Microsoft took Picture Manager out of Office after 2010, yet thousands of people still want it back for one reason - nothing newer batches resize, compress and rename photos as simply. It still exists, hidden as an optional component inside the free SharePoint Designer 2010 setup. Here is the safe way to install just that one tool on Windows 11, and the honest limits to know before you do.
A fresh Windows 11 PC has no trace of Picture Manager, and no setting will bring it back - Microsoft removed it from Office in 2013 and never returned it. But the tool was never deleted from history: it still sits inside the SharePoint Designer 2010 installer that Microsoft gave away free, under the Office Tools section. The video installs it from there, choosing only Picture Manager and leaving the rest of the 2010 software out. This page follows the same route in writing, with the safety checks that matter for software this old.
Picture Manager was never sold separately. The honest route is the old Office tool set it still hides inside - the free SharePoint Designer 2010 installer from Microsoft.
Microsoft Office Picture Manager was the small photo tool that came with Office 2003, Office 2007 and Office 2010. It viewed pictures, cropped them, fixed brightness and red eye, and - the feature people still miss - it resized, compressed and renamed whole folders of photos in one go. When Office 2013 arrived, Microsoft removed it and pointed everyone to the Photos app instead. Windows 11 never included it at all, so there is nothing to switch on in Settings. If you want the real tool back, it has to be installed from the last generation of Office software that still carried it.
The documented route, and the one shown in the video, uses SharePoint Designer 2010. Microsoft gave this program away free, and its setup still contains the Office Tools section - which includes Microsoft Office Picture Manager as an optional component. Two honest warnings before you download anything:
SharePointDesigner.exe). Old download links sometimes stop working; if the Microsoft page is gone, use an Office 2010 setup disc or ISO you already own and trust instead.Run the installer and, on the very first choice screen, click Customize - never Install Now. Install Now would drop the whole 2010-era SharePoint Designer onto your Windows 11 PC. In the component tree:
The full click-by-click of this component selection is its own guide on this site, because picking the wrong branch is the one mistake that fills the PC with software from 2010.
After setup, look in the Start menu under Microsoft Office - you should see Microsoft Office Picture Manager. The program file itself is OIS.exe, normally at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\OIS.exe when the 32-bit installer was used (without the (x86) part for a 64-bit install). Open it, browse to any folder of photos, and check that thumbnails load and one picture opens full-size. That first successful open matters: a half-finished setup usually shows up right here, not later.
Picture Manager works fine on Windows 11 for everyday photos, but be clear about what you installed: a program from 2010 whose support ended years ago. It receives no security fixes, so treat it like a trusted old tool, not a front door - work on your own photos, and be cautious opening image files that arrived from strangers. It also cannot open newer phone photo formats such as HEIC without help from Windows codecs. The last page of this set lays out the risks and the modern tools that now cover most of its jobs, so you can decide with open eyes whether to keep it.
The complete install on a real Windows 11 PC - download, Customize screen, component selection and first launch, step by step.
▶️ Watch Full VideoThe tool itself was never sold separately. It came with Office 2003, 2007 and 2010, and it is also inside SharePoint Designer 2010, which Microsoft distributed free. Installed that way, Picture Manager costs nothing - but it is unsupported old software.
Yes, in practice it installs and runs on Windows 11 for viewing and basic editing of common formats like JPG and PNG. It is not officially supported on Windows 11, and it cannot open newer formats such as HEIC without extra codecs.
Not if you choose Customize and install only Picture Manager, as this guide shows. Modern Office keeps its own separate folders. Avoid choosing Install Now in the 2010 setup, which would add the full old SharePoint Designer as well.