How to use Windows Photos app – Tips and Tricks

Windows Photos app is more than a capable gallery app. This default gallery app in Windows 10 PCs is capable of doing much more than just showing you the pictures and playing videos on your PC. You can edit your pictures/videos and add various effects using the Photos App.

Pho­tos App Tips and Tricks on Windows PC

In this post, we will learn about some interesting tips and tricks about the Windows 10 Photos app and see how you can make the most out of it.

1. Import multiple photos
2. Add 3D Effects
3. Add narration to your video
4. Remove black bars from the video
5. Automatic video
6. Draw fun items in your video
7. Add text in your picture/video
8. Add tags to the pictures
9. Tag People
10. Add Favorites to Photos app in Windows 10

1] Import multiple photos

You can import multiple photos, in the Photos app with a single click. Click on the Import icon in the top right corner and select the folder from where you want to import the pictures. You can select all the pictures in a folder by selecting All Items from the dropdown menu. Also, you can choose where you want to delete the original items after import or not. Furthermore, you can also select the pictures clicked on a particular date.

Read: How to use the NEW Microsoft Photos app in Windows 11

2] Add 3D Effects

Besides the regular editing like adjusting the light, adding filters, cut, crop, resize the image, etc, you can also add some interesting 3D effects in your pictures using this app. For example, here I am adding the birthday balloon effect to my cocktail drink picture. With this effect, the picture is converted into a small video.

To add these 3D effects to your photo, select the photo you want to edit and click on the Edit & Create button in the main menu ribbon, and select Add 3D effects. You will see many options there and you can select the one which goes well with your picture.

As you can see in the screenshot below, you can give an artistic touch to your image by drawing something over to and also add the animated text to your images or can create a Video from Images.

3] Add narration in your video

Record the voice-over you want to add to the video. You can use Windows Voice Recorder for the same. To add the narration-

Select the video.

Click on Custom Audio from the main menu ribbon.

Click on Add Audio File and select your voice-over file and you are done.

Read next: How to trim videos using Windows 10 Photos app Video Editor.

4] Remove black bars from the video

To remove black bars from your video, open a new video project and add the video.

Take the video to the storyline and right-click.

Go to Resize option and select Remove black bars.

5] Automatic Video

Windows 10 Photos app also makes an automatic remix of your photos/videos available in the app. For example, here I can see an automatic video made with all my pictures clicked on February 27. You can make such videos manually too wherein you can select a few pictures and videos from your album and the app takes random clips from all your selected videos and makes a new short remix kind of video with background music.

Click on New Video and select Automatic Video

Select the pictures or videos from your library.

Click on Create and the app will automatically create a short remix video with default background music.

This will be an automatic video but you can edit it.

You can add change the content, pacing, and length of your video.

6] Draw fun items in your video

With the simple drawing too, you can add some fun items to your video. Open your video in the Photos app and click on Edit & Create. Select Draw and show your creativity. You can change the pen size and color as per your preferences. Be as creative as you can.

7] Add text in your picture/video

Select a picture or a video. Click on the Edit & Create tab from the main ribbon menu and select Add animated text.

Select the style you like and write the text in the empty white box.

Save a copy and you are done.

You can also add Motion and Filters to make your pictures/video more attractive.

8] Add tags to the photos

As we all know, the Photos app helps us organizing our pictures and videos better. So, here’s a feature wherein you can find your photos fast using the tags. Photos app adds the relevant tags to your pictures so that you can easily find them.

Go to the Search Box and Smile and you will get all the pictures where you are smiling.

Or you can also search the pictures with the geotag as the app automatically adds the location to your pictures.

9] Tag people in Photos

This is another very good feature of the Photos app. You can tag people by their name and then you can see their pictures whenever you want just by clicking on their names.

Go to the People tab and Turn on the People setting in the Photos app.

Start tagging your friends and family and that’s it.

10] Add Favorites to Photos app in Windows 10

You can also add Favorites to the Photos app. This feature is again pretty helpful in organizing your pictures and video better. Open a picture and click on the heart above to Add to favorites.

So, these were some of the lesser-known tips and tricks of the Windows 10 Photos app. Some more common yet interesting features of this app include:

1. Merge Videos using the Photos app
2. Add Slow Motion effect to your videos
3. Share image and video files
4. Save a Still Image from a Video.