Top 6 Ways to Fix Photos App Not Working on Windows 11
With Windows 11, Microsoft delivered a much-loved update to its Photos app. And while there’s a lot to admire about the new Filmstrip Toolbar, multiview UI, and updated appearance, unfortunately all of these improvements are of little use when the app. Photos fails to open images or continues to crash.
If you’re having similar issues with the Photos app, you’ve come to the right place. This guide should help you get Photos app back to its glory in no time. So let’s check it out.
1. Restart the application
Restarting the app is a troubleshooting solution that usually resolves minor app issues. So if the Photos app is unresponsive or fails to load the pictures, you can start with that. Here’s how.
Step 1: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to display the Task Manager. Click More Details to expand it.
2nd step: Under Applications, select the Photos application and click the End task button.
2. Troubleshooting Windows applications
The best part about Windows is that it has a troubleshooter for just about any utility, including apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store. So if the Photos app or any other app is not working as expected, you can try running the app troubleshooter on Windows.
Step 1: Open the start menu, type troubleshoot settings, and press Enter.
2nd step: Click on Other Convenience Stores.
Step 3: Scroll down to click the Run button next to Windows Store apps.
After running the troubleshooter, open the Photos app to see if the issue is resolved.
3. Disable OneDrive content
By default, the Photos app is set to sync and view content in your OneDrive account. Loading all of these images from the cloud can slow down the application considerably. So, you can try turning off OneDrive sync in the Photos app to see if that helps. Here’s how.
Step 1: Open the Photos app. Click the menu icon at the top right to open the settings.
2nd step: Now turn off the option “Show my content only in the cloud from OneDrive”.
Now relaunch the app to see if it works fine now.
4. Update the app
If you are still having issues with the Photos app, you can try updating it to its latest version. App developers often push updates to provide bug fixes and improvements to the app. So updating your apps regularly is a good idea.
So go ahead and open the Microsoft Store to install all the pending updates for Microsoft Photos.
5. Repair or reset the app
The repair tool on Windows is quite good at fixing minor issues with the application. Moreover, you will not lose any data by doing so. Windows 11 offers this option for every app downloaded from the Microsoft Store, including the Photos app.
Read on to know how to fix Photos app on Windows 11.
Step 1: Press Windows key + I to launch the Settings app. Switch to the Apps tab and navigate to Apps & Features.
2nd step: Scroll down to the Microsoft Photos app. Use the three-dot menu next to it and select Advanced options.
Step 3: Finally, click on the Repair button to start the restore process.
If the problem persists even after you repair the app, Microsoft recommends that you reset the app. This should delete all app data and reset app settings to their default values. Once done, go ahead and see if the Photos app is working properly now.
6. Reinstall the app
If the Photos app doesn’t work even after you reset it, reinstalling the Photos app is your last option. It is possible that the application did not update correctly or that associated data is corrupted. If so, reinstalling the Photos app from scratch should fix the issue.
Since you can’t uninstall the Photos app from Settings, you’ll need to use PowerShell on Windows 11. Here’s how.
Step 1: Open the start menu, type windows powershell, and click on Run as administrator to launch it with administrator rights.
2nd step: In the console, paste the command below and press Enter.
get-appxpackage *Microsoft.Windows.Photos* | remove-appxpackage
Once deleted, open the Microsoft Store and install the Photos app.
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