Have you ever been caught in the dilemma that when you intend to view a photo, but fail to open it, with an error notification Windows Photo Viewer can’t open this picture? You may wonder why it takes place. On some related forums, many users also complain the similar cases.
However, there is no need to worry about it any longer, since we are going to talk about how to solve Windows Photo Viewer can’t open error in this post. Now, please go on reading the following paragraphs on ways to fix windows photo viewer can’t open this picture because the file appears to be damaged.
About Windows Photo Viewer
Windows Photo Viewer, literally, it’s a kind of photo viewer supported by Windows operating systems. It was first released and adopted in Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 7/8. While Windows 10 supports Photos, instead of Windows Photo Viewer.
Despite all that, Windows Photo Viewer is also a popular photo viewer. It supports multiple image formats, like GIF, JPEG, PNG, ICO, JPEG XR, and so on.
But in some cases, you may fail to open a photo file and receive a prompt saying Windows Photo Viewer can’t open the image. For ordinary users, it is hard to find the causes and methods to get rid of the problem.
Possible reasons for Windows Photo Viewer failing to open images:
The image file is deleted, damaged, or corrupted.
The image file is large-sized.
There’s no available memory space.
Photo Viewer is outdated.
The permission to access the image file location is incorrect.
Useful Ways To Solve: Windows Photo Viewer Can’t Open This Picture
As we’ve displayed several causes when Windows Photo Viewer fails to open images, in this section, we would like to share some practical tips to help you deal with it
Method 1: Upgrade Windows Photo Viewer
Firstly, go to check if the Windows Photo Viewer is outdated. Then, update it by following these steps if necessary.
Step 3 – On the right panel, click ‘Check for updates’.
Step 4 – Click the option Photo Viewer → then ‘Install Updates’. Wait until the process finishes.
Step 5 – Click Restart to reboot the computer.
Method 2: Check File Format
If the error prompt says the file format sfc /scannow is not supported, you may check if the file format of the image you are trying to open is supported by Windows Photo Viewer.
Step 1 – Go to File Explorer. Right-click the target image and choose Properties.
Step 2 – Under the General tab, check the Type of file to see its file format. As we introduced the supported file format by Windows Photo Viewer, you can make sure if the file format is one of them.
Step 3 – If the file format is not supported, don’t worry. You still have two options to open it: one is converting the file format to one that is supported by Windows Photo Viewer; the other is opening the image file via another program or tool.
Fix 3: Run Windows Troubleshooter
Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter is another way to solve Windows Photo Viewer failing to open error. Please follow these steps.
Step 2 – Click Update & Security on the left panel.
Step 3 – Click Troubleshoot > Find and fix other problems > Windows Store Apps > Run the troubleshooter.
Method 4: Run System File Checker Scan
Step 1 – Type the ‘cmd’ command in the Windows search box and press Enter. Choose Run as administrator.
Step 2 – Type the sfc /scannow command and press Enter.
Step 3 – The tool will scan system files and fix the corrupt automatically.
Method 5: Disable Inheritance
Step 1 – In File Explorer, right-click the target image and click Properties.
Step 2 – Click ‘Advanced’ under the ‘Security’ tab.
Step 3 – Select one of the permission entries. Click Disable inheritance.
Step 4 – Choose the first option. Click Apply to confirm.
Method 6: Turn off Encryption
If you encounter the error prompt when you are attempting to open an image from Android or iOS memory on your computer, please try to disable encryption since smartphones may set some encryption in photos or other files.
Step 1 – Right-click the target photo and choose Properties.
Step 2 – Under the General tab, click Advanced.
Step 3 – Uncheck the box before Encrypt Contents to Secure Data, then click OK.
Method 7: Restore Deleted Image
If you receive the error notification saying the target image file is deleted or corrupted, what will you do? Take it easy. Here is a piece of reliable data recovery software to help you restore it.
Step 1 – Install MiniTool Power Data Recovery on your computer and launch it.
Step 2 – Go to the main interface and choose This PC module to initiate.
Step 3 – Choose the drive (containing the target image) and click Scan.
Step 4 – When the scanning process is over, open the results to find the needed item.
Step 5 – Click Save and select a storage location. Do not choose the original drive.
After completing these steps, you can check the recovered item in the specified storage location.
Conclusion – Windows Photo Viewer Not Working
In a word, the error Windows Photo Viewer can’t open is not rare, because the file format supported by this photo viewer is limited. It’s common that you’ll meet this issue from time to time. We hope the solutions in this post can help you out.
Please share these ideas with more friends if they are useful. You are welcome to leave your thoughts or suggestions in the comment section below. Thanks!
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