Using the Windows 11 Photos App to Shrink Photo Files — It’s Easier Than I Thought
Honestly, I’ve always just used third-party online tools or dedicated apps for resizing images, but turns out, Windows 11’s built-in Photos app can do a surprisingly decent job if you know where to look. If you’re tired of giant image files eating up storage or causing headaches when uploading online, this might help. The thing is, the Photos app isn’t just for looking at pictures; it actually has a resize feature that’s pretty useful once you stumble upon it.
So, here’s where I got stuck — I was trying to reduce a photo size to meet a web upload limit, but couldn’t find a clear resize option at first. It’s not super obvious, and I remember seeing some confusing menus. To start, open Windows Explorer (hit the Windows key + E) and browse to the folder with your photos. Right-click on the image you want to shrink, and select Open with > Photos. If Photos isn’t listed, no big deal—choose Open with > Choose another app, then find and select Photos. This step is crucial because Photos is more capable than most assume, especially for quick edits like this.
Once the picture opens in Photos, look for the three-dot menu at the top right (sometimes called More options) and click it. Then choose Resize. Here’s the kicker: it’s not just for resizing dimensions — the Photos app allows you to adjust the quality slider, which directly impacts the file size. Usually, you’ll see options like Best quality, Medium quality, Best fit. Lowering the quality reduces the file size — often with minimal visible impact if you’re just slightly lowering it. But beware: this can also affect how crisp your image looks, especially on soft gradients or low-contrast areas.
Besides quality, you can also tweak the physical image dimensions—width and height—using the same menu. If you need to meet specific size requirements (say, for an email attachment or web upload), this is where you set pixel dimensions or pick from preset sizes if they’re available. After making adjustments, click Save. The app will ask where to save the new image — you can overwrite the original if you’re confident, or save as a new file if you want to keep the original intact. It’s a simple process once you get used to it, but those menus can be a little hidden if you don’t look carefully.
Another Route: Using Microsoft Paint
If Photos feels limited, or if it seems to keep crashing or acting weird, Microsoft Paint can do the job too. It’s usually already installed on Windows — no extra download needed — and straightforward. To use Paint for resizing, right-click your photo, choose Open with > Paint. If Paint isn’t showing up directly, pick Choose another app, then find and open it from there.
Inside Paint, the main resize tool is found via the “Resize” button on the toolbar, or just hit Ctrl + W (which is weirdly the shortcut). A small dialog appears where you can resize by percentage or pixels. To keep things consistent and meet size limits, I suggest entering specific pixel dimensions — for example, 1024×768 — instead of percentages. That way, you control exactly how big it gets, and it usually leads to smaller file sizes without messing with quality settings. Honestly, resizing like this is pretty quick, and since Paint is so simple, it’s a reliable fallback if Photos doesn’t cooperate.
After you set your pixels or percentage, hit OK, then save the image via File > Save As. You definitely want to save a new copy unless you’re okay overwriting the original. Picking a proper format, like JPEG (good for photos and compression) or PNG (better for graphics), also helps keep file sizes manageable. It took me a few tries to find the sweet spot, but once you get the hang of it, it’s no problem.
Extra Tips for Smarter Photo Compression
Remember, changing size and quality is a balancing act. Pushing compression too hard will make your images look pixelated or blurry — especially if they have soft gradients or lots of color. Basically, there’s no free lunch. Sometimes resizing dimensions down makes a big difference, but combining that with a slight quality drop is what really cuts the file size without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.
Watch out for doing multiple rounds of compression either with Photos or Paint — it can really degrade the quality over time. Always keep a backup of your original images before messing with the size, in case you need them later. You can check the resulting file size by right-clicking the image, selecting Properties, and looking at the Details tab. That way, you make sure you achieved the desired reduction without losing too much clarity.
If you’re doing this frequently or batch-processing lots of images, it’s worth exploring whether your laptop’s Developer Mode is enabled or if your File Explorer is configured with extra info for quick checks. Also, making sure your default photo viewer is set to Photos can speed up the workflow—this is all in Settings > Apps > Default Apps.
Honestly, it took me a bit of fumbling around to find these settings, but once I did, resizing in Windows became way easier than I thought. Hope this helps save someone else the headache — I spent way too long trying to figure all this out. Good luck, and don’t be afraid to experiment with quality and dimensions until you find that perfect balance!