The new Windows Photo viewer has their own woes. You will double click an image, and it takes its own some time to load. Plus, it will only handle JPEGs and RAW images, but it has no clue what a PSD. It does have some editing tools which work great, but it hardly preferred anyway. Altogether, there are much better alternatives out there to just Microsoft Photos. So, Here my list for the best Windows Photo Viewer.
How to set a Default Windows Photo Viewer
Just a heads up, installing a third-party Windows Photo Viewer application isn’t going to be enough. You can also make it your default Photo viewer application. To do that on Windows 10, Type Default on the head over the search bar Next, just go to Default Apps Settings > Photos. Now you can select any Windows Photo Viewer as your default image viewer.
Best Windows Photo Viewer for Windows 10
1. XnView
2. FocusOn Image Viewer
3. Nomacs
4. JPEGView
5. QuickLook
6. HoneyView
7. ImageGlass
8. 123 Photo Viewer
9. FastStone Image Viewer
10. IrfanView
XnView
With early support for only Unix systems, Xnview is now available as a Windows Photo Viewer for as well Windows 10. It’s not just an image viewer but a photo editor and organizer too. XnView is a robust App and supports multiple languages.
Features:
XnView supports not only 500+ image formats, but also some video and audio formats. It will support scripting to rename a batch of files in one click. On top of that, you can use necessary editing tools to crop, rotate, resize, and add a bunch of effects. You can also edit Raster images, which is a rare feature.
Format: JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, Raster, and 500+ file formats.
Pros:
Supports large file format base
Scripting for basic tasks supported
Cons:
It is free only for private use
FocusOn Image Viewer
The only stick out the feature about Focus On Image Viewer is the basic editor. In case you are using Adobe Lightroom 2015, the editor looks like the same format. It has a histogram at the top of the multiple sliders to Sharpness, adjust Brightness, RGB, Contrast, values, etc.
Features:
Focus On supports 99.99+ image file formats. You will also view and delete the EXIF data, Rename batch files using the standard file naming format. It also has a basic image editor.
Format: JPG, JP2, J2K, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIF, PSD, AI, EPS, CR2, DNG, RAW, NEF, ARW, and 99.99+ image formats
Pros:
Basic photo editor without damaging the original Photo
Basic is sharing support to your Blog, Facebook, Twitter
Viewing and deleting EXIF data
Batch renaming of files
Email sharing option
Cons:
Cannot view photos in an archived folder
Nomacs
Nomacs is an open-source, free of cost to use Windows Photo Viewer for Windows 10, which has a lot of tricks in this App.
Features:
Nomacs offers complex generation by overloading a database of images based on similar histograms. My ideal feature is the synchronization of multiple instances. This enables me to easily compare models by zooming in or panning at the same position or also by overloading them with a different variety.
Nomacs don’t only read the images in the zip archives but even preview MS office documents. You will also add notes to images to keep track of their origin. Nomacs includes image handling methods for adjusting saturation, exposure brightness, contrast, hue, and gamma.
You will activate cache in the settings and also reduce image switch times
Format: It supports all the famous image formats, including raw camera formats.
Pros:
Quickly compare multiple images
Cons:
Recent updates have made it slow
JPEGView
JPEGView can be considered as a fully free and open-source alternative for ACDSee. The main priority of the tool is quick editing. Although, the preview bar comes loaded with color, brightness, and contrast adjustment sliders at the bottom bar.
Features:
It has a basic image file browser. The editing tools are quite huge and easily accessible on the Preview page. You will also set up a slideshow of multiple images using the folder.
Pros:
The huge set of editing tools
Supports converting and renaming in batch
Cons:
Lacks large EXIF data and a print button
QuickLook
QuickLook is a Windows Photo Viewer for Windows 10 that was developed to replicate the quick preview action on macOS. Its smooth loading interface and fast response time bring it on with Apple’s QuickLook feature. Anyway, the name. If you still haven’t used QuickLook on Mac, It works with the EASY space-bar tap to preview the image and then again a click to close it.
Features:
QuickLook softly runs in the background and listens for the hotkey’s trigger. Some different hotkeys are available to control the atmosphere of the file are available. It does not only support image preview but also lets you view PSDs, PDF text files, etc.
Format: images, videos, PDF, PSD, and text files.
Pros:
Open source and free of cost
Responsive and Quick
Cons:
It doesn’t have an option to work the files on its own
HoneyView
HoneyView is the most popular third-party Photo Viewer for Windows 10. It is almost similar to Windows Photos Viewer in features and functionality. However, it supports a couple of other image formats like GIF, PNG, etc.
Features:
It permits you to rotate images and perform primary resizing with it. Editing will be done by attaching a link to either Paint or Photoshop. You can bookmark pictures for future references.
Format: PSD, BMP, PNG, GIF, and JPG.
Pros:
Easy of usability and resemblance to the windows photo viewer
Cons:
No inbuilt editing tools
ImageGlass
ImageGlass is another slightest Photo Viewer for Windows 10. But what stands out is the modern UI of the tool compared to other photo view apps.
Features:
ImageGlass lets you sight a slideshow of all the images saved in the folder. Something so useful and simple but still requires in Windows Photo. You will link different image editors to different file formats. For instance, I can connect PSDs to Photoshop. So every time I select to edit a PSD, it will be open in Photoshop only. It supports pretty much every file type.
Format: JPG, GIF, TIFF, WEBP,BMP, and 72+ image formats.
Pros:
Slideshow of images
Cons:
Lacks inbuilt editing tools
123 Photo Viewer
123 Photo Viewer is a fast and light Photo Viewer for Windows with support for One Drive.
Features:
The UI is simple to use, and it comes with plenty of effects and filters for basic editing. In this, a slideshow viewer included for reliving those memories. There is support for format change and batch rename.
Formats: JPEG, GIF, PNG, WEBP, etc.
Pros:
Supports One Drive
Slideshow mode
Batch rename and format change
Cons:
Can’t auto-scan and auto-detect folders with images
FastStone Image Viewer
The FastStone Photo Viewer is yet another lightweight image viewer for Windows 10 with different language support. It has a slideshow recourse with many attractive transformation effects.
Features:
Greatest, it supports video and audio playback. It supports multi-monitor configurations, which would come in handy if you work with an extensive number of images. It also supports renaming, viewing, and converting files in batch. As well, you can also use the portable variant that can be run without installing.
Format: BMP, JPEG, WMF, ICO, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, and TGA), RAW, MP4, MP3.
Pros:
The dark theme supports complement the Windows theme
Converting in batches and Supports renaming
Support for video and audio playback
Email sharing option
Cons:
Its Slow thumbnail generation
Overall, scrolling is slow.
IrfanView
IrfanView is one of the most famous third-party image viewing application, and it is even our pick for the best Windows Photo Viewer for Windows 10. It is named after the maker Irfan Sklijan and is fully free to use. The App is pretty intuitive, light, and supports a huge graphics file format base.
Features:
IrfanView is enhanced to perform better and has a mark of the only 2MB. Apart from the image viewing app, it also has some extra tools. For example, it supports OCR to “Read” word on an image and export it to an editable format. Aside from, you can also color correct pictures, add some watermarks, and some different filters.
Format: BMP, JPM, GIF, JPEG, JP2 & PNG, TIFF, RAW, ECW, EMF, ICO, PCX, PBM, PDF, FSH, PGM, PPM, Flash, TGA, Ogg and text files.
Pros:
Easy to use and Lightweight
Variable file format base and can easily handle substantial RAW images
Supports more than 50 plugins
Cons:
It’s Not the best UI
However, it can be fixed in the settings, scrolling through folders is painful as Irfan View continually tries to open a non-image.
Final Words:
Every software has its selling point, and we have listed a few Best Windows Photo Viewer for Windows 10. Most of them are free of cost, and some are quite open sources. Irfanview grabs the spot because of its lightning-fast collaboration. If you want application portability, FastStone is something that you will carry on a flash drive. Nomacs and Xnview are best for handling images in batch for either renaming them or converting them to a more compatible image format.