Windows 11 Photos App Gets New Gallery, Editor and Viewer

Microsoft is rolling out a rebuilt Photos app for Windows 11, starting with Windows Insiders today. The update introduces an all-new Gallery, a new native Editor and a redesigned Viewer, according to Giorgio Sardo, Vice President, Microsoft Store and Windows Apps.

The Gallery now pulls photos and videos from your PC, OneDrive and Apple iCloud into one place, so you don’t have to remember where a picture is stored. You can browse by date, filter by who is in the photo and where it is stored, search in natural language, and organize albums to share. Photos stored on your device remain available offline.

OneDrive photos also get Moments, which groups related pictures into memories with names such as “Peaceful Moments,” and creates a seasonal recap automatically. Each memory plays as a slideshow you can watch, share or save as a video.

Editor loads 25% faster, Viewer opens up to 30% faster

The new native Editor, rebuilt with WinUI 3, is organized into four categories: Crop, Enhance, Repair and Stylize. Microsoft says it launches 25% faster than Photos Version 2026.11060, based on its own performance measurements across Windows 11 devices, including x64 and ARM64. Actual performance varies by device and configuration.

Editing now preserves HDR color and contrast, and you can edit and save HEIC and WebP images in their original format. In Repair, you can remove unwanted objects by circling or brushing over them; Microsoft says an improved AI model delivers higher-quality results and faster processing. Relight, in Enhance, lets you position up to three light sources, set their colors and pick a focus point, and it is expanding to all Windows 11 devices. New social media crop templates are included for sharing.

The redesigned Viewer starts 15% faster on average, with improvements of up to 30% for HEIC images, per Microsoft’s measurements. It adds improved HDR viewing and expanded file-type support, including SVG files, plus a single menu and an information button showing file name, date, camera details, a location map when available, a color histogram and visual search.

If you own a Windows 11 PC, the update is reaching Windows Insiders first, with availability expanding to all Windows 11 users later this year. Feedback goes through Feedback Hub (WIN + F, under Apps > Photos).

Sources

• Meet the new Photos app on Windows 11 — Windows Blog