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

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Microsoft has redesigned its Photos app for Windows 11, overhauling the editor and image viewer, and combining photos and videos from your PC, OneDrive, and iCloud into a single space. The new combined gallery experience aims to make it easier to manage and view your photos without jumping between apps or devices, while also improving app launch and scrolling performance in Photos.

To combine your galleries in the Windows 11 Photos app, you’ll need to 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 in the Windows 11 Photos app, you can browse by date, organize and share albums, search for specific photos via descriptions or by the people featured in them, and more. You can browse files online or offline, and Microsoft says photos will be available on your device “even when you’re not connected.”

The new Photos editor has been “rebuilt from the ground up,” according to Microsoft, launching 25 percent faster and arranging tools into four categories: Crop, Enhance, Repair, and Stylize. The Photos app now also preserves HDR quality during editing processes and allows you to edit and save HEIC and WebP images without altering their original format.

Lastly, the viewer has been given a cleaner layout and performance enhancements, 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. These new Photos experiences are rolling out today as an update for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, with Microsoft expecting a full launch for all Windows 11 users later this year.

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