Windows Photos Archives

Winsage

March 27, 2025

Windows Photos gets revamped with powerful AI features and smarter tools

Microsoft has updated its Photos app for Windows Insiders, integrating AI features, including the Copilot assistant. This update introduces a dedicated button for accessing Copilot, which offers personalized photography editing tips and image insights. Users can upload images to receive AI-generated feedback, although Copilot does not yet edit photos. The app now includes enhanced optical character recognition with a "Search in Web" option, allowing users to highlight text in images and search online. New shortcuts in File Explorer enable users to access AI editing tools easily. The "Visual Search with Bing" tool allows exploration of similar images and related products. The updated Gallery View supports smarter folder navigation, and JPEG XL support improves image quality and compression. Microsoft has also addressed bugs affecting AI features and made general performance improvements.

Winsage

March 26, 2025

Windows Photos adds fancy editing features from other Microsoft apps

Microsoft is updating its Windows Photos app with features from its Designer application in version 2025.11030.20006.0. The app will include AI-powered editing tools, such as image touch-ups, background removal, and photo upscaling, particularly for users with Copilot+ PCs that have a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). A new Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature will enable users to import documents and extract text from images, similar to Office Lens. The integration of Designer's creative elements will allow users to create designs using existing images for greeting cards and other layouts. Users will be able to access the "Create with Designer" feature by right-clicking on photos in File Explorer. Additionally, the app will automatically display photos from subfolders in Gallery mode and will support JPEG XL (JXL) file formats.

Winsage

March 25, 2025

A useless Copilot button is being tested on Windows Photos

Mark has a 30-year career in technology journalism, contributing over 3,500 articles to PCWorld in the last ten years. He has also written for PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science, and Electronic Buyers' News. He shared the Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. Recently, he donated several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs due to his office reaching capacity for tech gadgets.

Winsage

December 21, 2024

How to Transfer Photos from Your Android Phone to a Windows PC

Transferring photos from an Android device to a Windows PC can be done using several methods, compatible with both Windows 10 and Windows 11. 1. USB Cable: Connect the Android phone to the PC via USB, change the USB mode to "File Transfer," open File Explorer, navigate to the photos in the Internal Storage or DCIM folder, and drag the photos to a destination folder on the PC. 2. Windows Photos App: Connect the phone using a USB cable, open the Photos app on the PC, click on the Import button, select the Android device, choose the photos to import, and select a destination folder. 3. Google Photos: Ensure backup is enabled in the Google Photos app on the phone, access Google Photos on the PC, select the desired photos, and download them as a ZIP file. 4. Microsoft OneDrive: Install OneDrive on the phone, enable Camera Upload, and access the uploaded photos in the OneDrive folder on the PC. 5. Microsoft’s Phone Link: Install the Phone Link app on the PC, link the phone, view photos in the app, and save individual photos by right-clicking and selecting Save As.

Winsage

November 10, 2024

One of Windows 11 few truly useful AI features is getting a keyboard shortcut real soon, and it’s one you’ll actually want to know

The revamped Snipping Tool in Windows 11 introduces upgraded features such as screen recording, annotations, and shape placements. A notable addition is the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature, allowing users to extract text from screenshots. This functionality will soon have a dedicated keyboard shortcut (Win + Shift + T) for easier access. The updated Snipping Tool also includes video recording capabilities, stickers, and shapes for highlighting information. Microsoft is collaborating with AI partners to enhance Windows applications, with the OCR capabilities in the Snipping Tool being particularly beneficial for productivity.

Winsage

September 18, 2024

Launching Windows 11 apps could get up to 50% faster thanks to this new tech

Microsoft has introduced native Ahead of Time (AOT) support in the Windows App SDK, which is expected to significantly improve application launch times for Windows 11. Internal testing indicates a 50% reduction in application start times and an approximate eightfold decrease in package size. The AOT feature allows applications to be compiled to native code in advance, bypassing the usual translation process during execution, thereby reducing workload and improving startup speed. However, the effectiveness of AOT will depend on developers updating their applications to utilize this capability, and improvements will take time to manifest as adoption varies among developers.

Winsage

July 8, 2024

Microsoft enhances Notepad in Windows 11 with new Spellcheck and Autocorrect features

- Microsoft has enhanced the Notepad app in Windows 11 with spellcheck and autocorrect features, following initial tests in March 2024. - Users can now enable or disable spellcheck based on file type. - Notepad in Windows 11 also supports a character count tool, dark mode, tabbed windows, and integration with Microsoft Copilot. - The app received a character count feature and autosave functionality in December 2024.

Winsage

June 21, 2024

Microsoft Photos for Windows 11 will finally give you the zoom controls it always should have had

Microsoft is adding a zoom slider to Windows Photos, allowing users to view images anywhere from 10% to 800% of their original size.

Tech Optimizer

April 21, 2024

The Windows Photos App’s Generative Erase Is Actually Great

- Windows Photos app on Windows PCs now offers Generative Erase feature for object removal in photos - Generative Erase can seamlessly erase objects from images with AI-driven technology - Users can access this feature on Windows 10 or 11 devices with updated Windows Photos app - The tool allows for real-time object removal with adjustable brush sizes for precision - A comparison between Generative Erase and Google's Magic Eraser showed strengths of both tools - Despite differences in ease of use, both tools produce edits that appear flawless at a glance