The Photos app is the default picture viewer in Windows 10 and 11. Although the app has received multiple updates over the years, it still has some issues.
While opening an image file or after opening an image file, the Photos app might suddenly show “There is nothing to show here” error instead of the picture file. The error shows up for all type of picture files.
More often than not, the error shows up when you maximize the photos app or when you resume your PC from hibernation/sleep.
If you are also encountering the error, you can try out the following solutions to fix the error.
Solution 1 of 3
Reset and repair the Photos app
Step 1: Open the Settings app. Go to Apps > Apps & features page.
Step 2: Look for the Microsoft Photos entry. Click on it to see the Advanced options link. On Windows 11, click on the three vertically stacked dots next to Microsoft Photos and then click on Advanced options.
Step 3: Click on the Advanced options link.
Step 4: Here, in the Reset section, click on the Repair button to repair the Photos app.
Once the repair job is done, you can click on the Reset button to reset the app to default settings. That’s it! You can try opening images with the Photos app now.
Solution 2 of 3
Reinstall the Photos app
If the above solutions did not work for you and still showing the “There is nothing to show here” error, you can consider reinstalling the Photos app.
Step 1: Open PowerShell with admin rights. To open PowerShell with admin rights, right-click on the Start button on the taskbar and then click Windows PowerShell (Admin).
Click on the Yes button when you see the UAC prompt.
Step 2: At the PowerShell window, copy and paste the following command and then press the Enter key to execute the command.
get-appxpackage Microsoft.Windows.Photos | remove-appxpackage
You may close the PowerShell window now.
Step 3: Finally, open the Store app, search for Microsoft Photos and click on the Get/Install button to install a fresh copy of the Photos app. That’s it!
There are multiple ways to reinstall the Photos app in Windows 10/11. Refer to our how to reinstall the Photos app in Windows 10/11 guide for step-by-step directions.
Solution 3 of 3
Use Windows Picture Viewer, ImageGlass (free) or other alternatives
The error shows up even after repairing, resetting and reinstalling the Photos app, you can consider using the classic Windows Photo Viewer tool present in Windows 10/11. The Windows Photo Viewer is disabled by default, and you need enable it first to start using it.
Refer to our how to enable Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10 and how to enable Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 11 guides for detailed directions.
In addition to the Windows Photo Viewer, we also recommend the free ImageGlass software. ImageGlass is probably the best free photo viewer out there for Windows operating system. Even if you are happy with the built-in Photos app, we recommend trying the ImageGlass software.
