Photos and images not opening on windows 11

Anonymous
2021-10-27T14:18:46+00:00

Ever since I have upgraded to windows 11 I have been having trouble opening image files (.jpg, .jpeg, .png) using the default "Photos" application.

I get the following message: "The specified procedure could not be found"

Weirdly enough, if I right click on the file and use "open with" and chose the default Photos app it works. And if open the file in paint, it opens without any problem. It is only when I double right-click on the file it gives me this error message.

Can anyone help me?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2021-12-06T21:31:21+00:00

I too had this problem. Don't know what happened but the link between the files and the program stopped working (was fine after upgrade to 11). I tried all of the suggested items below that I could make sense of but none worked for me.

I was at the last thing I could think of, uninstall the program and re-install it. Unfortunately it appears that Microsoft will not let you uninstall this app! It is grayed out!

But in trying to do this I found the fix.

  • Open Settings from the Window menu
  • Select Apps (5th one down) in the left hand menu
  • Select Apps & Features (first one) on right hand menu
  • Do a search or scroll down until you find "Microsoft Photos"
  • Click the 3 dot menu for this item and select Advanced Options
  • Scroll down until you see the option "Reset"
  • There are two options under this; buttons to "Repair" and to "Reset"

Clicking the "Repair" button did the trick for me and I can not double click a photo file and it will open in this app.

Was this answer helpful?

900+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

104 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2022-03-11T15:14:28+00:00

    It worked for me for exactly two goes and then reverted. My machine is a brand new Dell Windows 11 PC and it has been like that from the moment I tried to open it. I have now installed 'Restore Windows Photo Viewer' and it works fine. Not going to bother with the Windows 11 Photo app. In fact, I dislike Windows 11 it is is definitely not an improvement.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2022-03-11T13:53:59+00:00

    This Does NOT help. I did this and still got the error. I do system restore to back before I got the error. A few days later it comes back. Been doing this ever since I got a new laptop and upgraded it to windows 11 2 weeks ago. I never had this problem with windows 10. I have reinstalled my device to factory settings 3 times and that error is still there. I can open photo and video apps using 3rd party software just fine but using default software to open them does not work specified procedure could not be found

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2022-03-10T13:42:44+00:00

    Thank you so much - I have been trying for hours to get the damn thing to work but your trick did it. Thank you so much - I hate Windows 11

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2022-03-09T17:31:41+00:00

    Maybe it's time for Microsoft support to start getting pester messages from all of us.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments