How to view photos in a slideshow in Windows 11

Photos can hold very special memories, and setting up a slideshow is a great way to relive them and look back at great times in your life. There's no shortage of ways to set up a slideshow, and Windows 11 makes it easy to do it in a wide range of ways. Whether you want to actively display your photos or have them shown on the desktop, let's take a look at some of the tools for creating photo slideshows on Windows 11.

A laptop displaying a photo in full screen

Repurpose your old laptop and add some life to your home space by turning it into a frame for your favorite photos.

View photos in a slideshow using the Windows 11 Photos app

If you're actively trying to show off photos in a slideshow, Windows 11 Photos is arguably the best way to do it. This app lets you choose the photos to view, adjust transitions, play music, and more. Here's how to use it:

1. Open the Photos app. You can find it in the Start menu.
2. If your pictures are in a specific folder, use the Folders option on the left to navigate to the photos you want to show off.
   

   Screenshot of the Windows 11 Photos app displaying a folder tree with pictures shown in the main view
3. To start a slideshow with all the pictures in a folder, click the Start slideshow in the menu bar at the top or press F5 on your keyboard.
   • To use only selected pictures for the slideshow, click the checkbox in the corner of each picture you want to use before starting the slideshow.
     

     Screenshot of the Windows 11 photos app with multiple photos selected and the slideshow button highlighted
4. Once the slideshow starts, click the Slideshow options button (it looks like a music note) to change the music, transitions, and whether the slideshow should loop after showing all the photos.
5. The bar at the top can also be used to pause the slideshow, change the volume, or minimize the slideshow.
6. To quit the slideshow, move the mouse over the top right corner of the screen to show the Close button.

Screenshot of the Windows 11 Photos app displaying four images with a desktop image in the background© Provided by XDA Developers

Windows 11 has a new Photos app with new features and a brand-new look. Here's everything you need to know about the new app.

View a photo slideshow as a desktop background

If you want photos to constantly display as a slideshow on your desktop background, you have that option, too. This makes it so that your favorite pictures are always visible at a moment's notice. Here's how:

1. Open the Settings app. You can find it in the Start menu.
2. Click Personalization in the menu bar on the left.
3. Click Background.
   

   Screenshot of the Personalization section in Windows 11 Settings the the Background button highlighted
4. Next to Personalize your background, open the dropdown menu and choose Slideshow.
   

   Screenshot of background customization in Windows 11 with the background set to a slideshow
5. Click the Browse button to find the folder you want to use for your slideshow.
6. Click Choose this folder once you have the right one.
7. You can use the Change picture every option to change how often pictures should cycle. You can choose from a few options from 1 minute to 1 day. The default is 30 minutes.
   

   Screenshot of the desktop slideshow settings in Windows 11. The option to change pictures at a set time is highlighted.

   Changing the picture every minute may impact the performance of older and low-end PCs.

8. You can change additional settings like shuffling the picture order or choosing how images should behave to fit the desktop if the aspect ratio doesn't match.

Screenshot of Windows 11 with various apps and a custom Start menu and theme© Provided by XDA Developers

Windows 11 is a great operating system, but not everyone has to like how it looks out of the box. Here's how you can change

View photos as a lock screen slideshow

If you'd like to have a slideshow playing on the lock screen when your PC is inactive or see a different picture whenever you turn on your PC, that's also an option:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Click Personalization in the left-side menu.
3. Click Lock screen.
   

   Screenshot of the Personalization section in Windows 11 Settings with the Lock screen button highlighted
4. Next to Personalize your lock screen, open the dropdown menu and choose Slideshow.
   

   Screenshot of Windows 11 lock screen settings with the background set to a slideshow
5. Click Browse to find a folder to pull pictures from. You can add multiple folders, but only one at a time.
6. If you want to remove a folder, click Remove next to its name.
7. You can customize Advanced slideshow settings to further tweak the slideshow.
   

   Screenshot of lock screen personalization settings in Windows 11 with advanced slideshow settings highlighted
   This includes the option to show the lock screen when your PC is inactive rather than turning off the screen, so the lock screen acts more like a screen saver.

View photos as a slideshow in Google Photos

If your photos are stored in Google Photos, you can also view them as a slideshow online. The easiest way to do this is to create an album if you haven't already.

1. Open Google Photos in your browser.
2. Click the Upload button near the top right corner to choose pictures to upload (if they're not already on Google Photos), and then choose Computer (or another source).
   

   Screenshot of Google Photos on the web with the Upload button hihglighted
3. Choose the pictures to upload and click Open.
4. Select the photos you uploaded by clicking the checkmark in the top left corner of each one. You can select all photos with the same date using the checkmark next to the date header.
5. Click the + (plus) button and then click Album.
   

   Screenshot of Google Photos with multiple photos selected and the plus button highlighted
6. Click New album to create a new album with your photos.
7. Enter a name for the album.
8. Click the checkmark next to Edit album to save your changes.
   

   Screenshot of a Google photros album with the checkmark button highlighted
9. To start a slideshow, click the three-dot button in the top right corner then choose Slideshow.
   

   Screenshot of a Google photos album with the slideshow button highlighted
10. The slideshow will begin.

You can see your existing albums in the side bar on Google Photos, so you can always jump straight there to view a slideshow again.

Make a video slideshow with Clipchamp

If you want to get deeper into it and make a video slideshow you can share with others as a file, you can use Clipchamp to create a video from your photos. Here's how it works:

1. Open Clipchamp on your PC. It should be in the Start menu, but you can also use it in your browser.
2. If you haven't yet, log in or create an account.
3. Click Create a new video.
   

   Screenshot of Clipchamp home page with the create new video button highlighted
4. Click Import media to choose photos to add to your slideshow.
   

   Screenshot of Clipchamp video editing UI with import media button highlighted
5. Click the + (plus) button next to each image to add it to the video timeline. Alternatively, you can drag and drop them in the order you want.
   

   Screenshot of Clipchamp with imported media and an add to timeline button highlighted
6. On the timeline, click and drag the edge of each image to adjust how long it should be in the video.
7. Click the space between images to add a transition effect.
8. To change the transition style, click the transition icon on the timeline and then click Transitions on the menu on the right.
   

   Screenshot of Clipchamp showing how to change a video transition on the timeline
9. Choose a transition style from the list.
10. You can also add music to the video using the Import media option or the Content library on the left side to use stock music.
    

    Screenshot of Clipchamp with the stock audio library open and an audio clip added to the timeline
11. The Text option on the left lets you add custom text to the slideshow, too.

Screenshot of the Clipchamp video editor open over the Windows 11 desktop background© Provided by XDA Developers

Microsoft has a free video editor included in Windows 11, and it's actually quite good for basic edits. Here's how to use it.

Slideshows can help you relive your favorite memories

If you're trying to show off pictures to friends or family, we'd argue the Photos app is the best way to create a slideshow. It shows off the pictures in all their glory, it applies some fun transitions to keep things lively, and the music can really help create some ambiance. Of course, the other options are also great depending on what you're looking for.