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ZDNET's key takeaways
The new OneDrive Windows app can help manage your photos.
The new app is already available in Windows 10 and 11 for you to try.
An upcoming new Photos Agent uses Copilot AI to find specific photos.
I snap a lot of photos that I store not just on my phone but on my Windows PC. And with more than 15,000 photos in my library, I could use a helping hand managing them all. Now, Microsoft is providing that help with a couple of new tools heading to Windows 11.
First up is a new OneDrive Windows app. Currently, Windows 10 and 11 both offer limited options for interacting with your local photos and other files in OneDrive. You can view and manage your folders and files. You can tweak different settings through the OneDrive system tray icon. But that's about it.
The new OneDrive Windows app provides a friendlier and more flexible overview of your OneDrive storage. Though the app is designed to work with all your OneDrive files, it pays special attention to your photos. With its more unified layout, as described by Microsoft, the app lets you switch among different views, including Moments, Gallery, Albums, People, and Favorites.
If those views sound familiar, that's because OneDrive for the web uses the same menus and features. The difference is that you'll be able to use the app directly within Windows rather than having to browse to your OneDrive storage site to take advantage of the enhanced layout.
Views
The Moments view: Automatically highlights key photos taken on specific dates a year in the past. You can choose a specific date, shuffle through different moments, and view an AI-generated slideshow of memorable photos.
Automatically highlights key photos taken on specific dates a year in the past. You can choose a specific date, shuffle through different moments, and view an AI-generated slideshow of memorable photos. The Gallery view: Displays all your photos chronologically. Just scroll down to go back in time through the months and years. Here, you're able to zoom in and out and change the look and layout of the screen.
Displays all your photos chronologically. Just scroll down to go back in time through the months and years. Here, you're able to zoom in and out and change the look and layout of the screen. Albums view: Shows you all the albums you've created for your photos. From this screen, you can also create a new album and select the photos you wish to include.
Shows you all the albums you've created for your photos. From this screen, you can also create a new album and select the photos you wish to include. The People view: Lets you see photos of specific people. Select a person to see their photos or add the name of someone to search for related photos.
Lets you see photos of specific people. Select a person to see their photos or add the name of someone to search for related photos. The Favorites view: Shows photos you've tagged as favorites.
With some of the views, you can hover over a photo to view information on it, delete it, share it, or tag it as a favorite. Opening a specific photo allows you to delete it, download it, share it, add it to an album, or edit it. The photo editor offers a basic but useful set of tools through which you can crop a photo, adjust the brightness and other elements, apply a filter, or mark it up with text.
Each screen also features a handy search tool. Here, just enter a word or term based on the photos you want to find. In response, the app displays all the relevant photos in your library.
For now, the app is only able to work with your cloud-based files. But Microsoft is developing it further so that you'll be able to view and manage your local photos and other files as well.
How to access
What's especially cool is that the app is already available for you to try, both in Windows 10 and 11. To access it via File Explorer, head to C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive. You should spot a file called OneDrive.App.exe. If not, head to C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive instead. Open the OneDrive.App.exe and you'll see the new app and be able to check out all its features.
Presumably, Microsoft will better integrate the new app into Windows at some point so that you won't have to hunt through File Explorer to launch it.
Photos Agent and more
Next up is a new tool called Photos Agent that taps into Copilot. Using the built-in AI, you can find and share your favorite photos. Copilot will help you track down specific photos by name and other criteria. You're then able to create albums and share them with family and friends. The new Photos Agent will arrive soon for Microsoft 365 Copilot for Windows and the web, as well as for Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers.
Finally, a couple of new tools are rolling out soon for the OneDrive mobile app for both iOS and Android. The AI mobile editing tool lets you tweak photos on your mobile device using different styles. The Photo Stacks tool displays blurry or duplicate photos in a single stack. From there, Microsoft 365 subscribers will be able to clean up those photos based on the AI's suggestions.