Restoring Windows Photo Viewer

For those who didn't know, if you fresh install Windows 10, Windows Photo Viewer will no longer be available as a selection to view your images. You'll be stuck using the new cluttered and obnoxious image viewer.

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But what's so special about Windows Photo Viewer?

What makes WPV so good is the little amount of time it takes to open up an image - it's almost instant. Whereas the new Photo app takes a few seconds depending on your PC. It's useful for people who view a lot of images on their PC, such as myself.

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Fortunately, there's a way to get this back.

1. Press WIN+R keys together to open RUN dialog box. You can also open it from WIN+X menu. Now type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:



3. Create a new key under shell key and set its name to open

4. In right-side pane, create new string MuiVerb and set its value to @photoviewer.dll,-3043

5. Now create a new key under open key and set its name as command

6. In right-side pane, double-click on (Default) and change its value to as following:



7. Now create one more new key under open key and set its name as DropTarget

8. In right-side pane, create new string CLSID and set its value to {FFE2A43C-56B9-4bf5-9A79-CC6D4285608A}

That's it. Now when you right click to select the default application, it'll show up!