Open WEBP formatted files in PHOTOS

Good morning all,

I would like WEBP format files to be opened by PHOTOS , just as is the case with jpg / png / bmp / et cetera

Is this possible ?

My operation system is:
Edition Windows 11 Home , 64 bit
Version 21H2
OS build 22000.527

Thanks

Lee

My Win10 Pro and Win11 Pro don't show the Photos app as a choice for that format. Windows Photo Viewer and Paint can open them.

Thanks Berton. That is too bad, any idea how to make photo viewer open WEBP ?

Haven't found one yet.

Hey Burton. But higher up you stated photo viewer can open webp ?!?

Windows Photo Viewer can open the .webp files on my Win10 and Win11. If you don't have it go here and I use Option 2:
It says for Win10 but worked in my Win11, I'm on a different computer now and just did it.

That worked good. Thank you very much Berton.

Now lets hope some one will drop by and tell use how to make this happen in Windows Photos.

Also, is it possible to have webp images show their thumbnail in file explorer ?

XnView, irfanView, Gimp all open them.

GeneralLee01 said:

Also, is it possible to have webp images show their thumbnail in file explorer ?

Click to expand...

Works in my Win11 Pro with the Preview pane open and also with .webp files on a NAS drive as well as on local drive. I have Windows Photo Viewer set as Default.

I have Win11 Home. But one would think that would also show webp thumbnails. Perhaps something else is wrong with my system or settings.

I have a feeling the preview function may be associated with having an applet like Windows Photo Viewer or something similar. Maybe something free listed here would work, doesn't need to be a full editor program:

I have found that some of these "new" image formats are in reality just a renaming of a more common format -

Make a copy of one of the files and try changing the webp extension to jpg or png - It may just become usable with the thumbnail also then working

Thanks for the tip Barman. But constantly renaming files is not something I want to do.

Thanks Burton, photo viewer is installed on my system, but no thumbnails ?

So this is where my system stands at the moment:

-1- Windows Photo app will not open webp images. Are opened in Windows Photo Viewer. It works, but is not what I prefer, because lack of certain functionality in Windows Photo Viewer
-2- File explorer does not show any thumbnails.

I am surprised that a standard Win11 system has such a hard time supporting the webp format.

GeneralLee01 said:

Thanks Burton, photo viewer is installed on my system, but no thumbnails ?

So this is where my system stands at the moment:

-1- Windows Photo app will not open webp images. Are opened in Windows Photo Viewer. It works, but is not what I prefer, because lack of certain functionality in Windows Photo Viewer
-2- File explorer does not show any thumbnails.

I am surprised that a standard Win11 system has such a hard time supporting the webp format.

Click to expand...

Windows Photos is different from Windows Photo Viewer and I don't care for Photos mainly because when opening a file in it first time used in the day or after a restart it takes time to get it open. I get the sense it is enumerating all the image files on attached drives whether USB, internal or NAS. It does open faster if closed then reopened.

I don't have any issue with the Preview pane being open in File Explorer [or the earlier Windows Explorer] except for the screen real estate being used but as I said previously I have Windows Photo Viewer set as Default for viewing image files. Also have not had any issue with both programs/apps being available at the same time. Even Total Commander [third-party file manager] can show preview/thumbnails.

Great you have it all the way you like.

I agree that PHOTO app has issues, besides the webp issue one can not browse through freshly saved images by clicking on the arrow for next/previous.

Hopefully one of these days someone will be able to figure out what is wrong with my system , or improve Win11, so webp images can be handled as easy and straight forward as for instance jpg.

Just did a big search and read web articles for a few hours trying to find a solution (system has Windows 11 PHOTOS and Photoviewer) but no webp thumbnails in file explorer. I found many people with the same questions. But no solution. So it seems that it is not possible without third party software.

Windows 11 Photos app and Windows Photo Viewer are two different pieces of software, Photos does not support webp Photo Viewer Does
Windows Photo viewer is included in windows 11 but is not active by default

If you want to fix your issue you have to switch to Windows Photo Viewer as your default app

Step By Step instructions here ...

GeneralLee01 said:

I have Win11 Home. But one would think that would also show webp thumbnails. Perhaps something else is wrong with my system or settings.

Click to expand...

You may need to install Webp Image Extensions from the Store for thumbnail support.
Also, if it's of any use, Edge (and probably most other browsers) can open webp images.