Alternatives to ImageGlass
A fast image viewer that opens the formats Windows still argues about: WebP, JXL, HEIC, AVIF, SVG, HDR and raw. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
ImageGlass
A fast image viewer that opens the formats Windows still argues about: WebP, JXL, HEIC, AVIF, SVG, HDR and raw.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as ImageGlass.
IrfanView
A tiny Windows image viewer that has opened everything since 1996 and still starts instantly.
IrfanView is a tiny Windows-only viewer that opens instantly and batch converts folders, but it is closed source and commercial use needs a paid licence.
nomacs
A fast image viewer that opens RAW and PSD files and can show the same picture in two synchronised windows.
nomacs is fully free under GPL-3.0, opens RAW and PSD files and synchronises two windows, though its interface exposes many panels at once.
XnView MP
Views, converts and organises images in more than five hundred formats, free for personal use.
XnView MP reads more than five hundred formats and adds batch conversion and tagging, but it is closed source and heavier to start.
JPEGView
Browse images and make quick edits with a compact viewer.
JPEGView is a free GPL-2.0 compact Windows viewer with quick edits and camera RAW support, dropping the macOS and Linux builds.
Geeqie
Browse and organize images with a Unix desktop viewer.
Geeqie is a free GPL-2.0 viewer for browsing and organising image collections, but it targets Linux and other Unix-like systems only.
Oculante
A fast, simple cross-platform image viewer with basic editing tools and wide format support.
Oculante is a free open-source Rust viewer for Windows, macOS and Linux with wide format support and basic editing, though the project is in maintenance mode.
Gwenview
KDE's image viewer for browsing collections of images, with simple editing and annotation tools.
Gwenview is KDE's free open-source Linux viewer with basic edits and annotation tools, so it only suits users on Linux, ideally with KDE Plasma.
Also worth comparing
These listings name ImageGlass as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
BandiView
A Windows image viewer with HDR output, RAW support and a vertical webtoon viewing mode.
ImageGlass is open source under GPL-3.0 and also runs on macOS and Linux, opening over ninety formats including HEIC, AVIF and raw, with some features in a paid Pro edition.
feh
Lightweight, keyboard-driven image viewer for X11 that also sets wallpapers and lists image files.
ImageGlass opens over ninety formats with crop and resize tools on Windows, macOS and Linux, though its non-Windows builds are newer and some features are paid.
gThumb
An open-source image viewer and browser for the GNOME desktop on Linux.
ImageGlass handles over ninety formats including HEIC, AVIF and raw with built-in crop and resize, though its macOS and Linux builds are much newer than the Windows one.
Loupe
GNOME's default image viewer, with metadata display and quick crop, rotate and flip edits.
ImageGlass supports over ninety formats on Windows, macOS and Linux with crop, resize and a colour picker, but its Linux build is newer and some features are paid.
Lyn
A lightweight macOS image browser and viewer with non-destructive editing, geotagging and sharing.
ImageGlass is an open-source viewer opening over ninety formats including HDR and raw, with crop and resize tools, though its macOS build is newer than the Windows one.
qimgv
A fast, configurable image viewer with basic cropping and resizing and optional video playback.
ImageGlass is GPL-3.0 and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, opening over ninety formats with predictive caching, crop and resize, though some features need the paid Pro edition.
vimiv
An image viewer controlled with vim-like keybindings, with a thumbnail mode and basic editing.
ImageGlass opens over ninety formats on Windows, macOS and Linux with configurable hotkeys, but some features sit in a paid Pro edition and its non-Windows builds are newer.
Xviewer
Linux Mint's simple image viewer, built on gdk-pixbuf and designed to work across desktops.
ImageGlass supports over ninety formats including HEIC, AVIF and raw on Windows, macOS and Linux, though some features need the paid Pro edition.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
digiKam
A photo manager built for libraries of a hundred thousand images, with face recognition, batch processing and heavy metadata support.
GIMP
The long-running free image editor for photo retouching, compositing and general pixel work.
ImageMagick
A command-line image toolkit that creates, edits, converts and composes images across more than 200 formats.
Caesium Image Compressor
Batch compresses JPEG, PNG and WebP images, often cutting file size dramatically with no visible quality loss.
XnConvert
A cross-platform batch image converter that resizes, edits and converts photos in bulk.
PhotoDemon
A free, portable, open-source photo editor for Windows that runs without installation.
