How To Get Back Windows Photo Viewer On Windows 10

Windows ten uses the new Photos app as your default image viewer, only many people still adopt the former Windows Photo Viewer. Y'all can get Photo Viewer back in Windows 10, though. It'southward simply hidden.

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If you upgrade a PC running Windows 7 or 8.ane to Windows ten, Windows Photograph Viewer will be available and you can set it every bit your default photo viewer if you want. However, if you perform a clean installation of Windows 10—or buy a PC with Windows x already on information technology—you lot can't access Photo Viewer at all. The interesting thing is that Photo Viewer is still in that location. Information technology'southward just subconscious and you'll have to make a couple of Registry edits to accept it evidence up. Later yous do that, you tin can then prepare it as your default photograph viewer.

The Problem

For whatever reason, Microsoft opted not to include the Registry keys that enable access to Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10. Those keys are kept in place if y'all upgrade from a previous version of Windows, but they aren't created during the installation of Windows 10. Microsoft really wants you lot to open up all those image files in its new Photos app, instead.

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If yous navigate to the Default apps pane in Settings, you lot won't even come across Photo Viewer as an option. The old "Default Programs" Command Panel app isn't much aid, either. Open information technology upwards and you can only make Photo Viewer the default association for .tif and .tiff files—non other types of images.

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You also can't simply point image files at a specific .exe file to acquaintance them with Photo Viewer, either. Photo Viewer is actually part of a DLL file named "PhotoViewer.dll" and doesn't have a separate executable file associated with it.

So, how do y'all get Photograph Viewer dorsum? Past firing up our old friend Registry Editor, of course. And after you do that, you can ready it every bit your default photo app.

Stride Ane: Enable Photo Viewer in the Registry

We'll need to add together the aforementioned registry entries that were present on Windows 7 and 8.1, and are still present on systems that upgraded from those old versions of Windows. To make things like shooting fish in a barrel, we've put together a Registry hack you can use to brand these edits rapidly because they're a little cumbersome to make manually. Download and unzip the following file:

Activate-Windows-Photograph-Viewer-on-Windows-10

Inside, you'll find 2 hacks. Run the "Actuate Windows Photo Viewer on Windows ten" hack to create the keys and values in the Registry and activate Photo Viewer. And if you ever want to deactivate it, only run the "Conciliate Windows Photograph Viewer on Windows 10 (Default)" hack. Of course, there'south no existent need to deactivate it in the Registry. You can ever leave it bachelor and but acquaintance your image files with a dissimilar app.

Annotation: A big thanks to nexus over at TenForums for locating the required registry settings.

And call up—this stride is merely necessary if you lot're using a fresh Windows 10 system. If you upgraded from Windows 7 or 8.1, you should be able to go alee and set up Windows Photo Viewer as your default epitome-viewing application in all the usual ways.

Step Two: Set Windows Photo Viewer as Your Default Prototype Viewer

To associate an epitome file with Photograph Viewer, right-click any type of prototype file—for example, a .png, .jpg, .gif, or .bmp file—and select Open With > Cull Another App.

In the "How practice you want to open this file?" window, select Windows Photograph Viewer. If you don't see information technology at first, scroll to the bottom of what's listed and click the "More apps" selection—it'll bear witness up. Select the "Always use this app to open .___ files" option, and so click "OK."

Update: If the "Cull Another App" option doesn't piece of work for some reason, here'due south another style y'all can practice it: Beginning, right-click the blazon of epitome file you desire to change (for case, a PNG, JPEG, GIF, or BMP file) and select "Properties" to open the Properties window. On the Full general pane, click the "Change" push button to the right of "Opens With" and select Windows Photo Viewer.

Windows Photo Viewer will now be the default paradigm viewer for that type of prototype file. You'll demand to repeat this process for each type of prototype file yous want to use it with. In other words, whenever you open an epitome that opens in the Photos app, simply close the Photos app and use the "Open with" menu to associate that file type with Windows Photo Viewer. You'll simply have to practice this the get-go fourth dimension you open each new type of epitome file.

Plain, nosotros can't guarantee that Microsoft will keep access to Photo Viewer around forever. But for now, at least, it's still at that place—fifty-fifty if yous accept to put in a little piece of work to find it.

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/225844/how-to-make-windows-photo-viewer-your-default-image-viewer-on-windows-10/

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