MS Quietly Hides OneDrive Photos App in Windows

You’ll no longer find “OneDrive Photos” in the Start menu apps list or in Windows Search results. MS appears to be quietly hiding the app as it works to make the experience less intrusive.

The OneDrive Photos app was force-installed on PCs running Windows 11 and 10, including enterprise devices where the app would not even launch. After the rollout, MS claimed it was an accident, stating that it did not intend to release the app so broadly.

In a post on X, MS’s Jeff Teper explained, “We are incubating a new photos experience in OneDrive that went more broadly than it should have in Windows. We’re fixing that. Windows Photos will always give you the option of local and cloud photos and the choice to use OneDrive or not.”

MS has also acknowledged feedback and promised to improve how OneDrive displays photos across desktop, web, and mobile platforms. Despite the controversy, the company has no plans to abandon the new client. Instead, it now seems to be hiding the standalone app from Start and Search while developing a less intrusive experience, including an option for users to remove it separately.

What is the New OneDrive Photos App?

For users who were not offered the app during the accidental rollout, OneDrive Photos is a web-based (WebView2) client. It allows you to browse both local photos and those stored in the cloud. Essentially, the app loads OneDrive.com’s Gallery with access to local storage.

In testing, the app performed decently, with RAM usage typically staying below 1GB—relatively efficient by MS’s standards, considering other apps like Weather tend to use more memory. The app also functions well as a gallery, automatically locating photos stored across PC folders. Users can manually include or exclude specific locations and seamlessly access photos in the cloud to move or copy files between local and cloud storage.

However, many argue that OneDrive Photos is redundant. Users already have access to all photos via File Explorer or the MS Photos app. Additionally, when OneDrive Photos was added to PCs, it wasn’t easy to remove due to its integration with the main OneDrive sync client, which comes pre-installed on Windows PCs.

Challenges in Removing the App

Clicking the “Uninstall” button for OneDrive Photos in Windows Search redirected users to the Settings app, where only the OneDrive sync client could be removed—not the Photos experience itself. This posed a problem: uninstalling the sync client disrupted OneDrive integration in File Explorer, interrupted cloud synchronization, and could lead to unexpected data access issues.

MS later acknowledged this oversight, stating that a dedicated removal option for OneDrive Photos would be introduced in the future. Nevertheless, the backlash prompted the company to hide the app while working on providing users with greater control over its presence.

OneDrive Photos Now Hidden from Start and Search

Our tests confirmed that OneDrive Photos no longer appears in the Start menu or Windows Search results. Previously, searching for “OneDrive Photos” would display the app alongside the OneDrive sync client. Now, only the sync client appears, as it remains pre-installed on most Windows PCs.

However, the OneDrive Photos app itself has not been removed. It is still installed and can be launched through alternative methods, such as navigating to the OneDrive installation folder and opening OneDrive.App.exe.

This approach allows MS to reduce user frustration by removing the app from view without fully uninstalling it. However, it highlights the confusion caused by the initial rollout of the app, especially since Windows already includes the MS Photos app and integrates OneDrive into File Explorer.

While OneDrive Photos remains on your PC, it no longer appears in prominent locations such as Start or Search. This change is likely part of MS’s effort to minimize user frustration as it works on implementing a dedicated uninstall option.

Future Plans for OneDrive Photos

According to an update in its admin portal, MS stated, “We’re adding controls to remove the OneDrive Photos experience separately from the OneDrive app. Removing the Photos experience does not uninstall the OneDrive app, interrupt file sync, or delete photos and files. This provides a clear removal option for people who prefer to manage their photos with another app.”

It’s only a matter of time before OneDrive Photos returns in a more visible form. When it does, users can expect to have the option to remove it easily without affecting the main OneDrive sync client.

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