How to Restore Windows Photo Viewer Missing or Gone in Windows 10
If you have been used to the efficiency of Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 7 and 8, the default equivalent app in Windows 10 may disappoint you from every aspect. However, when you are trying to download and reinstall the old photo viewer, it turns out there is no link or EXE for it. Don’t worry. In this tutorial, we will introduce several easy methods to restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10 and make it default if necessary.
Do You Need to Download Photo Viewer in Windows 10?
The answer is “No” because Microsoft does not issue the installation package of Windows Photo Viewer. Luckily, you don’t need to restore back to previous Windows 7 OS neither. As a matter of fact, Windows Photo Viewer is merely hidden Windows 10, and you just need to activate it.
Warm tips: Always back up your important photos and videos properly. In case you mistakenly deleted them, make sure to use Jihosoft Photo Recovery to restore lost photos and videos from SD card, USB flash stick or computer as soon as possible.
Method 1. Restore Windows Photo Viewer after Upgrading from Windows 7/8
If you have upgraded from Windows 7/8 recently, there is a chance to restore Windows Photo Viewer easily.
- Step 1. Right-click on any photo, choose Open with > Choose another app.
- Step 2. Click More apps, scroll down, and choose Windows Photo Viewer.
Next time, Windows Photo Viewer should appear on the right-click menu as one of the Other options. You may also tick Always use this app to open XX files in Step 2. Unfortunately, this method will not work for computers that come with the Windows 10 operating system.
Here is a fun fact about viewing photos on Windows computers. Most RAW images taken by digital cameras are not supported in Windows 7/8/10 by default. You will need solutions to view RAW images on Windows.
In case Windows Photo Viewer is missing even in this way, please keep reading for more solutions to get it back.
Method 2. Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10 after Clean Install
According to thousands of reports, this method will work for most Windows 10 users. We have split it into two options so that you could choose the acceptable one for you.
Option 1. With One Click
The easiest way to activate Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10 is by executing a Reg. file which contains hundred lines of commands. The Reg file is collected from the internet, so please take your own risk. You may check the content, or have it checked by someone else.
- Step 1. Download the Win-Photo-Viewer.txt file.
- Step 2. Rename the txt file and change the extension as reg, i.e. Win-Photo-Viewer.reg.
- Step 3. Double-click the reg file to execute it. Confirm when it is asked.
Once the data is written to the registry successfully, it is optional to keep the Reg file or delete it immediately. Now Windows Photo Viewer will appear as an option for opening images in the right-click menu.
Option 2. In Registry Editor
The one-click method above will archive the purpose like magic. However, if you’d like to explore on it for more details, we will show you how to restore Windows Photo Reviews back to Windows 10 in Registry Editor with detailed steps.
- Step 1. Press Windows + R shortcut, then type Regedit and hit Enter.
- Step 2. Click Yes when UAC appears. Registry Editor will pop up.
- Step 3. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > Applications > photoviewer.dll > shell.
- Step 4. Right-click on shell, choose New > Key, and name it as open.
- Step 5. Right-click on open, choose New > String Value, and name it as MuiVerb.
- Step 6. On the right panel, right-click on MuiVerb, and choose Modify, then copy and paste @photoviewer.dll,-3043 in the Value data box. Click OK to proceed.
- Step 7. Right-click on open, choose New > Key, and name it as command.
- Step 8. On the right panel, right-click on (Default), and choose Modify, then copy and paste the following string in Value data box before clicking OK.
- %SystemRoot%\System32\rundll32.exe “%ProgramFiles%\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll”, ImageView_Fullscreen %1
- Step 9. Right-click on open, choose New > String Value, and name it as DropTarget.
- Step 10. Right-click on DropTarget, choose New > String Value, and name it as CLSID.
- Step 11. On the right panel, right-click on CLSID, choose Modify and type {FFE2A43C-56B9-4bf5-9A79-CC6D4285608A} in Value data box. Click OK to finish the process.
Bonus Tip: Set Windows Photo Viewer as Default App in Windows 10
Now that Windows Photo Viewer is restored in Windows 10, you may still need to find it in the right-click menu each time. To make it default whenever you double-click any image files, please follow steps below:
- Step 1. Go to Settings > Apps > Default apps.
- Step 2. On the right pane, click the option under Photo viewer.
- Step 3. Select Windows Photo Viewer from the list.
Once the setting is applied, you will be able to open photos with Windows Photo Viewer by double-clicking. As you may find in Method 1, it is also possible to set an app as default for a certain file format. If you want to specify Windows Photo Viewers to open JPEG photos only, for example, then you may either right-click on a JPEG file for more options or follow the steps below.
- Step 1. Scroll to the bottom in Default apps tab, find and click Choose default apps by file type.
- Step 2. Locate and find .jpeg (and .jpg), then click the option beside.
- Step 3. Select Windows Photo Viewer from the list.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we have learnt 2 kinds and 3 methods to restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10. You’re suggested get Windows Photo Viewer back in Windows 10 with the one-click method. Nevertheless, it will not harm to check other options if you’d like to dig deeper. In case you want to explore more options for photo viewers, here are the best alternatives to Windows 10 Photos app. Feel free to share your experience with us in the comment. If you find this article helpful, don’t hesitate to share it to your social channels.