Summary: Windows Photo Viewer is a default program to view photos in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. However, there are several cases reported about Windows Photo Viewer unable to open CR2, NEF and other image file formats, along with this error message.This post shares how you can fix ‘Windows Photo Viewer can’t open this picture’ problem and view your photos on Windows PC.
Are you unable to open images in Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10, 8, or 7 computers? Is it giving ‘Windows Photo Viewer can’t open this picture’ error?
| 6 Ways to fix Windows Photo Viewer can’t open this picture’ problem 1. Update Photo Viewer |
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Software updates can fix bugs and other issues. Thus, updating Windows Photo Viewer might fix the problem.
Steps to update your Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10:
Windows Photo Viewer supports only JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, BMP, DIB, and WDP file formats.
If the image file is of different format, open it in another supporting application. You can use Adobe Photoshop, IrfanView, Photo Retouch, Raw Image Viewer etc.
When an image file format is not supported by Windows Photo Viewer, you can convert the file to JPEG, TIFF, or PNG which can be viewed in Windows Photo Viewer.
This will fix the ‘Windows Photo Viewer can’t open this picture’ problem. However, this method will compress the large-sized high-resolution photos. But now you can at least view them in the program.
The image file might be corrupt if,
In such a case, try out a photo repair software because your photo is most likely corrupt, due to which it is showing the error.
There are several photo repair software available online. Most of them work only on JPEG, TIFF, and PNG files and do not support camera raw images. A more comprehensive and effective solution is provided by Stellar Repair for Photo that not only repairs JPEG and TIFF but also repairs popular raw camera file formats like CR2, NEF, ORF, DNG etc. The software is secure and advanced enough to fix images that are broken, pixelated, grainy, or have grey bands, etc.
The software can simultaneously repair unlimited photos of same or different formats.
Steps to repair corrupt pictures with Stellar Repair for Photo
Have you recently updated your phone backup suite on PC? If yes, Windows Photo Viewer might not be able to open images due to this. The Android phone’s default photo viewer might be facing a conflict with your computer’s photo viewer.
So, try to view photos after uninstalling the Android phone backup program on your computer.
Steps to uninstall smartphone backup software:
Now, check if Windows Photo Viewer is able to open your images. You can reinstall the phone suite, later.
Are you trying to open images imported from smartphone in Windows Photo Viewer? Smartphones have settings that encrypt photos, videos and other files. It might be possible that Windows Photo Viewer is unable to open encrypted image files.
Try to fix ‘Windows Photo Viewer can’t open this picture’ issue by turning off encryption in the image file.
Steps to turn off encryption in photos:
‘Windows Photo Viewer can’t open this picture’ error is not new. Due to limited file format support, users commonly face this problem. In such a case, converting the file type or viewing the pictures in different photo viewers resolves the issue. Often updating the application along with the Windows update helps.
Apart from this, when you maintain smartphone backup on computer, the device backup suite on PC can cause the error. Try to view the images after uninstalling the Android phone backup suite. Sometimes, the imported images from Android phone do not open in the photo viewer because of the encryption settings. You can remove the encryption on the image file to view it in Windows Photo Viewer.
When none of these troubleshooting methods works, it means the image itself is corrupt. A repair software such as Stellar Repair for Photo serves as the ideal solution for this situation. The software effectively repairs corrupt JPEG, TIFF, DNG, CR2, SRF, and other image file formats of DSLRs, camcorders, and action cameras etc. And it also works on an extensive variety of image corruptions including broken, pixelated, blurry images and more.
Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.
Why my photo viewer is saying- “Convert Picture to Another Format?”
When the image file format you try to open is not supported by Windows Photo Viewer, you’ll get the error. If this is the case, you should convert your image file to JPEG, TIFF, PNG, or any other formats that can be supported by Windows Photo Viewer.
I recently purchased dell laptop that came with windows 10 installed. When transfer photos in drive and open I get this error and I think its problem with the Photo Viewer and Photos. What I do to fix it? Please help!
Hi Stevens, Please update your windows OS and driver in your laptop. And if you are open raw files on Windows Photo Viewer you need to open it another supporting application such as Adobe Photoshop, raw image viewer. Thanks!
I just update my Windows 10, but when I tried to open my picture in Photo Viewer showing error “photo viewer can’t open because file appear to be corrupted” I don’t know what I do? Please help…
Hi Harry, The best way you can open the folder containing all infected images and select all and right-click one and from the context menu ‘choose paint’. If you still find an error, you can try our software demo version and see the preview of repaired files. Thanks!
Hi, I had this issue when i try to open specific jpg image file windows photo viewer show this error message. Thanks for provide the steps to fix this issue. Step 6 will help to fix my issue. Thank you very much!
Hi Martha, Thanks for reading our blog and share your valuable feedback with us!
I had this issue when I try to open a specific jpg jpeg image file. I also right click and select properties and try to change the file extension with jpg but fails to open the file. Can this software repair my jpeg file?
Hi Colin, Yes, You can try our software demo version and see the preview of repaired files. Thank you very much!
Hi, Couple of days there are no thumbnail and Photos open in Windows Photo Viewer I don’t understand what is causing this problem? I’m using windows 7 with 4 GB RAM and 500 GB hard disk. Please help!
Hi Ray, I suggest please updates you windows because software updated will fix bugs and other issues. If the problem is same you can try our software demo version and see the preview of your repaired jpeg files.
I had the same issue with some of jpeg’s files that won’t open in anything else on windows 10. I don’t know how these files are corrupted after find the solution on your blog and try the methods to fix this issue.
Hi Jessica, Thanks for sharing your valuable feedback with us!
I had the same issue on my windows 10 when I open a jpeg file this error message shown. I had tried to fix this issue, but unsuccessful. I used your Photo Repair software that’s repair my jpg files. Thank you very much!
Hi Chris, Thanks for choosing our software and sharing your valuable feedback with us!