Fly Photos is one of the fastest photo viewers for Windows, designed as a modern replacement for the now-discontinued Google Picasa Photo Viewer.
Built with WinUI 3, WinRT, and Win2D, it delivers smooth animations, instant startup, and an efficient viewing experience.
Watch Fly Photos in action:
- Purchasing Fly Photos from the Microsoft Store is the best way to support the ongoing development of the project.
- You can also support via a donation at
. After donating, please email ryftools@outlook.com, and I will send you a Store promo code
| Microsoft Store | GitHub MSI | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 🪙 Paid | 🆓 Free |
| Updates | ✅ Seamless auto-updates | ❌ User-managed |
| Security | ✅ Signed and certified by Microsoft | ❌ Not signed |
- Option 1 : Install from Microsoft Store
- Option 2 : Download and install MSI from Github Releases Page
Once installed, you can open photos in three ways:
Right-click an image, select "Open with", and choose Fly Photos from the list.
Launch Fly Photos directly from the Start menu. You can then use the file picker to browse and select a folder or image to view.
To open images with Fly Photos automatically when you double-click them:
- Right-click an image file (e.g., a
.jpg). - Select "Open With" and "Choose Another App" and select FlyPhotos from the list and click Always.
- Repeat this for other file types (PNG, WEBP, etc.) as needed.
-
Fast and lightweight
- Instant startup with Native AOT build.
- In-memory and disk caching for smooth navigation even in folders with thousands of photos.
- Press and hold
←/→after opening a folder with thousands of photos to get a feel of Fly's performance. - Tight Explorer integration. Follows Explorer sort order and filtering (Recent, Search, etc.).
-
Image format support
- All formats supported by Windows Imaging Component (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, RAW, etc.).
- Extended support for PSD (with transparency), HEIC/HEIF, SVG, GIF, APNG (Animated PNG), animated WebP, and AVIF.
-
Viewing experience
- Transparent background like in Picasa Photo Viewer.
- Modern Windows themes like Mica, Acrylic, and Frozen Glass (a frosted blur variant).
- Smooth pan, zoom, and rotation.
- Thumbnail strip with adjustable size and click-to-jump navigation.
- Multi-monitor support (remembers last used monitor).
-
Controls
- Versatile Inputs: Zoom, pan, and rotate using Touchpad gestures, Mouse, or Keyboard.
- Customizable: Configurable mouse wheel behavior (Zoom vs. Navigate).
- Touch Friendly: Native support for pinch-to-zoom and two-finger swipe navigation.
| Category | Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| 🖐 Touchpad | Navigate Photos | Two-finger Swipe Left / Right |
| Zoom or Navigate | Two-finger Swipe Up / Down (based on setting) | |
| Zoom In / Out | Pinch Open / Close | |
| 🖱 Mouse | Pan Photo | Left Click + Drag |
| Context Menu | Right Click | |
| Zoom In | Right Click + Hold | |
| Zoom / Navigate | Wheel Scroll (based on setting) | |
| Always Zoom | Ctrl + Wheel | |
| Always Navigate | Alt + Wheel | |
| Navigate Photos | Tilt Wheel Left / Right | |
| Full Screen | Middle Click | |
| Navigate Photos | Mouse Back / Forward Buttons | |
| Navigate Photos | Wheel on Thumbnail Strip | |
| Navigate Photos | Wheel on On-screen Left / Right Button | |
| Rotate Photo | Wheel on On-screen Rotate Button | |
| ⌨️ Keyboard | Next / Previous Photo | ← / → |
| Fly-through Mode | Hold ← / → | |
| Zoom In / Out | ↑ / ↓ or Ctrl + + / − | |
| Cycle Zoom Presets (Fit / 100% / 400%) | Page Up / Page Down | |
| Zoom to Actual Size | A | |
| Fit to Window | F | |
| Pan Photo | Ctrl + Arrow Keys | |
| Navigate Pages (multi-page TIFF) | Alt + ← / → | |
| Jump to First Photo | Home | |
| Jump to Last Photo | End | |
| Full Screen | F11 | |
| Show File Properties (General) | Alt + Enter | |
| Show File Properties (Details) | D | |
| Show File in Windows Explorer | W | |
| Share File | S | |
| Show External Apps Panel | E | |
| Open in External App 1–4 | Ctrl + 1–4 | |
| Copy to Clipboard | Ctrl + C | |
| Delete Photo | Del | |
| Close Settings / Exit App | Esc |
- SVG rendering limited to 2000px on the longest side.
- HDR support yet to be implemented.
- Very large images (e.g. >16384px) may not display on all hardware due to DirectX texture size limits.
- Issues and feature requests: GitHub Issues
- Feedback: ryftools@outlook.com
Older 1.x versions were based on WPF and remain available only for Windows 7/8, but are no longer updated.