Win 11 support for Windows Live Photo Gallery

Question

Win 11 support for Windows Live Photo Gallery

Dana Vance 20

I'm keeping win 10 on one desktop pc (win 11 on desktop and surface) so I can continue using windows Live Photo Gallery. Superior facial recognition and tagging to Photos in 11. If it doesn't I'll continue to use 10 til I can't.

Amnon Govrin 5 Reputation points

2025-12-06T18:56:45.6933333+00:00

I'd like to join Dana in that Windows Gallery Live is far superior to the Windows Photos app. It has much faster searches, has image keyword tagging that Photos lacks completely, facial recognition that can be trained, far better filtering capabilities and more.

Running it over the years it seems to struggle more and more - failing to update the view or opening images, thumbnails are a hit or miss...

Compatibility mode doesn't seem to help.

It is really unfortunate to have had this reset at the Windows 8 timeframe (now about 13 years ago) that didn't yield a capable experience around tagging and searching.

My request to be transferred to the right people at Microsoft would be to opensource Windows Gallery Live - let the community fix it, bring it to current days. OR - restore the ability to easily search by month and year (no, the text box at the top of Photos doesn't work nearly as well), restore the wonderful tagging capabilities that embed the keywords in the files etc. OR, add plug-in capabilities to Photos.

Answer accepted by question author

Kimberly Olaño 23,410

Hi Dana, this is Kimberly, an independent advisor. I'm glad to assist you today.

I understand your preference for Windows Live Photo Gallery (WLPG) due to its superior facial recognition and tagging features compared to the Microsoft Photos app in Windows 11. However, it's important to note that WLPG has been discontinued and is no longer officially supported by Microsoft.

If WLPG is not functioning as desired on your Windows 11 system, consider the following alternative:

Microsoft Photos App: The default photo management application in Windows 11 offers basic editing and organizational features. Recent updates have introduced AI-powered tools, such as the Copilot button and Visual Search, to enhance user experience.

If you prefer to continue using WLPG on your Windows 11 system, you might attempt to install it using compatibility settings:

Download the Offline Installer: Obtain the Windows Essentials 2012 offline installer from a trusted source.

Run in Compatibility Mode: Right-click the installer, select Properties, navigate to the Compatibility tab, and choose to run the program in compatibility mode for Windows 7 or Windows 10.

Install Selectively: During installation, choose to install only Windows Live Photo Gallery to minimize potential conflicts.

Please be aware that even with these steps, there is no guarantee that WLPG will function correctly on Windows 11.

Should you have more questions, please let me know.

Best regards,

Kimberly

Dana Vance 20 Reputation points

2025-07-30T21:08:14.55+00:00

Thank you Kimberly. Seemed to work so far.

2 additional answers

Your answer

Amnon Govrin 5 Reputation points

2025-12-06T18:56:45.6933333+00:00

I'd like to join Dana in that Windows Gallery Live is far superior to the Windows Photos app. It has much faster searches, has image keyword tagging that Photos lacks completely, facial recognition that can be trained, far better filtering capabilities and more.

Running it over the years it seems to struggle more and more - failing to update the view or opening images, thumbnails are a hit or miss...

Compatibility mode doesn't seem to help.

It is really unfortunate to have had this reset at the Windows 8 timeframe (now about 13 years ago) that didn't yield a capable experience around tagging and searching.

My request to be transferred to the right people at Microsoft would be to opensource Windows Gallery Live - let the community fix it, bring it to current days. OR - restore the ability to easily search by month and year (no, the text box at the top of Photos doesn't work nearly as well), restore the wonderful tagging capabilities that embed the keywords in the files etc. OR, add plug-in capabilities to Photos.
Dana Vance 20 Reputation points

2025-07-30T21:08:14.55+00:00

Thank you Kimberly. Seemed to work so far.

Answer 1

I understand the frustration in this thread. Windows Live Photo Gallery (WLPG) was discontinued years ago, and for many of us, the built-in Photos app still doesn't match its speed, keyword tagging, or trainable facial recognition. The accepted answer confirms Microsoft has no plans to bring WLPG back or restore its specific feature set.

If you are looking for a modern alternative built specifically for Windows 11, Live Gallery (livegalleryapp.com) is worth a look. It is designed as a direct replacement for the local, private photo management style of WLPG and Picasa, rather than another cloud service.

A few details that may be relevant to the issues raised here:

It preserves your WLPG organisation: Live Gallery reads the people, tags, and face regions already embedded in your files from Windows Live Photo Gallery, so you do not have to re-tag an old library.

Local facial recognition and tagging: Face grouping runs entirely on your PC—no cloud database and no uploads—and tags and ratings work together for fast filtering.

Read-only and zero-copy: It indexes your existing folders in place without importing or duplicating files, and it never writes back to your originals.

Windows 11 native: It is a proper desktop app with light/dark modes and Mica materials, not a web wrapper.

The public beta is currently free for libraries up to 5,000 photos, and there is a dedicated page explaining how it works as a WLPG replacement: livegalleryapp.com/windows-live-photo-gallery-replacement.

It may not cover every edge case from a 15-year-old app, but it is a focused option for anyone who wants the local tagging and face-recognition workflow back on Windows 11.

Answer 2

manohari vijeyakumaar 20

somewhat I like any suitable free app

windows live photo app thanks.

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