Restore Windows Photo Viewer brings back the classic Windows Photo Viewer as your default photo app on Windows 10 and Windows 11, replacing the modern Photos app in one click. Free, open source, and fully reversible.
- Restore the classic Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10 and Windows 11
- Choose which file types it opens: JPEG/JPG/JPE/JFIF, BMP/DIB/ICO, PNG, TIFF/TIF, WDP/JXR and GIF
- Apply it just for your account or for all users on the computer
- One click setup, no manual registry editing required
- Switch back to the Photos app anytime with Keep using Photos App
- Works completely offline, no installation needed
- Portable .exe, no ads, no telemetry, fully open source
- Go to the Restore Windows Photo Viewer website and click Download for Windows
- Your browser will download
RestoreWindowsPhotoViewer.zipto your Downloads folder - Right-click the ZIP file and select Extract All
- Open the extracted folder and double-click
RestoreWindowsPhotoViewer.exeto run it - If Windows shows a SmartScreen warning, click More info then Run anyway
- Under Photo & Picture File Type, leave the formats you want ticked. Under Apply to Users, choose Just me or All users on this computer
- Click Restore Windows Photo Viewer. When the "Success!" message appears, click OK
- In Settings > Default apps, click the current Photo viewer and choose Windows Photo Viewer. You can also right-click any photo, choose Open with, and pick Windows Photo Viewer
Since Windows 8, Microsoft has pushed the modern Photos app as the default way to open images, and Windows Photo Viewer is hidden from the default apps list even though it is still built into the system. Restore Windows Photo Viewer applies the small set of registry changes needed to make it selectable again as your default photo app, and adds it back to the "Open with" menu, without you having to edit the registry by hand.
This is useful if you:
- Prefer the fast, simple interface of the classic viewer over the Photos app
- Miss the old zoom, rotate, and print shortcuts from Windows Photo Viewer
- Find the modern Photos app slow to open or too cluttered for quick browsing
- Just reinstalled Windows and want your familiar photo viewing setup back
Yes. The tool only changes which app Windows treats as the default photo viewer. It does not modify or delete any of your photos, and the change can be undone at any time from within the app.
Yes, Restore Windows Photo Viewer works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11, including the latest updates.
Yes. Open the tool again and click Keep using Photos App. Windows goes back to opening pictures in the Photos app.
Microsoft hides Windows Photo Viewer from the default apps settings starting with Windows 8, even though the program files are still included in Windows. This tool re-enables it without removing or reinstalling anything.
Yes, since it changes system default app settings, the tool needs administrator rights. Right-click the .exe and choose "Run as administrator" if it does not prompt automatically.
MIT License - free for personal and commercial use.