Organize, edit and share your memories with Microsoft Photos The new Photos app makes it fun and easy to enhance your digital memories. And if you liked making videos with Windows Movie Maker, you’ll love what you can do with Photos. Store all your photos all in one place. Here's how you can make Windows Photo Viewer the default photo app in Windows 10. Get more out of your tech Learn smart gadget and internet tips and tricks with CNET's How To newsletter. Easily edit your photos with Canva's photo editor! Add filters, frames, text, and effects with our free online photo editing tool! Oct 18, 2020 Photo Transfer App works over your local Wi-Fi network, so no cables are needed. Using this application you can backup and transfer multiple pictures at one time, create new albums on your device and upload photos to them, simply drag and drop photos from the app to any folder on your computer, easily copy full resolution photos and HD videos from your iPhone, transfer photos in RAW formats.
iCloud Photos uploads new photos and videos from your Windows PC so you can view them in the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and on iCloud.com. New photos that you take automatically show up on your PC, and you can download them with a double-click.
Turn on iCloud Photos
Make sure that you set up iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch or Mac, that you turned on iCloud Photos, and that you're signed in with your Apple ID.
- Download iCloud for Windows.
- Open iCloud for Windows. Make sure you're signed in with your Apple ID.
- Next to Photos, click Options.
- Select iCloud Photos.
- Click Done, then click Apply.
- Turn on iCloud Photos on all of your Apple devices.
In iCloud for Windows 10 or later, you can also choose to use Shared Albums, and customize the location of your Shared Albums folders. If you're using iCloud for Windows 7, you can also choose to use My Photo Stream.
When you turn on iCloud Photos on your PC in iCloud for Windows 7, My Photo Stream is turned off automatically. If you want to send new photos to your devices that don't use iCloud Photos, you can turn My Photo Stream back on.
Find your photos on your PC
On Windows 10:
- Open File Explorer.
- Click iCloud Photos from the Navigation pane.
Windows 8.1:
- Go to the Start screen.
- Click the down arrow in the bottom-left corner.
- Click the iCloud Photos app.
Windows 8:
- Go to the Start screen.
- Select iCloud Photos.
Windows 7:
![Photo Photo](https://webtrickz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/23092009231939.jpg)
- Click the Windows Start button, then click Pictures.
- Click iCloud Photos or Photo Stream under the Favorites menu in the panel on the left.
- Double-click My Photo Stream to view your photos. This also shows up as a folder in the window that appears.
My Photo Stream isn't available in iCloud for Windows 10 or later.
Upload your photos and videos to iCloud Photos
You can upload your photos and videos from your PC to iCloud Photos when you follow these steps:
In iCloud for Windows 10 or later
- Open a File Explorer window.
- In the Navigation pane, click iCloud Photos.
- In another window, open the folder where you currently store the photos that you want to add to iCloud Photos.
- Select the photos that you want to add.
- Drag them into the iCloud Photos folder.
You can view the photos and videos you uploaded in the Photos app on iCloud.com and on all your Apple devices.
In iCloud for Windows 7
- Open a File Explorer window.
- Under Quick Access (Favorites in Windows 7 and 8), click iCloud Photos.
- Click Upload photos and videos.
- Choose the photos and videos you want to upload and click Open.
You can view the photos and videos you uploaded in the Photos app on iCloud.com and on all your Apple devices.
Download your photos and videos from iCloud Photos
In Windows 11.1 or later
New photos and videos you add to iCloud Photos are shown on your PC automatically. To download the file from iCloud when you view it, double-click its thumbnail. You can also keep your photos downloaded on your PC with these steps:
- Open File Explorer.
- In the Navigation pane, click iCloud Photos.
- Select the images you want to keep on your PC.
- Right-click the selection and choose 'Always keep on this device.'
If you change a photo or video on another device or on iCloud.com, it updates automatically on your PC.
In Windows 10 or earlier
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New photos and videos you add to iCloud Photos will automatically download to your PC. You can also download older photos and videos with these steps:
- Open File Explorer (Windows 10) or Windows Explorer (Windows 7).
- Click iCloud Photos in the Navigation pane. If you don’t see iCloud Photos, click Pictures in the Navigation pane, then double-click iCloud Photos.
- In iCloud for Windows 10, click the Notification area in the taskbar, then click Download Photos in the iCloud Photos notification. Choose the photos and videos you want to download by year.
- In iCloud for Windows 7, click “Download photos and videos” in the Windows Explorer toolbar. Choose the photos and videos you want to download by year, then click Download.
Your photos and videos download to the location you set in iCloud Photos Options.
In iCloud for Windows 10 or later, if you change a photo or video on another device or on iCloud.com, it updates automatically on your PC. In iCloud for Windows version 7, you need to re-download the photos to see any updates.
Learn more
- If your iCloud Photos aren't loading on your PC, learn what to do.
- Learn more about iCloud system requirements.
With Windows 10, Microsoft replaced the good-old Windows Photo Viewer with a newer Photos app. Unfortunately, users, including me, aren’t too happy with this app. It's complicated and takes a lot of time to load images.
If you also don’t like the Photos app (I feel you! *virtual hug*) and are looking for its alternatives, you have come to the right place.
In this post, we have listed 5 best replacements for your Windows 10 Photos app. By the way, if you want to get back the old Windows Photo Viewer, check this.
Also Read: 19 Best Windows 10 Tips and TricksPhoto browsing or viewing should be an effortless task. This is what all these Windows 10 tools offer you. The tools mentioned below are fast, simple and powerful.
Let’s get started.
1. FastStone Image Viewer
If you have been a Picasa user, FastStone Image Viewer will feel familiar. It supports a huge number of image formats such as JPEG, GIF, PNG, RAW, and PSD etc. The user interface is similar to that of Windows Explorer. Unlike Windows Photos, this tool is very fast.
When you open the application, it lists all the folders and images. You can check the preview without opening the images. When you open an image, it opens in full view.
However, interestingly, the tool has all the options and features present on the four sides of an image. All you need to do is move your mouse towards each side and you will unearth a bunch of photo-editing and viewing features.
You get all the photo-editing features such as crop, rotate, blur, color effects, and even adding annotations. It's a freeware fast image-viewer tool that has a built-in image editor and converter as well.
Download FastStone Image Viewer2. IrfanView
One of the oldest photo viewers for Windows is IrfanView. It's a quick and simple photo-editor tool. People who use it once, use it for years. The reason being its simplicity and usefulness.
When you download this tool, you'll find two shortcuts - IrfanView and IrfanView Thumbnails. If you want to see all your images and thumbnails, use the second shortcut.
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The images will open in the real tool only. IrfanView also supports other features such as batch editing, slideshows, and change EXIF data etc.
Download IrfanView3. XnView
XnView is another great alternative for Windows Photos. Design-wise, the tool is similar to FastStone Image Viewer. However, it’s not as feature-rich as FastStone.
It supports tab browsing, which means you can view multiple images simultaneously. With support for more than 500 image formats, it also features basic editing tools such as rotation, resize, crop etc.
In addition to that, the tool also supports multiple layouts. You can choose the layout as per your preference.
Download XnView4. Nomacs
Nomacs can be called as the open-source hidden gem. When you launch the tool for the first time, you'll feel the tool is kinda meh! But, once you start to play with its settings and features, you will discover all the good things about it.
Unlike other tools, Nomacs doesn’t support folder view by default. You have to enable the folder view and thumbnails from the Settings. Thankfully, like other software, this one also supports basic photo-editing tools such as crop, rotate, flip, and change exposure etc.
Download Nomacs5. Apowersoft Photo Viewer
Apowersoft is slightly different from the rest of the Photos app alternatives. It’s as if Windows Photos had a baby with MS Paint. It doesn’t support folder view but, once you open an image, it shows the thumbnails of all other images present in the same folder.
Interestingly, the Apowersoft has a nice photo editor, which opens in a separate window. The UI is similar to MS Paint, but it has more features such as pixelate, sharpen, pixelate, and other effects.
Download Apowersoft Photo ViewerHow to Set a Default Photo Viewer in Windows 10
To change or to set a new default photo viewer on Windows 10, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open Settings on your PC from the Start menu. Click on Apps.
Step 2: Then, click on the Default apps option present in the left sidebar.
Step 3: Click Photo Viewer under the Default apps and choose your favorite photo viewer from the menu.
That’s it!
If you want to use any of the above-mentioned tools for only one particular file type, you can do that as well. Navigate to the image in Windows Explorer and right-click it.
Click Open with and select Choose Another app. Now, choose your tool and check the Always use this app to open .abc files option.
To know how to uninstall any software, including the Photo viewers that you just downloaded, click here.
Also Read:How to Turn Off Windows 10 UpdatesSwitch ASAP!
You will thank us once you start using any of the above-mentioned tools instead of the Windows Photos app. These tools feel so fast when compared to the boring Windows Photos app! If you want to improve the boot time of your Windows PC, don't forget to check this out.
Do let us know your favorite photo-viewer tool in comments below.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
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