Is there any way to play GIFs with Windows Photo Viewer?

Question

Is there any way to play GIFs with Windows Photo Viewer or with Picasa Viewer in Windows 7 when Internet Explorer isn't my default browser?

Answer 1

A suggestion over on TechNet from a Microsoft MVP is using IrfanView to view animated GIFs:

Hi

This is by design.

I use the free IrfanView Program and associate the GIF file type with that program.

Solves the problem.

Answer 2

From here

For Windows Photo Viewer

Nope ,

GIF files will only play when Internet Explorer is set as the default program to open them instead. They can only be viewed in Windows Photo Viewer

For Picasa

The Picasa viewer is not the Windows viewer. It's not the same program. Obviously. I'd venture to say that the Picasa viewer is more of a "photo" viewer. And an animated GIF is definitely not a photo. Granted Picasa handle some GIFs. But, last time I looked, they didn't handle the 24-bit color GIFs. And they don't handle animated GIFs. Personally, there are a lot of things I'd rather have them working on than adding support for animated GIFs...

source

(or) if you want view the gifs , i would suggest ACDSee

Answer 3

right click, open with IE, it works even if it's not your default browser, IE isn't my default browser either, i use chrome as default, and have firefox installed.

Answer 4

The Windows XP one has been forward-ported: https://github.com/Corgano/Windows7GifViewer

Answer 5

Animated .GIF files won't play in Windows Photo Viewer. They will play in Windows Media Player, however.

Right Click -> Open with -> Choose default program... -> Other Programs -> Windows Media Player

Then hit OK. You should see your image file animated in WMP. This has the added bonus of being able to pause the animation, even if it takes a little bit longer to open.