Yesterday, I received a mail from a Getting Geek reader Jessie. He wrote that he is searching for an alternative to Photos App and what are the best image viewers for Windows 10.
Hello Saurabh,
I like Windows 10, but I don’t like that Microsoft removed the old Windows Photo Viewer and replaced with new Photos App. I know that it is fast and easy to use. But the library management is not okay. I don’t want to spend money on Adobe’s Image Management apps.
Can you recommend me some of the best image viewers for Windows 10?
Thanks
You can also submit your questions here.
Back in 2015, when Microsoft released Windows 10, the company replaced many default apps. Some of the most notable of these are Groove Music, Microsoft Edge and also the Movies and TV app.
Whereas Photos app is good enough for most basic tasks, it may not be useful if you want to tweak any photo. Granted that there are some basic options for fixing an image, but beyond that, you may be needing a replacement for Photos App.
So, here are some of the best image viewers for Windows 10.
Google Picasa
Picasa is probably one of the most polished image viewers for Windows 10.
Sure, Google Killed off Picasa recently, but the photo viewer app is still polished enough for most people. The Picasa Photo Viewer is fast, stable and its looks downright cool.
Rather than looking like an image viewer in Android’s Gallery app, the Photo Viewer for Windows has a similar feeling to a media player. You can press Enter key on your keyboard to see any image in fullscreen mode, and if you need, with just one click, you can start a slideshow.
Now that Google has shut down Picasa’s web service, the image upload feature will not be supported. Still, the app should run fine.
Even if you don’t want advanced image editing that Picasa offers, you should give Picasa a try. I have been using it on all my computers, and it has never let me down.
Download
Faststone Image Viewer
Faststone is a free image viewer that you can use as a replacement for Photos app in Windows 10. Rather than creating albums, Faststone focuses on managing photos in a folder centric approach. Faststone is not as goo looking as Picasa, but it has far better slideshow options. Also, Faststone has much better support for different Image formats. There are a couple of color schemes to choose from, but overall, Faststone is only good if have a habit of dealing with Software with dozens of sidebars and you like to dig around in option to customize the toolbar and other settings.
Download FastStone
XnView
XnView is a popular image viewer. The developer claims that XnView has support for almost 500 different formats. In my testing, it did open most types of image formats that I had. As a cherry on top, XnView can also convert images to another format should you need to.
XnView’s features don’t stop there. It has built-in options for applying basic fixes and filters. Also, it can create slideshows for you.
In image management departments, XnView has great support for batch renaming, metadata management, and a duplicate file finder.
XnView makes it a great replacement for built-in Photos app in Windows 10 if you deal with tons of image formats every day or you want some extra control with your pictures. It is free for personal use and does not include any adware or spyware.
IrfanView
Named after it’s creator Irfan Skiljan, IrfanView is an excellent image viewer for Windows if you are a fan of speed and lightweight apps.
IrfanView has almost 2 MB footprint, a simple UI and great support for plugins. The App has great support for most image formats; it has some basic editing features and options to take screenshots of your display.
Just like some options we talked about above, IrfanView is free for private use or educational purposes.
Download IrfanView (Windows, Free for personal use)
Conclusion
In conclusion, the following are the four best image viewers for Windows 10:
- Google Picasa
- FastStone Image Viewer
- XnView
- IrfanView
Which one is your favorite?
Among all the app in this post, which one do you think is the best image viewer for Windows 10 and why? Share with others in the comments below.
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I use Salview (https://salview.com). This is lightweight and minimalistic viewer. But it is commercial.
Thanks i really love your post. i really need one of this but i don’t know which one to try now
I would recommend Picasa Photo Viewer, it looks good and also it is fast.
I use KrojamSoft PhotoViewerPro program, Its a powerful tool to view and edit photos.
Picasa upload service IS still working, only it uploads photos onto Google Photos rather than Picasaweb.
I don’t think that using it on TV should be a problem, I use a 1440p monitor at work so I did not come across this situation. Terrible 4K scaling is a common problem for Windows programs though.
You have good choice