore the old Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10 or 11 and enjoy its simple and intuitive interface once again. For many users, this classic tool enhances efficiency, making it a better choice for quick and distraction-free image viewing.
4. Demo Video.
You can watch the following demo video by choosing your preferred subtitle language.
