What is Photos Legacy?
Photos Legacy is the app for Microsoft’s Legacy Collections, Albums, and Video Editor. The legacy versions of the Photos app gather photos from your PC, phone, and other devices, and put them in one place where you can more easily find what you’re looking for.
Be empowered to do more with your photos and videos. You can view, edit, compare, create albums, and make movies of your special memories easily. You can use the filmstrip to locate and jump to another photo while staying immersed in the experience. If you want to compare photos and videos in the same app window, activate the multi-view mode by selecting multiple items from the filmstrip interface.
Additionally, in the toolbar, you can perform editing, favoriting, and sharing actions as well as having quick access to metadata and third-party photo editors. You can also hide the toolbars to enjoy your photos edge to edge and distraction-free.
To get started, type photos in the search box on the taskbar, then select the Photos Legacy app from the results.
How to get the app?
If your PC is running the latest version of Photos and you'd like to use the Photos Legacy version, do the following:
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In the search box on the taskbar, type photos and then select the Photos app from the results.
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Select Settings, and under the Photos Legacy section select Open Photos Legacy.
Note: You can run the new Photos app and Photos Legacy app on your PC at the same time.
The Photos Legacy app allows users to view their photos and videos seamlessly. It supports a wide range of file formats, including JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF for photos, and MP4, MOV, and AVI for videos.
Once the Photos Legacy app is open, you'll see a list of all the photos allowing you to scroll through and choose the one you desire. Additionally, you can utilize the sorting feature to arrange the list of photos according to your preferences for easier locating.
By default, the Photos Legacy app shows all the photos in your Pictures folder. To see photos from other locations, select the Folders tab on top, select Add a folder, then select the folder you want to add.
Tip: For a quicker way to locate the photo or video instead of manually browsing through the list, simply enter the name, date, type, or location into the search box at the top.
You can import photos and videos you have stored on a camera’s SD card, a USB drive, a phone (android or iPhone), or on another device.
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Use a USB cable to connect your device to the PC. Make sure the photos you want to import are actually on the device rather than in the cloud.
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Open the Photos Legacy app.
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Select Import > From a connected device, then follow the instructions. You can pick the items you want to import and select where to save them. Allow a few moments for detection and transfer.
Notes:
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For iPhone: If you are having trouble with your iPhone import, make sure your device is unlocked, and you’ve accepted the permissions.
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For Android and other devices: If you’re using an Android phone or other device and import isn’t working, you might need to change your phone’s USB settings from Charging over USB to Transfer Files or Transfer Photos.
You can organize your photos and videos into albums, making it easier to categorize and find specific media files.
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Open Photos app and select Albums.
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Select +New album and choose photos or videos from your collection using the checkboxes and select Create.
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You can edit the title of the album as per your need.
Editing photos and videos in the Photos Legacy app is a straightforward process. Whether you like to apply changes that affect your photo's quality, feel, and look—or you want to add information on top of your photos, the Photos Legacy app in Windows gives you all kinds of options for getting your photos and videos looking their best.
For more information, view how to edit photos and videos in Windows.
Photos Legacy app provides you the ability to connect to OneDrive and access all the media located in OneDrive from the Photos app. To enable this functionality, you must Sign In/connect to OneDrive account from the Photos app.
Upload the photos and videos from mobile to OneDrive automatically
One of the simplest ways to copy all your photos and videos to one place in the Photos Legacy app is to set up automatic upload to OneDrive of Photos from your mobile device.
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Ensure that you're connected to OneDrive in the Photos Legacy app. This allows OneDrive content to sync to the app.
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Then, on your iOS or Android device, install the OneDrive app. You can download the latest version from your phone's Android or iOS app store.
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From the OneDrive app on your iOS or Android device, turn on Camera Upload in the OneDrive app’s settings. The latest photos and videos that you take will automatically start uploading to OneDrive.
Once uploaded to OneDrive, those photos and videos will automatically appear in the Photos Legacy app on your PC if you have OneDrive connected to your Photos app. For more information, see Sync files with OneDrive in Windows.
Photos Legacy app allows you to copy, move, remove or duplicate photos and videos. Here's how:
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Copying photos and videos: If you copy a photo, video, or folder in the app, the content remains in its original location and a duplicate is added to the newly specified location.
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Moving photos and videos: If you move a photo, video, or folder in the app, the content location on your device will also be moved. For example, the item will no longer exist at its original location.
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Remove folders: If you no longer want a folder to appear in the app, you can remove it from Settings > Sources. Removing a folder from the Photos Legacy app does not delete that folder’s contents from your Windows machine—it will just no longer be viewable within the Photos app.
Important: When you try to Delete any media files, they are sent to your Window’s recycle bin from the folder they came from on your Windows device. Deleted files are also sent to your OneDrive's recycle bin from your OneDrive account.
To learn more about OneDrive delete policies, see Restore deleted files or folders in OneDrive.
If you want to share a photo or video with others, select the desired photo(s), then right click and select Share. You can choose to share via email, social media, or other apps installed on your computer.
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