The Photos app is now actually useful thanks to Microsoft's latest update

Microsoft has begun rolling out a significant update to its Photos app for Windows Insiders on both Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems. The update introduces a series of new features to enhance user experience and productivity.?

Photos gets a new Copilot button

While not all the Insiders will see the update immediately, it will be added over time and you’ll surely get the chance to test all the new features. Now, let’s take a look at the biggest changes with Microsoft Photos app.

Enhanced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) with Web Search Integration

The Photos app also includes improved OCR functionality and supports over 160 languages. Users can capture text from photos by tapping the “Scan Text” button in the Photos Viewer. The recent update has added a new “Search in Web” feature, allowing users to search chosen text online instantly within the app. This feature streamlines workflows for documents, notes, and screenshots.

Quick Access to AI Editing and Visual Search

New shortcuts in File Explorer and on the desktop provide one-click access to AI editing and Visual Search capabilities without opening Photos. By right-clicking a picture and choosing “Create with Designer,” users can add text, re-compose using object selection, or enhance colors with the color pop feature. Additionally, the “Search in Photos” feature allows users to search for similar images online, which helps identify objects or retrieve related information more easily. ?

Gallery Enhancements and Copilot Integration

The Photos Gallery now displays media and videos in subfolders, providing better insight into one’s media collection. Furthermore, a new Copilot button has been added, featuring AI-driven image editing tips and recommendations to guide users in refining their images productively. ?

The update also includes some fixes:

• Due to popular requests, the Photos app now supports JXL files.
• We implemented bug fixes for the Image Creator and Restyle Image features on Copilot+ PCs to improve overall quality and performance. This includes successfully loading Image Creator in the Photos app on the initial launch of Photos and being able to Save generated images under a different file name.

These features are released incrementally to Windows Insiders, not all at once. Microsoft encourages you to provide feedback to further improve them.