XnView – Free Image Viewer, Browser, and Converter

What is XnView?

XnView is an advanced image viewer and photo management program that lets you browse, organize, convert, and edit image files across Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. Developed by XnSoft, it is provided as freeware for non?commercial use and is widely used by photographers, designers, and IT professionals who manage large image libraries. The software is available in a classic Windows?focused version and in XnView MP (“Multi?Platform”), which is the actively developed edition recommended for modern systems.

Functionally, XnView is both an image viewer and a lightweight digital asset manager: it supports viewing more than 500 formats, exports to about 70 formats, and offers thumbnail catalogs, fullscreen previews, slideshows, and side?by?side image comparison. It includes tools for resizing, cropping, lossless JPEG transforms, brightness/contrast/gamma correction, color depth conversion, filters and effects, as well as metadata viewing and editing for EXIF, IPTC, and XMP tags. Batch convert and batch rename features allow extensive processing of image folders in one operation, saving significant time for repetitive tasks.

Compared with many built?in OS viewers or simple third?party viewers, XnView distinguishes itself by offering professional features typically found in heavier digital asset management suites: comprehensive metadata support, duplicate image finder, advanced search, contact?sheet and slideshow generation, screen capture, and even support for some audio and video formats within the same interface. XnView MP goes further with a modern database?driven catalog, smart albums, and ExifTool?powered metadata search, positioning it as a powerful yet approachable hub for managing creative assets without the cost and complexity of enterprise DAM tools.

Key Features

• Extensive format support: Reads more than 500 image formats, including multipage and animated formats like APNG, TIFF, and GIF, and exports to about 70 formats, making it ideal for mixed or legacy image collections.
• Multi?view browsing modes: Offers thumbnail, fullscreen, filmstrip, and image compare views so you can quickly switch between overview browsing and detailed inspection of individual images.
• Explorer?like interface: Uses a familiar folder tree and file pane layout, reducing the learning curve and letting you navigate photo folders much like you do in your operating system’s file manager.
• Batch conversion: Includes a powerful batch convert module (shared with XnConvert) that can resize, convert, watermark, filter, and adjust thousands of images in a single operation.
• Batch renaming: Renames large numbers of files based on patterns, numbering, and metadata, which is essential for photo shoots, archival projects, and consistent file organization.
• Lossless JPEG operations: Performs rotate, flip, and crop operations on JPEGs without recompressing, preserving image quality when correcting orientation or framing.
• Metadata viewing and editing: Displays and edits EXIF, IPTC, and XMP metadata, including keywords, captions, copyright, and GPS fields, which is critical for professional cataloging workflows.
• Advanced image adjustments: Provides tools for brightness, contrast, gamma, auto levels, auto contrast, color depth and palette changes, plus filters and effects for quick corrections and creative tweaks.
• Duplicate image finder: Detects duplicate images, helping you reclaim disk space and clean up cluttered libraries without manually comparing files one by one.
• Slideshow and presentation tools: Creates slideshows with effects, contact sheets, video thumbnail galleries, and image strips, useful for client previews, portfolios, and web content prep.
• Screen capture and scanning: Captures screenshots and imports images directly from scanners, consolidating acquisition and management within one application.
• Paint and annotation tools: Adds shapes, arrows, bubbles, and watermarks, enabling quick markup of screenshots or photos for documentation and communication.
• Adobe Photoshop filter support: Supports some Photoshop?compatible filters, extending its editing capabilities with third?party effects familiar to many designers.
• Face detection: Includes face detection capabilities that aid in organizing and searching portraits and people?focused image collections.
• Cross?platform availability: Runs on Windows 10/11, macOS, and 64?bit Linux, so you can maintain a consistent image management workflow across multiple systems.

What’s New in XnView 2024/2025

• Enhanced ExifTool metadata support: XnView MP now processes and stores all metadata accessible through ExifTool, including manufacturer?specific makernotes, greatly expanding searchable technical data for each image.
• New Exiftoolvalue search field: A dedicated “Exiftool Value” field in the Search dialog lets you query any ExifTool?exposed tag by name and value, making highly targeted metadata searches possible.
• Advanced search grouping and boolean logic: Search conditions can be grouped with independent boolean operators, allowing complex AND/OR combinations for precise filtering of large catalogs.
• Smart albums improvements: Smart Albums leverage the upgraded search engine so collections can automatically update based on metadata criteria, such as camera model, lens, or rating.
• Collections and nested albums: Albums can now contain other albums, effectively creating collection hierarchies that mirror client projects, trips, or campaigns, with easier modification and organization.
• Faster album management: Album lists are now dynamic, so newly created albums appear immediately for right?click assignment, streamlining the process of sorting images into collections.
• Improved search dialog usability: Items in the search dialog can be reordered via drag and drop, and an option can automatically dismiss the search window when returning to Browse, improving workflow speed.
• Subfolder display in Favorites: The “Show files in subfolders” option now works within the Favorites pane, making it easier to browse nested structures from bookmarked locations.
• Lens model display: Lens model metadata has been added to the details view, helping photographers filter and analyze images by the lenses they used.
• Ongoing performance and catalog tweaks: Recent 1.9.x builds of XnView MP include numerous small improvements to catalog performance, metadata handling, and UI responsiveness for large libraries.

System Requirements

Windows Requirements

According to XnView’s official site, XnView and XnView MP support modern Windows desktops, including Windows 10 and Windows 11 in 64?bit editions. Classic XnView also supports some earlier Windows versions, but current development focuses on contemporary platforms.

macOS Requirements

XnView is available for macOS 10.3 and later, with XnView MP providing a 64?bit build suitable for current macOS releases. This enables Mac users to access the same viewing, batch conversion, and cataloging features as on Windows.

Linux Requirements

XnView MP offers a 64?bit Linux version, allowing Linux users to run the application natively on mainstream desktop distributions. As with other platforms, it delivers the full viewer and manager feature set, assuming a reasonably up?to?date 64?bit environment.

Minimum vs Recommended Specs

The publisher does not spell out detailed CPU/RAM requirements, but XnView is designed as a lightweight application that runs comfortably on modest hardware while scaling to faster systems. In practice, a dual?core processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a few hundred megabytes of free disk space are generally sufficient for basic use, while users managing very large catalogs or heavy batch conversions will benefit from multi?core CPUs, 8–16 GB of RAM, and SSD storage for better responsiveness (inferred from typical image?management workload characteristics).

How to Get Started

1. Open your web browser and go to the official XnView website at https://www.xnview.com.
2. On the home page, click on the XnView MP or XnView product section, then choose the edition appropriate for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
3. Download the installer or archive for your platform (for Windows, typically an EXE installer; for macOS, a DMG; for Linux, a package or compressed archive).
4. Run the downloaded installer (or mount the DMG / extract the archive on macOS and Linux) and follow the on?screen prompts to accept the license terms and choose an installation location.
5. Once installation is complete, launch XnView from your Start menu, Applications folder, or desktop shortcut.
6. On first run, review the initial configuration options such as interface language, thumbnail generation preferences, and whether to integrate XnView into your system’s “Open with” or context menus.
7. Use the folder tree in the left pane to navigate to a directory containing images; thumbnails will appear in the main pane as XnView scans the folder.
8. Select an image and press Enter or double?click to open it in viewer mode, then explore fullscreen, filmstrip, or compare views using the toolbar buttons.
9. To perform basic edits, open an image and choose operations like resize, crop, rotate, or color adjustments from the Image or Tools menus, applying changes and saving as needed.
10. For batch conversion, open the Tools > Batch Convert dialog, add your source files or folders, configure output format and processing actions, and start the batch to process images automatically.
11. To organize your library, enable cataloging (in XnView MP), then use ratings, color labels, categories, and albums to group related photos and improve searchability.
12. Finally, explore advanced features such as duplicate finder, slideshow creation, and metadata editing to tailor XnView to your workflow and replace several separate utilities with one integrated tool.

Comparison Table

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Extremely broad format compatibility: Handles more than 500 image formats plus some audio and video types, reducing the need for multiple specialized viewers.
• Powerful batch tools: Batch convert and batch rename modules save substantial time when preparing or reorganizing large image sets.
• Rich metadata capabilities: Full EXIF, IPTC, and XMP support with ExifTool?based search is ideal for professional cataloging and technical analysis.
• Cross?platform consistency: Provides a similar experience on Windows, macOS, and Linux, which is valuable for teams or individuals working across different systems.
• Lightweight and fast: Delivers responsive browsing and viewing even on modest hardware, especially compared with heavy photo suites.
• Integrated utilities: Combines viewer, manager, converter, duplicate finder, slideshow creator, and screen capture in one package, reducing tool fragmentation.
• Free for non?commercial use: Offers a robust feature set without subscription fees for private, educational, and non?profit users.
• Highly configurable interface: Customizable layouts, toolbars, and views allow you to tailor the workspace to different workflows, from culling to batch editing.
• Smart albums and collections: Database?driven catalogs with nested albums and smart rules simplify long?term organization of extensive archives.
• Active development of XnView MP: Frequent 1.9.x updates add features and refinements, especially around search and metadata handling.

Cons

• Learning curve for advanced features: While basic viewing is simple, mastering catalogs, smart albums, and ExifTool?based searches can take time for new users.
• Interface feels utilitarian: The Explorer?style UI prioritizes function over visual polish, which may seem dated compared with some modern photo apps.
• Limited high?end editing: Lacks the deep layer?based editing and retouching tools found in dedicated photo editors like Photoshop or Affinity Photo.
• Some features Windows?centric historically: Classic XnView and certain integrations have traditionally focused on Windows, so Linux and macOS users may occasionally encounter minor differences or delays in feature parity (inferred from product history across platforms).
• Metadata display limitations: Despite expanded ExifTool support, not all ExifTool fields (like some makernotes) can yet be shown in standard details views.

Who Should Use XnView?

• Enthusiast and professional photographers: Need fast culling, extensive metadata, and batch conversion for RAW exports, proofs, and client deliveries.
• Designers and creative agencies: Manage large repositories of assets, reference images, and mockups that benefit from cataloging and batch processing.
• Content creators and bloggers: Regularly resize, watermark, and optimize images for web and social platforms using automated workflows.
• Archivists and librarians: Oversee mixed?format image collections requiring robust metadata, format conversion, and duplicate detection.
• IT administrators and support staff: Need a reliable tool to inspect, convert, and troubleshoot images across various systems and user environments.
• Students and educators: Require a free, cross?platform viewer and manager for coursework, research images, and teaching materials without licensing hurdles.
• Technical professionals: Engineers or scientists who analyze diagrams, plots, and technical images with extensive metadata and diverse formats.
• Anyone migrating image collections: Users consolidating pictures from old devices, scanners, or legacy formats who need broad compatibility and batch tools.
• Hobbyists with large photo libraries: Casual photographers who have accumulated years of images and want better organization without complex commercial suites.
• Multi?OS users: People working across Windows, macOS, and Linux who benefit from a unified image tool on every platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is XnView really free?

XnView is licensed as freeware for private, educational, and non?profit use, meaning individuals, students, and many institutions can use it without paying a license fee. Commercial use typically requires a paid license from XnSoft, so organizations deploying XnView in business contexts should review the licensing terms on the official website.

What is the difference between XnView and XnView MP?

Classic XnView is the original Windows?centric viewer, while XnView MP (“Multi?Platform”) is the modern, actively developed edition that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. XnView MP features a new database?driven catalog, improved performance on large collections, enhanced metadata support (including ExifTool integration), and a more flexible interface, making it the recommended choice for most users.

Can XnView replace my main photo editor?

XnView offers a strong set of basic and intermediate editing tools—resize, crop, rotate, color and exposure adjustments, filters, and effects—but it is not intended to replace full?scale editors such as Adobe Photoshop for complex, layer?based retouching. Many users adopt XnView as their primary viewer and organizer, then send selected images to a dedicated editor for advanced work via external?editor integration or standard file workflows.

Does XnView support RAW files from modern cameras?

XnView reads a very wide range of formats, including many camera RAW formats, and can display associated metadata like EXIF and makernotes via ExifTool in XnView MP. RAW support can vary by camera model and may depend on external libraries, so for critical RAW development many photographers still use a dedicated RAW processor, while relying on XnView for browsing, culling, and organizing mixed RAW/JPEG folders.

Final Verdict

XnView—especially in its XnView MP edition—delivers an impressive blend of image viewing, cataloging, batch processing, and metadata management in a compact, cross?platform package. With support for hundreds of formats, robust batch convert and rename tools, duplicate detection, and deep EXIF/IPTC/XMP handling enhanced by ExifTool, it fills the gap between simple OS viewers and heavyweight digital asset managers, while remaining free for non?commercial users.

For photographers, creatives, and technically inclined users who care more about speed, control, and metadata than glossy interfaces, XnView is an excellent choice as a primary image hub and utility toolbox. It will not replace high?end editors for complex retouching, but as a fast viewer, organizer, and batch engine that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, it offers outstanding practical value and is easy to recommend to anyone managing serious image collections.