Windows 10: Photos app in Windows 10 no longer opens maximized

Starting a week or two ago: when I double-click on a JPEG file in File Explorer, instead of opening in a maximized window for viewing it opens in a small resizable one. Have not found a way to default to Maximized as it used to be; is there one?

:)

 

The Photos app and its window-maximization weirdness

When opening most applications in Windows, Windows is supposed to figure out whether the application's window is to start maximized, or not maximized (I don't know if there is a proper word for "not-maximized". Floating, maybe?). Usually, if an application gets closed while it's window is maximized, then that same application's window will be maximized the next time it gets started up. This is also the case when opening more than one instance of an application: if an app's window is maximized, and you open another instance of that same app (so that they are both running at the same time), then the new instance's window will also be maximized. Microsoft recently pushed the latest version (2023.11090.12017.0) of the Photos app upon my machine, and this new version apparently deviates from the normal maximized-or-not-maximized paradigm. If I open an image in Photos, maximize the window (if it is not alreadly), close Photos, and then open it again, the window will be maximized, as it should be. However, if at this point I open another image (so that there are now two images opened), the second image will not be maximized. It will be floating. Any subsequent images that I open will also be floating. This is very frustrating for me because I open lots of images simultaneously, and I now have to click maximize on each one. Does anyone else experience this? Is this a bug, or a feature?

 

Photos are opening with Paint instead of Photos app

Hello,

It's likely that your default application for opening photos is Paint. To change your default program in Windows 10 from
Paint to the Photo app, we suggest that you perform the following steps:

• On the Start menu, select Settings.
  
• Go to System, then go to Default apps.
  
• Select Photos or any app that you like to be the default under
  Photo viewer.

Update us if the steps above helped you in resolving your concern.

 

Windows 10 Photo app no longer works

Hi David,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand the inconvenience you are facing currently. Let me help you in resolving the issue.

I would appreciate if you can provide us the following information to help us understand the issue better.

• Since when are you facing this issue?
• Did you make any changes in prior to this issue?
• Do you get any error message or error code on the screen?

I would suggest you to follow the below methods.

Method 1: Try running windows app troubleshooter & check if the issue persists.

Fix problems with apps from Microsoft Store - Microsoft Support

Method 2: Follow the below steps to update apps from store.

• Open Windows store.
• Click on the sign in icon next to the search option.
• Select the option download & update.
• Click on the check for the updates.

Method 3: I would recommend you to uninstall the Photo app using Windows PowerShell command and reinstall using the Windows store. Follow the below steps.

• Open the Start menu, type Windows PowerShell in the search bar.
  
• Right click on the Windows PowerShell and select Run as administrator.
  
• Enter the below command to uninstall the Photo app.
  
  • get-appxpackage *Microsoft.Windows.Photos* | remove-appxpackage
    

After performing the above steps, install the Photo app from the Windows store.

Reference: Refer to the following Microsoft article on
Photos app for Windows help.

Note: The steps for Windows 8.1 applies to Windows 10.

Hope the information helps. Keep us posted on Windows related queries and we will be happy to assist you further.