Apps Enable or Disable Auto Image Categorization in Photos app on Windows 11

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This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off AI powered auto image categorization in the Photos app for your account on Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs.

The Microsoft Photos app included in Windows is a rich media experience that empowers you to do more with your photos and videos. View, organize, and share photos from your PC, OneDrive, iCloud Photos and other devices all from one gallery.

Starting with Microsoft Photos app version 2025.11090.25001.0 rolling out on Windows 11 across all Insider channels, Microsoft brings a new Auto-Categorization feature on Copilot+ PCs that leverages AI to organize photos into categories for easier recall.

Auto-Categorization automatically detects and organizes your photo collection into meaningful categories like screenshots, receipts, identity documents, and notes using AI. It’s designed to save time, reduce clutter, and make your photo library easier to navigate.

How Auto-Categorization works:
  • Smart sorting into categories: Photos are automatically grouped into predefined folders based on visual content, such as handwritten notes, printed documents, or receipts.
  • Language-agnostic recognition: The AI model can identify document types regardless of the language in the image. For example, a Hungarian passport will still be categorized as “Passport,” even if the text isn’t in English.
  • Explore your organized photo library with Auto-Categorization in Photos.
  • Use the Left Nav or Search bar to find categorized images instantly.
  • Change categories manually or provide feedback to improve accuracy.

Auto-Categorization is available on Copilot+ PCs and categories are limited to four categories (screenshots, receipts, identity documents, and notes).


Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.7309 (24H2) and build 26200.7309 (25H2), you can now find your AI-categorized photos from the Microsoft Photos app using Windows Search with semantic search.

Reference:
blogs.windows.com

AI-powered Auto-Categorization now available in Microsoft Photos

Hello Windows Insiders, We’re excited to announce an update to the Microsoft Photos app, now rolling out on Windows 11 across all Insider channels. This release brings a powerful new feature on Copilot+ PCs that leverages AI to organize photos int
blogs.windows.com blogs.windows.com


EXAMPLE: Photos app categorizing images of Receipts using the AI powered Auto-categorization feature

Photos-Auto-Categorization.webp




Here's How:

1 Open the Photos app.

2 Click/tap on the Settings (gear) icon at the top. (see screenshot below)

Photos_app_image_categorization-1.webp

3 Under Personalization, turn on or off (default) Allow image categorization for what you want. (see screenshot below)

Photos_app_image_categorization-2.webp

4 If you turned off Allow image categorization, click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

Photos_app_image_categorization-3.webp


That's it,
Shawn Brink
 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
How can I turn this feature off from a batch file, Regedit command or PowerShell script?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10 pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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    several (Dell, HP, custom build, Lenovo, ASUS, etc.)
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    I have many computers, mostly Dell and HP.
@Brink
Im interrested as well to this question (for automation purpose).
What is the registry value and type in the settings.dat file for this settings ?

I think it would be very valuable for ElevenForum to have this information in all tutorials related to UWP apps.
"Valuable", I don't know, your are already the number one, but the info would be nice.
These informations are not available online. Except maybe for Notepad if you really search.
Except also for Snipping Tools & Photos with my script :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    .
agadiffe said:
@Brink
Im interrested as well to this question (for automation purpose).
What is the registry value and type in the settings.dat file for this settings ?

I think it would be very valuable for ElevenForum to have this information in all tutorials related to UWP apps.
"Valuable", I don't know, your are already the number one, but the info would be nice.
These informations are not available online. Except maybe for Notepad if you really search.
Except also for Snipping Tools & Photos with my script :)
Click to expand...

Hello, :alien:

Sorry, but apps from the Microsoft Store don't use the registry for their settings.

The settings.dat file for them is usually garbled (encrypted), and cannot be easily edited.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Brink said:
Sorry, but apps from the Microsoft Store don't use the registry for their settings.
Click to expand...
They do. But they are loaded and unloaded on the fly.
Maybye not all apps, but I think yes.

Brink said:
The settings.dat file for them is usually garbled (encrypted), and cannot be easily edited.
Click to expand...
They are not.
You can easily load them via regedit.exe > File > load Hive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    .
agadiffe said:
They do. But they are loaded and unloaded on the fly.
Maybye not all apps, but I think yes.


They are not.
You can easily load them via regedit.exe > File > load Hive.
Click to expand...

True, but not many are willing to go through all that other than for deployment purposes.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Brink said:
other than for deployment purposes.
Click to expand...
indeed.

And so.
As I have not a Copilot+ PC.
If you have some time, or someone else ?
Could you provide the registry name and type for this settings, please ? :-)
No need to include them everywhere, I understand.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    .
agadiffe said:
indeed.

And so.
As I have not a copilot+ PC.
If you have some time, or someone else ?
Could you provide the registry name and type for this settings, please ? :-)
No need to include them everywhere, I understood.
Click to expand...

I'm not aware of any registry locations for them. Only the settings.dat file. :(
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Yes.
For Photos, you can open "regedit.exe" and load:
"C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Settings\settings.dat"

for example, in HKEY_USERS\photos_settings.
You can graphically navigate to HKEY_USERS\photos_settings\Local State\
and see all the settings for the Photos app.

for example, for Photos, I have all the settings there:
Set-WindowsPhotosSetting

but as I said I don't have a Copilot+ PC and can't figure out the setting for this tutorial.
If you can provide the information it would be greatly appreciated. :)

edit: or I can wait. I'm not at all in hurry for this setting ^^
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    .
agadiffe said:
Yes.
For Photos, you can open "regedit.exe" and load:
"C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Settings\settings.dat"

for example, in HKEY_USERS\photos_settings.
You can graphically navigate to HKEY_USERS\photos_settings\Local State\
and see all the settings for the Photos app.

for example, for Photos, I have all the settings there:
Set-WindowsPhotosSetting

but as I said I don't have a Copilot+ PC and can't figure out the setting for this tutorial.
If you can provide the information it would be greatly appreciated. :)

edit: or I can wait. I'm not at all in hurry for this setting ^^
Click to expand...

Not sure if this will help, but here's the exported REG for this setting from loading it in regedit.exe.

Turned on:

Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\Photos_settings\LocalState]
"ImageCategorizationConsentDismissed"=hex(5f5e10c):74,00,72,00,75,00,65,00,00,\
  00,4c,a0,89,0c,f7,2e,dc,01
"ImageCategorizationConsent"=hex(5f5e10c):74,00,72,00,75,00,65,00,00,00,79,e7,\
  fe,c5,c4,51,dc,01

Turned off:

Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\Photos_settings\LocalState] 
"ImageCategorizationConsentDismissed"=hex(5f5e10c):74,00,72,00,75,00,65,00,00,\
  00,4c,a0,89,0c,f7,2e,dc,01
"ImageCategorizationConsent"=hex(5f5e10c):66,00,61,00,6c,00,73,00,65,00,00,00,\
  6c,c4,53,ae,c5,51,dc,01
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
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