"Windows Photo Viewer cannot display this image on Windows 11/10/8/7"

Users sometimes encounter the error "Windows Photo Viewer can't display the picture." This issue can occur due to several reasons, such as insufficient system memory, image size being too large or incompatible, a corrupted image, or an outdated Windows Photo Viewer. In this article, we will discuss all possible causes and their solutions, so please read on to understand the entire process.

Method 1: Open the Image with Another Photo Viewer

Sometimes, no matter how many times you restart it, the app won't work as it should. If that's the case today, we recommend trying to open the image in another image viewer app, such as Adobe Photoshop, MS Paint, Photos App, Raw Image Viewer, Photo Retouch, and so on.

If the image opens in another program, the issue might be with Photo Viewer. You'll need to update or reinstall it, but try restarting your computer first to see if that fixes the problem.

Method 2: Change the File Format

Windows Photo Viewer usually supports the GIF, BMP, DIB, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and WDP file formats for available images. However, sometimes people try to open files with different formats that aren't supported by Windows Photo Viewer. So, if you can't open a photo in Windows Photo Viewer, check the format of your photo file.

Then, open another program and choose to save it as a new file format that's compatible with the photo viewer. You can also use an online tool to do this.

Another fun trick to change the file format is to select the file, hit F2, and rename it with another image extension, such as PNG, GIF, or BMP. Try opening it to see if it works. Because many standard file formats have similar header information, the image might open.

Method 3: Check if the Image Is Corrupted

Sometimes, due to certain reasons, an image might get corrupted or damaged, and Windows Photo Viewer fails to display the picture. In such a case, you need to repair the corrupted or damaged image. To fix a corrupted photo, we recommend you use a file repair tool.

Many professionals use this highly recommended tool only for its advanced repair features. Fixo Photo Repair is an all-in-one data recovery tool that quickly recovers damaged or virus-infected photos. Let's have a look at its advanced features.

• Repair corrupted and erroneous photos: The Fixo Image Repair tool can fix damaged or erroneous JPEG and JPG photos stored on your hard drive, memory card, or any other storage device. You can preview the repaired photos after a quick scan before recovery.
• Restore and repair corrupted videos: The Fixo tool can restore or repair corrupted MP4 and MOV videos.
• Repair corrupted Microsoft Office documents: With Fixo's File Repair tool, you can efficiently fix corrupted Excel, Word, and PowerPoint documents.
• Repair damaged PDF documents: Fixo can repair damaged, erroneous, or inaccessible PDF files and restore all objects within them.

Download the photo repair and recovery program for free now, and fix corrupted pictures in 3 easy steps.

Step 1. Launch Fixo on your computer. Select "Photo Repair" to fix photos that won't open or are partially missing. Click "Add Photos" to select the damaged photo.

Step 2: Click on the “Fix All” button to repair multiple photos at once. To fix a single picture, hover your cursor over it and click “Repair.”

Click the eye icon to preview the photo, then click “Save” to save the selected picture. Choose “Save All” to save all the repaired images. Click “View Repaired” to locate the folder with the fixed files.

Method 4: Check if the Image Has Been Deleted or Moved

There could be times when your photos might get accidentally deleted or removed from the system due to various reasons. In such cases, you would need to recover deleted photos. The question is how you can do that. You can use the Data Recovery Wizard tool to resolve this issue.

We recommend this third-party tool for its fast and secure recovery capabilities. This excellent professional utility efficiently retrieves files lost due to accidental deletion, device formatting/damage, virus attacks, OS crash, or lost partitions from HDD/SSD/USB/SD cards.

Important note: The Data Recovery Wizard tool supports data recovery for Windows 11.

Step 1: Choose a location and start scanning.

Hover over the SD card, camera, or hard drive partition from which you deleted or lost your photos, and click “Scan.”

Step 2: Choose the photos you want to recover

When the scan is finished, select “Pictures” on the left. If you're looking for lost photos, click “Lost Photos” at the top of the list. Then, you can search for your photos by device, type, and date.

Step 3: Recover Lost Photos

Preview them, click “Recover,” and choose another location to save the photos you want.

Method 5: Not Enough Memory Available

The "Windows Photo Viewer can't display this picture" error message might be due to insufficient system memory. To resolve this issue, you can adopt two approaches: reducing memory usage or upgrading your RAM.

If you have limited RAM in your computer, you should upgrade to more. 16 GB is becoming standard, and for future-proofing, it's best to have a total of 32 GB. If you work with images often, choosing high-speed RAM modules is also important.

Alternatively, you can reduce memory usage by closing unnecessary running apps that take up a lot of memory. You can view which apps are using memory in the Task Manager.

Method 6: Update the Windows Photo Viewer

Oftentimes, due to bugs and older versions of the Windows Photo Viewer, users might encounter issues with photo display. In such cases, we'd recommend updating the Windows Photo Viewer.

Since the Windows Photo Viewer isn't part of the Microsoft Store, it can only be updated through Windows Updates. Follow these exact steps to update your Windows Photo Viewer.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on Windows and go to Windows Update. Now, click the Check for updates button and wait for the process to finish.

If updates are available, look through the list and note any that relate to Windows Photo Viewer.

Step 3: The update process will begin and install, so wait for it to finish. A window will then appear; click on the “Restart” button. It will restart your computer and complete the process automatically.

When you're done, try opening an image with the Photo Viewer to make sure everything is working correctly.

Conclusions

If you've been following this post, you must be aware of all our sharing methods. The reason why Windows Photo Viewer won't show images could be different, but you can try the above methods to fix your issue. If your photos are corrupt or damaged, you'll have to use tools like Fixo Photo Repair to mend them.

All of these things can be really helpful; give them a try! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask us in the comments section; we're happy to help. Thanks.