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Lightroom as Default Photo Viewer

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Can Lightroom be set at the default photo viewer in Windows 10 Settings, or is this not possible? If it cannot be, what are people here using as their default photo viewer on Windows 10?

Thanks!

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Rob_CullenCorrect answer

Community Expert

No, it cannot be set as a default viewer, not possible.

Lightroom is a database program. The default file type it uses is a database catalog with the file suffix .LRCAT. This is the only file type that Lightroom will open, so you cannot make it "open" jpgs tiffs, etc. Image files need to be added to the database catalog by the Import process.

When I want to search or browse my images Lightroom is the 'go to' program because of the catalog features of keywords, collections, smart collections, filters, etc.

OTOH-Very occasionally I might use Adobe Bridge (Included in the CC Photography package with Lr & Ps) but must take care not to rename or move any files (that would upset the Lr database links to the images)

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.6, Photoshop 27.8, ACR 18.7, Lightroom 9.4, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .

K

KeyLimePie

Participant

My PC defaults to Lightroom as photo viewer and I hate it! Too slow to open and I don't want to edit.

How can I get rid of Lightroom as default? Sadly I may have to cancel Lightroom due to this issue and many others.

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Rob_Cullen

Correct answer

Community Expert

No, it cannot be set as a default viewer, not possible.

Lightroom is a database program. The default file type it uses is a database catalog with the file suffix .LRCAT. This is the only file type that Lightroom will open, so you cannot make it "open" jpgs tiffs, etc. Image files need to be added to the database catalog by the Import process.

When I want to search or browse my images Lightroom is the 'go to' program because of the catalog features of keywords, collections, smart collections, filters, etc.

OTOH-Very occasionally I might use Adobe Bridge (Included in the CC Photography package with Lr & Ps) but must take care not to rename or move any files (that would upset the Lr database links to the images)

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Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.6, Photoshop 27.8, ACR 18.7, Lightroom 9.4, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .

happystudent777Author

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the info. What should I set my "default" photo viewer in Windows 10 to? Can it be set to Bridge?

It does make sense what you said about Lightroom as well as working between Lightroom and Bridge and the caution one needs to exercise.

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Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

Can it be set to Bridge?

Yes. But you may have difficulty!

1. If you open Windows-10 "Settings" (The cog wheel icon) Choose "System" that includes "Apps"- you may not be able to find Adobe Bridge as a default app for photo files (eg. JPG). For some reason I cannot see Adobe Bridge in this list in any way. Windows does not consider Bridge an "App". There will appear the Windows "Photo" App but do not select that!

Instead-

2. If you open File Explorer and Right-click on a photo file eg. a JPG, select from the menu "Open with... " again Bridge may not appear in this brief list.

If Bridge does not appear in this menu- click on "choose another app".

If Bridge is not in this list- scroll to the bottom and click on "more apps..", search for "Adobe Bridge 2015" and click to select.

Finally place a tick in the box [Always use this app to open JPG files.] and click [ OK ]

You now have set Bridge as default for JPG files. Double-click a JPG file and Bridge will open.

Do the same for other pixel formats only- TIFF, PNG, BMP, GIF. Leave Lr to be your raw file editor (for NEF, CR2, ARW, etc).

Edit: And there are other complications that could arise for Lightroom if you do any kind of metadata changes in Bridge. But there are answers to these situations.

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Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.6, Photoshop 27.8, ACR 18.7, Lightroom 9.4, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .

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