Windows Photo Viewer AlternativesTop Image Viewers and other similar apps like Windows Photo Viewer

Windows Photo Viewer is described as 'View pictures in Windows Photo Viewer' and is a Image Viewer in the photos & graphics category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Windows Photo Viewer for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Flathub and PortableApps.com apps. The best Windows Photo Viewer alternative is IrfanView. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try IrfanView or ImageGlass. Other great apps like Windows Photo Viewer are nomacs, FastStone Image Viewer, XnView Classic and qView.

More about Windows Photo Viewer

Windows Photo Viewer alternatives page was last updated Aug 8, 2025

IrfanView
991 likes
Compact and efficient image application offering viewing, editing, and conversion with batch processing, multi-language support, plugin extensibility, and ad-free operation suitable for Windows and portable use.
157 IrfanView alternatives
Cost / License
Free Personal
Proprietary
Application types
Image Viewer
Image Editor
Origin
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Platforms
Windows
PortableApps.com
+9
Is IrfanView a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?

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3comments
IrfanView vs Windows Photo Viewer Comments

Guest
Positive commentSep 12, 2016
3
Windows Photo Viewer is extreeeemely slooow. This is fast! Opens instantly and you can quickly view your images.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Positive commentJul 28, 2016
3
For instance it opens an image in a window with size adapted to the size of the photo. And is very fast!
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Positive commentJun 7, 2019
1
Fast, versatile and easy to use. While it's added loads of editing and effects, it still is responsive and quick to load.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
IrfanView is Free Personal and ProprietaryWindows Photo Viewer is Free and Proprietary
IrfanView is Lightweight and CustomizableWindows Photo Viewer is not according to our users
ImageGlass
249 likes
A feature-rich, simple-to-use app seamlessly integrated with a clean, minimal and modern user interface.
83 ImageGlass alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application types
Image Viewer
Image Editor
Origin
Vietnam
Platforms
Windows
Linux
Mac
+1
Is ImageGlass a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?

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3comments
ImageGlass vs Windows Photo Viewer Comments

rafaljanuszwysocki
Positive commentJan 2, 2017
3
Fast and good looking alternative.
Guest
Positive commentJun 5, 2019
2
Crisp interface, fast, not bloated. Can be full screen. Uses a Chrome-style menu, so out of the way until you need it. Opens in seconds (2?); Photo Viewer, Photos, irfanview, xnView, FastStone all take a bit longer. Open source. Actively developed.

There are things it does not do, but I have several other apps to accomplish those things.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Positive commentAug 8, 2020
1
Perfect replacement, simple & modern ui. All I needed was a picture viewer, possibility to rotate/flip/slideshow and check the alpha channel - this does all that without having a bloated and outdated interface.

Most other alternatives don't have a purpose as clear as this one and their ui becomes hella bloated as the result.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
ImageGlass is Free and Open SourceWindows Photo Viewer is Free and Proprietary
ImageGlass is Lightweight, Customizable and Privacy focusedWindows Photo Viewer is not according to our users
XnView MP
400 likes
Comprehensive photo management software for viewing, batch converting, editing and resizing images and creating thumbnail sheets.
148 XnView MP alternatives
Cost / License
Free Personal
Proprietary
Application types
Photo Manager
Image Viewer
Origin
France
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Is XnView MP a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?

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1comment
XnView MP vs Windows Photo Viewer Comments

Guest
Negative commentAug 8, 2020
3
Starts in fullscreen by default, bloated - includes a file browser, lacking settings to make it as simple a picture viewer as photo viewer is. Not too user-friendly of an UI.

May have it's uses, but does far too much for the requirements - if I wanna edit I'll just jump into photoshop, if I wanna browse - I'll just jump into a file browser.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
XnView MP is Free Personal and ProprietaryWindows Photo Viewer is Free and Proprietary
nomacs
247 likes
nomacs is a free, open source image viewer, which supports multiple platforms. You can use it for viewing all common image formats including RAW and psd images.
98 nomacs alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application types
Image Viewer
Image Editor
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
FreeBSD
Flathub
+1
Is nomacs a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?
FastStone Image Viewer
483 likes
Fast image browser and editor for Windows with robust support for browsing, editing, and conversion. Features red-eye removal, resizing, enhanced EXIF access, and musical slideshows with over 150 effects.
133 FastStone Image Viewer alternatives
Cost / License
Free Personal
Proprietary
Application types
Image Viewer
Photo Manager
Origin
Canada
Platforms
Windows
+1
Is this a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?

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2comments
FastStone Image Viewer vs Windows Photo Viewer Comments

Guest
Negative commentJul 26, 2015
3
It's not 1 picture and clicking to the next as Windows Photo Viewer
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Positive commentOct 13, 2020
1
This is fastest of all the alternatives listed here. ImageGlass takes a lot of time to open up photos, but faststone loads images with the same time like Picasa3. Has a lot of features like editing and light-touching etc. A lot of keyboard shortcuts too. Moreover its FREE it would have been perfect if it was open source too.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
FastStone Image Viewer is Free Personal and ProprietaryWindows Photo Viewer is Free and Proprietary
FastStone Image Viewer is LightweightWindows Photo Viewer is not according to our users
XnView Classic
441 likes
XnView Classic is an efficient image viewer, browser and converter for Windows with built-in support for over 500 image formats.
151 XnView Classic alternatives
Cost / License
Free Personal
Proprietary
Application types
Image Viewer
Photo Manager
Origin
France
EU
Platforms
Windows
PortableApps.com
ReactOS
Is XnView Classic a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?
qView
82 likes
Fast and lightweight Qt-based image viewer with support for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Features include multiple format support, customizable interface, GIF playback, high-resolution display compatibility, and efficient navigation through keyboard shortcuts.
110 qView alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application type
Image Viewer
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
+1
Is qView a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?

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1comment
qView vs Windows Photo Viewer Comments

Guest
Positive commentAug 8, 2025
0
simple, portable, minimalistic
Review by a new / low-activity user.
qView is Free and Open SourceWindows Photo Viewer is Free and Proprietary
qView is Minimalistic, Lightweight and Privacy focusedWindows Photo Viewer is not according to our users
JPEGView
146 likes
Lightweight Simple Image Viewer with Slide show feature, Resize and Lossless-cut, Color correction, Rename, Multi-language and more...
140 JPEGView alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application types
Image Viewer
Image Editor
Origin
International
Platforms
Windows
PortableApps.com
Is JPEGView a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?

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1comment
JPEGView vs Windows Photo Viewer Comments

Guest
Positive commentDec 14, 2019
1
Lightweight, powerful. Easy browsing pics/gifs together
Review by a new / low-activity user.
JPEGView is Free and Open SourceWindows Photo Viewer is Free and Proprietary
JPEGView is Lightweight, Minimalistic and Privacy focusedWindows Photo Viewer is not according to our users
PicView
48 likes
PicView is a fast, free and fully customizable picture viewer for macOS and Windows 10/11. It supports virtually all image file types, including (animated) WEBP, (animated) GIF, SVG, AVIF, HEIC, PSD and many others.
64 PicView alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application types
Image Viewer
Image Editor
Origin
Denmark
EU
Platforms
Windows
Mac
+4
Is PicView a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?
gThumb
105 likes
gThumb is an image viewer and browser for the GNOME Desktop. It also includes an importer tool for transferring photos from cameras.
121 gThumb alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-2.0)
Application types
Image Viewer
Image Editor
Origin
United States
Platforms
Linux
Flathub
GNOME
+2
Is gThumb a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?
Preview
123 likes
Native macOS app for viewing, annotating, and editing images and PDFs, featuring tools for cropping, rotating, resizing images, rearranging pages, full-screen viewing, markup, document merging, batch conversion, and export in multiple formats.
173 Preview alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
Image Viewer
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
iPhone
iPad
+6
Is Preview a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?
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Diffractor
14 likes
Diffractor unifies managing photo, video and audio files. If you centralize media on that trusty old PC; let Diffractor do the heavy lifting.
84 Diffractor alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Application types
Photo Manager
Image Viewer
Origin
Australia
Platforms
Windows
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Is Diffractor a good alternative to Windows Photo Viewer?