Microsoft introduced the Photos app with the launch of Windows 8 by replacing Windows photo viewer. They have further improved the Photos app in Windows 11. The Photos app allows the users to not only view the photos but create an album, organize their photos and also create videos. This also gives good features like adding 3D effects and save in OneDrive option so that one can access their albums from anywhere in the world. But recently many windows users have reported that all of a sudden the photos app on the system stops working properly and they are not able to use the app. Therefore, we have figured out a few reasons why this app is not working. In this post, we are going to guide you with few fixes that can really make the photos app work properly again in Windows 11.
Fix 1 : Repair / Reset the Photos app in Windows 11
This is one of the foremost solutions any user adapts whenever any app stops working. Please follow these simple steps given below.
Step 1: Press Windows + I keys together on your keyboard to open Settings app.
Step 2: Click on Apps on the left pan of the Settings window.
Step 3: Then, Select Apps & features from the list on the right side of the window as shown below.
Step 4: In the Apps & features page, Type photos in the search bar under App list section at the middle of the page.
Step 5: Then, Click on show more options (three vertical dots) on the Microsoft Photos app and select Advanced options from the list as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 6: Scroll down the Photos Advanced options page and click either Repair or Reset button and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the task.
NOTE:- Repair will not erase the app data whereas the Reset will completely clear the data from the app.
Step 7: Now try and open the Photos app on your system and check if the problem still exits.
Hope this fixed your issue.
Fix 2 : Uninstall and Reinstall Photos app Using PowerShell
Step 1: Press Windows + R keys together to open Run dialog box.
Step 2: Then, Type powershell in the run box and press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER keys together to open PowerShell as admin.
Step 3: Click Yes on the UAC prompt to continue.
Step 4: Type the following command given below and press Enter key to remove / uninstall the Photos app from the system
get-appxpackage *Microsoft.Windows.Photos* | remove-appxpackage
Step 5: Once done, close the PowerShell window.
Step 6: Open Microsoft store app on your system by pressing Windows key and typing microsoft store.
Step 7: Then, hit the Enter key.
Step 8: Type microsoft photos in the search bar of Microsoft Store app.
Step 9: Then, Select Microsoft Photos app from the search results as shown below.
Step 10: Then, Click Get button in the Microsoft Photos app page as shown.
Step 11: Wait till it finishes installing on your system.
Step 12: Now check if the Photos app works properly or not.
Hope this issue has resolved.
Fix 3 : Provide All Permissions to Program Files & Windows folders on your system
Step 1: Press Windows + E keys together to open File explorer.
Step 2: Then, go to C: drive and right click on Program Files folder.
Step 3: Select Properties from the context menu as shown below.
Step 4: Go to Security tab and Select ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES under Group or user names section.
Step 5: Then, make sure all the permissions (Read & execute, List Folder Contents and Read) are given.
NOTE:- If permissions are not given, click Edit button and give all the three permissions.
Step 6: Then, Click Apply and OK to close the properties window.
Step 7: Navigate to C: drive and do the same to the Windows folder as well.
Step 8: Now open Photos app and check if it is working fine.
That’s it guys.
Hope this was helpful to you.
Please let us know which fix worked for you in the comments section below.
Thank you for reading!