Microsoft’s new Photos app combines your PC, OneDrive, and iCloud galleries

Key points

• Microsoft redesigned the Windows 11 Photos app to combine PC, OneDrive, and iCloud galleries.
• The new editor launches 25 percent faster and groups tools into Crop, Enhance, Repair, and Stylize.
• The update rolls out today to Windows Insiders, with a full launch expected later this year.

Microsoft has redesigned its Photos app for Windows 11, overhauling the editor and image viewer and combining photos and videos from a PC, OneDrive, and iCloud into one space. The company said the combined gallery aims to make managing and viewing photos easier without switching between apps or devices, while also improving app launch and scrolling performance.

To combine galleries, users must turn on Camera Backup in the OneDrive mobile app on iOS or Android and follow Apple's guide to set up iCloud for Windows. Once combined, users can browse by date, organize and share albums, and search for photos by descriptions or the people in them.

Editor and viewer changes

Microsoft said the new Photos editor was "rebuilt from the ground up," launching 25 percent faster and arranging tools into four categories: Crop, Enhance, Repair, and Stylize. The app now preserves HDR quality during editing and lets users edit and save HEIC and WebP images without changing their original format.

The viewer has a cleaner layout and performance improvements, launching 15 percent faster and opening HEIC images up to 30 percent faster, according to Microsoft's announcement. Media type support has also expanded to SVG files.

even when you’re not connected

— Microsoft

Availability

The new Photos experiences are rolling out today as an update for Windows Insiders on Windows 11. Microsoft expects a full launch for all Windows 11 users later this year.