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Use the Photos application in Windows 11 to store, organize, and edit photos.

Quick reference

Organize and Edit Photos

Learn how to organize and edit photos using the Photos app in Windows 11. 

When to use

If we take photos and want to store them on our PC, it's a good idea to organize them into albums in Windows 11. We can also make edits to enhance the quality of the photos. 

Instructions

Open the Photos App

  • Click the Start button or press the Win key. 
  • Scroll down to 'P' or type Photos in the search bar. 

The Photos App Interface

The menu that runs horizontally across the top of the Photos app is where we go to find our photos. We can organize photos into Collections, Albums, By People, or Folders. We have a search bar in the middle to search for specific folders and files. We also have access to a Video Editor where we can make minor adjustments to any videos we have uploaded from our camera or phone. 

The icons on the right-hand side of the horizontal menu allow us to import photos, import backups, create new projects, select items and modify our settings. 

Why Do I See Photos?

If this is the first time we are using the Photos app we might be surprised to see our photos already imported. This is because the photos app is set to automatically import photos stored in the folder we currently have specified in settings. If we have this set to Pictures, any image or video we copy or move to the Picture folder in File Explorer will automatically be uploaded to the Photos app. 

  • Click the three dots in the top right-hand corner. 
  • Click Settings. 

In the Sources section, we can see the folder where files are automatically imported from. We can add new locations in here, have multiple locations, or remove locations. 

Appearance

In Windows 11, we can choose if we want an app to show in light or dark mode. The default is light mode but we can change this to dark if required.  

  • Click the three dots in the top right-hand corner. 
  • Click Settings. 
  • Scroll down to appearance. 
  • In the Mode section, choose Dark. 

Import Photos from a Device

We can import photos easily from our camera or phone. 

  • Connect the camera or phone to the PC. 
  • In the top right-hand corner, click the Import button. 
  • Choose From connected device. 

Windows 11 will scan the system looking for connected devices. If it finds one, we can choose the memory card or folder on the device to import into the Photos app. If we have already imported photos and they exist in the Photos app, Windows 11 will show them as already selected to prevent importing duplicates. We can import videos in the same way. 

View Photos

Once the photos have been imported we can view them in the Photos app. 

  • Click on Collection. 

Collection shows us all photos. We can view them by Date Taken or Most Recent. We can view the thumbnails in Small, Medium, or Large. 

  • Click once on any photo to open it in the viewer. 

In the photo viewer, we have icons running across the top. We can use these to zoom in and out of the photos, make edits, mark the photo as a favorite, delete the photo, and view in full screen. We can cycle through our photos using the arrows on either side. 

Create Photo Albums

We can organize our photos into albums. Albums are a bit like a folder and it helps us group our photos together making them easier to find. 

  • Click Albums in the top menu. 

Windows 11 will create some albums automatically or we can create our own. 

  • Click New Album. 
  • Select the photos to add to the album. 
  • Click the Create button. 
  • Name the album. 
  • Click the tick. 
  • Click the Back button to view all albums. 

Edit Photos

Let's be clear. The Photos app is not Photoshop. We can't use it to make complex edits but we can change some basic things to enhance the quality of our photos. 

  • Select a photo to edit. 
  • Push the mouse to the top of the screen to see a horizontal menu. 
  • Click the Edit button or press CTRL+E. 

We can make minor edits to our photo from here. 

Choose Crop to resize the image and remove empty space. Click Adjustment to modify the exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, highlights, and shadows. Choose a Filter from the gallery to change the overall look and feel of the image. Click Mark-up to make ink annotations on the photo. 

Once we have finished editing, we need to save the photo. We can choose to Save a copy which means the original, un-edited file will be preserved and our changes will be saved in a new copy or we can simply click Save to overwrite the original with our changes.

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  • 00:03 With the advances made in phones over the last few years,
  • 00:08 everybody now has access to a high quality camera.
  • 00:12 Everybody is taking pictures these days to post on social media sites like Facebook
  • 00:16 and Instagram.
  • 00:17 Now when we have lots and lots of pictures on our phone,
  • 00:20 we need to be able to have a way of managing them.
  • 00:23 And the good news is, in Windows 11, it comes pre-installed with a photo app,
  • 00:29 which allows us to import photos from our camera or our phone, make edits,
  • 00:34 and also manage and organize them into folders.
  • 00:38 So that's what we're going to explore in this lesson.
  • 00:40 And we're going to take a quick look at the Photos app.
  • 00:42 I'm going to show you how you can import photos into the app, and
  • 00:46 also how you can make basic edits and organize them into albums.
  • 00:49 So let's fire it up.
  • 00:51 Now the Photos app is what we call a Windows 11 native application,
  • 00:55 meaning that it's one that comes pre-installed with software.
  • 00:59 It's not one that we've physically downloaded and installed ourselves.
  • 01:03 As you might expect, if we press the Windows logo key,
  • 01:06 we can find our Photos app in here.
  • 01:09 Now once again, it might be that you have it somewhere in this pinned area,
  • 01:12 you can see I've got mine in the middle there.
  • 01:15 If you can't find it, we can go to All apps, or you can use your search bar.
  • 01:19 So I'm just going to click to launch the Photos app.
  • 01:22 Now the interface that we have here is pretty straightforward.
  • 01:26 The first thing you'll notice is that I have mine set to show in dark mode.
  • 01:30 Now remember, in Windows 11, we can customize the mode that we're using for
  • 01:34 different applications.
  • 01:35 So I have mine set to dark, but if we want to change that,
  • 01:39 we can click on the three dots, go to Settings.
  • 01:42 And if we scroll down to where we have Appearance,
  • 01:45 we can switch that over to Light.
  • 01:47 Now, at the top here, we have a small menu bar.
  • 01:49 Currently, we're clicked on the Collection tab.
  • 01:53 A collection is really where you go to find all of your photos, and
  • 01:57 these photos will be organized depending on how you're viewing them.
  • 02:02 So currently, mine are organized by date taken.
  • 02:05 Now, it's worth noting that I don't actually have any photos in the Photos app
  • 02:10 as yet, but you'll see this come into play when we import some in.
  • 02:13 The next tab across is the Albums tab, so
  • 02:16 this is where we can come to organize our photos.
  • 02:18 We can create new albums, we can move photos into those albums, which makes them
  • 02:23 organized, and also makes it easier for us to find what we're looking for.
  • 02:27 We have a People tab at the top.
  • 02:29 So this uses facial grouping technology.
  • 02:32 And if you've got an iPhone like I have,
  • 02:34 you've probably seen this come into play on your phone.
  • 02:36 Windows 11 will start to recognize certain people in your photos, and
  • 02:40 it will group the photos by those people.
  • 02:43 We then have a Folders tab, and
  • 02:45 this basically shows us all of the folders where we import photos in from.
  • 02:50 And I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in just a moment.
  • 02:54 We also have a video editor up here as well.
  • 02:56 So if you import a video file, you can make minor changes,
  • 03:00 minor edits to your video from here as well.
  • 03:03 So it's a pretty comprehensive little app.
  • 03:07 Also notice, in the top bar, we have a Search, so we can search for
  • 03:10 specific photos.
  • 03:12 And then over on the right hand side, we have a few other options.
  • 03:15 Now, the one that we're going to start with is the Import Photos option.
  • 03:19 And that is this little button just here.
  • 03:22 So if we click this, we can choose to import
  • 03:24 photos from a folder that we have on our PC, or from a connected device.
  • 03:28 So that might be your camera, or maybe your phone,
  • 03:31 and you can connect up your device using a physical cable.
  • 03:35 Now, another way that photos get imported into the app is automatically.
  • 03:40 What we can do is we can tell the Photos app which folder we
  • 03:44 always store our photos in on our PC, and
  • 03:46 it will automatically import anything that we move into that folder.
  • 03:51 So let me show you an example of that.
  • 03:54 Now, I'm going to open up File Explorer, and
  • 03:56 I'm going to go down to my Pictures folder on my PC.
  • 03:59 Now notice here I have a folder called Turkey.
  • 04:03 And if I double-click on this folder, I have a few different pictures in here.
  • 04:07 So I could say to the Photos app always import photos that are in
  • 04:12 this particular album, so This PC > Pictures > Turkey.
  • 04:17 And anytime I add new photos to this folder,
  • 04:19 they're automatically going to import.
  • 04:22 Now the way that we set this up is to go to the three dots again and into Settings.
  • 04:27 And right at the top here, this is where we have the folders listed,
  • 04:31 which will be automatically imported.
  • 04:34 So you can see here it's going to automatically import anything that I save
  • 04:38 into OneDrive/Pictures folder.
  • 04:41 But of course, I can add more folders from here.
  • 04:44 So if I click on Add Folder, I want to import from Pictures and Turkey.
  • 04:52 I'm going to say add this folder to Pictures.
  • 04:55 And I can go through adding more photos.
  • 04:57 So if I store my photos in multiple different locations,
  • 05:01 I could add them all in here so they automatically import from those folders.
  • 05:05 Now, I currently don't have any pictures stored in OneDrive pictures,
  • 05:10 hence why there was nothing in my photos album.
  • 05:13 So I'm actually going to remove that, let's say remove folder, so
  • 05:17 it just imports from this one.
  • 05:18 So now when I click back, I should find that all of those photos that I have
  • 05:23 stored in that folder have now been automatically imported.
  • 05:27 And you can see here that I'm viewing them by date taken, and
  • 05:31 these are all taken in July 2022.
  • 05:33 So setting up those folders is a really quick way of importing multiple photos.
  • 05:39 You'll also find that option on the Folders tab that we were looking at.
  • 05:43 You can see now I can add a folder from here as well,
  • 05:45 as opposed to going through Settings.
  • 05:47 Now, if we go back to Collection, this is going to show me all photos that I have,
  • 05:51 regardless of if I've stored them in different albums.
  • 05:55 If I want to view a photo, I can simply double-click on it to open it.
  • 05:59 And this is where I can also come if I need to make any edits or any changes.
  • 06:03 So running across the top here, you can see we have an Edit Image button.
  • 06:07 And when I click on this,
  • 06:08 it's going to take me into an image editor where I can make some minor changes.
  • 06:12 Now bear in mind, this is definitely not Photoshop.
  • 06:15 We can't do anything too crazy, but we can make minor adjustments.
  • 06:19 So we can crop the image by dragging the handles in.
  • 06:22 We can make some color adjustments so
  • 06:24 we can change the brightness of the photo, the exposure, the contrast.
  • 06:29 We can even saturate the color a little bit more.
  • 06:32 So lots of things that we can do in here.
  • 06:35 We have a Filters tab, so we can apply one of these inbuilt filters.
  • 06:39 I think most of us are used to working with filters in other
  • 06:42 applications like Instagram.
  • 06:44 And we also have a Mark up tab if we want to make any annotations.
  • 06:48 Now once we make changes to this photo, we have two options.
  • 06:52 We can choose to simply save, or we can save as a copy.
  • 06:56 Now if we just save,
  • 06:58 any changes we've made to this photo will overwrite the original.
  • 07:02 Whereas if we save as a copy, it's going to make a copy of the photo, so
  • 07:06 we have the edited photo and also the original.
  • 07:09 So I'm going to say save as copy,
  • 07:11 and I'm just going to add on the end here that this is the edit.
  • 07:16 Let's click on Save, and then I can go back to my main gallery.
  • 07:20 So now I can see my edited version and the original in here as well.
  • 07:25 Now we have different ways that we can view our photos.
  • 07:27 Currently I'm viewing them in medium view, but we have a larger view and
  • 07:31 also a smaller view as well, so adjust that according to your preferences.
  • 07:36 Now something else you're probably going to want to do is organize
  • 07:39 your photos into different albums.
  • 07:41 So this is very straightforward.
  • 07:42 We jump up to the Albums tab, and we can simply create a new album.
  • 07:48 We can then select the photos that we want to add to that album.
  • 07:51 So I'm going to select everything, and I'm also going to select this one, and
  • 07:55 I'm going to click the Create button in the top corner.
  • 07:59 So now I can give my album a name.
  • 08:01 Let's click on the pencil icon, and this is Turkey, let's say, 2022.
  • 08:07 And if I go back, I now have that album just there.
  • 08:11 And of course, when I click into this album and
  • 08:14 right click on any of the photos, I have a contextual menu,
  • 08:17 which means I can do various other things with this particular photo.
  • 08:22 I can share it, I can copy it, I can print it.
  • 08:25 I can remove it from the album or set it as the cover photo.
  • 08:29 I can change the date, or I can even open it in File Explorer.
  • 08:34 So that is a quick run through of the Photos app.

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