The universal Photos app is the default photo or image viewer in Windows 10/11 operating system. The classic Windows Photo Viewer, although it has not been removed from Windows 10/11, is disabled by default, and one needs to enable Windows Photo Viewer to make it the default photo viewer program in Windows 10.
The new Photos app is not just an image viewer, but it also offers basic image editing and optimizing tools as well. It provides you with options to add various effects and filters to your photos. With the Photos app, you can crop, rotate, straighten, and retouch your images. The app also allows you to remove red-eye from images.
Probably the only problem with the Photos app is that it is not as quick as the classic Windows Photo Viewer or its competitors like ImageGlass to open photos. The other most common issue is reasonably high resource usage.
If the Windows 10/11 Photos app is not opening, crashing soon after the launch, or displaying an error, you can fix those issues by reinstalling the Photos app. However, like any other default Windows 10/11 apps, the Photos app can’t be uninstalled via the Settings app. In this guide, we will see how to easily uninstall and then install the Photos app in Windows 10/11.
Method 1 – uninstall the Photos app via PowerShell and then install it
Method 2 – uninstall Photos via PowerShell
Method 3 – uninstall the Photos app using CCleaner and then install the same
Method 1 of 3
Reinstall the Photos app in Windows 10/11 using PowerShell
Step 1: Open PowerShell as an administrator. To do this, type PowerShell in the Start menu or taskbar search box, right-click on the PowerShell entry in the search results, and then click the Run as administrator option.
Click the Yes button when you see the User Account Control prompt.
Step 2: In the elevated PowerShell, type the following command and press the Enter key to uninstall the Photos app.
get-appxpackage *Microsoft.Windows.Photos* | remove-appxpackage
This should remove the Photos app. If not, follow the next method.
Step 3: Once the app is removed, open the built-in Microsoft Store app, search for the Microsoft Photos app, and install the same to reinstall the Photos app.
Method 2 of 3
Another way to uninstall the Photos app via PowerShell
Step 1: Open the PowerShell with admin rights.
Step 2: Type the following command and press the Enter key to view all installed apps.
Get-AppxPackage –AllUsers
Step 3: Scroll down, and locate the entry named Microsoft.Windows.Photos and copy its PackageFullName to the Notepad program.
Tip: To quickly find the Photos app entry, right-click on the title bar of PowerShell, click Edit, click Find, type Photos, and then click the Find Next button.
To copy PackageFullName, select PackageFullName (refer to the picture below), and then use Ctrl + C hotkey to copy it.
Step 4: Execute the following command to uninstall the Photos app.
remove-AppxPackage PackageFullName
In the above command, replace PackageFullName with the PackageFullName of the Photos app that you copied to Notepad in Step 3.
Step 5: Now that we have uninstalled the Photos app from Windows 10, it’s time to install a fresh copy of the same from the Store. To do so, open the Store app by clicking the Store app tile on the Start menu or searching for it.
Step 6: Once the Store is launched, type Microsoft Photos in the search box, click on the Microsoft Photos entry, and then click the Install/Get button. If the Install or Get button is not active or you are setting the Open button instead, please close the app once, and then launch the Store app again.
Depending on the speed of your internet connection, the app should be installed and ready to use in 2 to 10 minutes.
Method 3 of 3
Reinstall the photos app using CCleaner
Those of you who are not familiar with PowerShell can use the popular CCleaner (free) software to uninstall the Photos app and then follow the directions mentioned above to install the Photos app from the Store.
Step 1: Download the CCleaner app and install the same on your Windows 10 PC, if not installed already.
Step 2: Launch CCleaner, click Tools and click Uninstall to view all installed apps.
Step 3: Locate the entry named Photos, right-click on it, and click the Uninstall button to uninstall it. Click the OK button when you see the confirmation dialog.
Step 4: Once the Photos app is uninstalled, open the Windows Store app, type Microsoft Photos in the search box, click on Photos app to open its page, and then click Free button to install the Photos app. Simple as that!
Our how to reinstall Solitaire Collection in Windows 10 guide might also interest you.