Microsoft unveils a redesigned Photos app for Windows 11 with a faster editor and viewer

• Microsoft is rolling out a redesigned Photos app to Insiders, with broader availability planned later this year.
• The new Gallery combines local, OneDrive, and iCloud photos and adds natural-language search, People filters, albums, Favorites, and OneDrive Moments.
• The native Editor uses WinUI 3, launches 25 percent faster in Microsoft’s tests, and adds HDR editing, HEIC and WebP support, object erasing, and Relight.
• The redesigned Viewer opens 15 percent faster on average and up to 30 percent faster for HEIC images, with improved navigation, HDR viewing, SVG support, and photo details.

Microsoft is introducing a redesigned Photos app for Windows 11 with a new Gallery, a rebuilt photo editor, and a faster image viewer. The update brings photos from local storage, OneDrive, and iCloud into one place, adds natural-language search, improves editing tools, and better supports modern image formats.

The new Photos experience will begin rolling out to Insiders on October 15, 2026, with a broader release for all users later this year. The company has not announced an exact date for the general rollout.

What’s new in the Windows 11 Photos app

The update focuses on three main components: Gallery, Editor, and Viewer. Microsoft says it has rebuilt the editing experience with WinUI 3 and improved performance across the app.

A new Gallery brings photos together

The redesigned Gallery combines photos and videos stored on your computer, OneDrive, and Apple’s iCloud, giving you one central place to browse their collections without switching between services.

The new experience includes several improvements:

• Natural-language search lets you describe a photo in your own words, such as a family picnic or a sunset at the beach, instead of relying on filenames or exact dates.
• People and filters make it easier to find photos featuring specific friends or family members and narrow results by storage location.
• Albums and Favorites help users organize pictures into collections, share albums, and quickly revisit their favorite shots.
• Moments brings related OneDrive photos together into themed memories and seasonal recaps that users can watch as slideshows, share, or save as videos.
• Faster browsing improves app startup and scrolling performance.
• Offline access remains available for photos stored locally on the device.

Another good news is that you don’t need to sign in to OneDrive to browse local photos or access their iCloud collection. However, the “Moments” feature and its memory features are designed for photos stored in OneDrive.

On supported hardware (Copilot+ PCs equipped with an NPU), improved Windows Search can also find photos stored locally in the “Pictures” Library.

The Editor is rebuilt with WinUI 3

Microsoft rebuilt the Photos Editor from the ground up using WinUI 3, its modern user interface framework. According to the company’s internal performance tests, the new editor launches 25 percent faster than the legacy version.

The interface organizes editing tools into four categories:

• Crop provides framing, composition, and aspect-ratio controls.
• Enhance offers lighting, color, and overall appearance adjustments.
• Repair helps correct imperfections and remove unwanted objects.
• Stylize provides creative effects to change a photo’s appearance.

The editor also adds or improves several capabilities.

Erase unwanted objects lets users circle or brush over distractions to erase them. Microsoft says an improved AI model delivers better results and processes edits faster.

Relight lets users adjust lighting after taking a picture by positioning up to three light sources, changing their colors and intensity, and selecting a focus point. Presets, including golden hour, provide quick alternatives. This feature was previously limited to Copilot+ PCs, but it’s now expanding to all devices, so it’s no longer tied to an NPU.

HDR editing preserves HDR color and contrast throughout editing.

HEIC and WebP support lets users edit and save images in their original formats instead of converting them to another format.

Social media cropping adds templates that help users prepare images for different social media formats.

The same editor is available when you open a photo from the Gallery or elsewhere on the computer.

The Viewer opens photos faster

Microsoft has also redesigned the Photos Viewer with a cleaner interface that puts the image first and keeps common actions within easy reach.

The company reports that the new viewer starts 15 percent faster on average, with improvements of up to 30 percent when opening HEIC images, compared to the previous version of Photos.

Other improvements include:

• Improved navigation with arrow keys to move between photos.
• Expanded file support, including SVG images.
• Better HDR viewing for compatible photos and displays.
• A richer information pane showing the filename, date, camera details, a location map when location data is available, and a color histogram.
• Quick actions for editing, printing, and sharing images.

Opening an image from File Explorer launches it in the new lightweight Viewer, making it easier to move through pictures without opening the full Gallery experience.

Was the previous Photos app built with WinUI 3?

Microsoft confirms that the new native Editor was rebuilt with WinUI 3, but the announcement doesn’t mean the entire previous Photos app used a single older framework.

Windows Photos has evolved through multiple redesigns and implementations. Microsoft introduced a redesigned Photos app for Windows 11 in 2021, followed in 2022 by a separate Photos app experience with iCloud integration. The older Photos Legacy app remains available for users who prefer its features.

WinUI 3 is part of the Windows App SDK and provides a modern native interface framework for Windows desktop applications. Rebuilding the Editor with WinUI 3 is intended to deliver a more consistent interface and a smoother editing experience.

When will the new Photos app be available?

Microsoft began rolling out the new Photos experience to Insiders on October 15, 2026. The company plans to expand availability to all users later in 2026, but it has not provided a specific public release date.

The rollout is staged, so not every device should expect to receive the updated experience immediately.

October 15, 2026 update: A reader on X pointed out an interesting architectural change. The previous Photos app used native Windows UI components, while its image editor relied on WebView2 and web technologies. Microsoft has now rebuilt the Editor with WinUI 3, but it hasn’t confirmed whether the new Gallery uses web technology or native components.