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Microsoft Photos vs Preview

Professional comparison and analysis to help you choose the right software solution for your needs.

Microsoft Photos icon
Microsoft Photos
Preview icon
Preview

Microsoft Photos vs Preview: The Verdict

⚡ Summary:

Microsoft Photos: Microsoft Photos is a free image viewing and basic editing app included with Windows 10. It allows users to view, organize, edit, print, and share photos and videos. Key features include automatic tagging using AI, basic fixes and enhancements, video editing tools, creative projects, printing, and integration with OneDrive.

Preview: Preview is a free and open-source document viewer application for macOS. It allows quick viewing of multiple file formats including images, PDFs, Markdown files, Office documents, and more. Preview has basic editing capabilities and annotation tools for PDFs.

Both tools serve their respective audiences. Compare the features, pricing, and user ratings above to determine which best fits your needs.

Last updated: May 2026 · Comparison by Sugggest Editorial Team

Feature Microsoft Photos Preview
Sugggest Score
Category Photos & Graphics Office & Productivity
Pricing Open Source

Product Overview

Microsoft Photos
Microsoft Photos

Description: Microsoft Photos is a free image viewing and basic editing app included with Windows 10. It allows users to view, organize, edit, print, and share photos and videos. Key features include automatic tagging using AI, basic fixes and enhancements, video editing tools, creative projects, printing, and integration with OneDrive.

Type: software

Preview
Preview

Description: Preview is a free and open-source document viewer application for macOS. It allows quick viewing of multiple file formats including images, PDFs, Markdown files, Office documents, and more. Preview has basic editing capabilities and annotation tools for PDFs.

Type: software

Pricing: Open Source

Key Features Comparison

Microsoft Photos
Microsoft Photos Features
  • View photos and videos
  • Organize photos and videos into albums
  • Basic editing tools like cropping, rotating, red-eye removal
  • Automatic tagging of photos using AI
  • Creative projects like photo books, calendars, collages
  • Share photos via email, social media, OneDrive
  • Print photos
  • Video editing tools like trimming, adding music, text
  • Integrated with OneDrive for cloud storage and syncing
Preview
Preview Features
  • View PDFs, images, text files and more
  • Annotate PDFs with shapes, text boxes, signatures
  • Basic image editing tools
  • Fill out and sign PDF forms
  • Combine PDFs and export as PDF or other formats
  • Tabbed interface to view multiple files
  • Quick Look support to preview files
  • Built-in screen capture tool

Pros & Cons Analysis

Microsoft Photos
Microsoft Photos
Pros
  • Free with Windows 10
  • Intuitive and easy to use interface
  • Decent basic editing tools
  • AI-powered automatic tagging
  • Creative projects
  • OneDrive integration
  • Video editing capabilities
Cons
  • Limited advanced editing capabilities
  • Lacks manual tagging
  • No facial recognition
  • No geo-tagging
  • Limited sharing options
  • No third-party cloud storage integration
Preview
Preview
Pros
  • Free and included with macOS
  • Fast and lightweight
  • Supports many common file formats
  • Useful annotation and editing tools
  • Easy to use interface
Cons
  • Limited functionality compared to paid alternatives
  • Lacks advanced PDF editing features
  • No OCR for scanning text in images
  • No collaboration tools

Pricing Comparison

Microsoft Photos
Microsoft Photos
  • Not listed
Preview
Preview
  • Open Source

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