You come back from a shoot with a folder of photos and want to flip through them, delete the misses and resize a few for email. FastStone Image Viewer 8.5 from FastStone Corporation handles that kind of job on Windows. It is free, proprietary software and the installer is 11.9 MB. The file comes from the official server www.faststonesoft.net, not from us.
First steps after installing version 8.5
Open a folder and the program shows it as a thumbnail browser, so you can scan a batch before opening anything. Viewing, management and comparison are its core functions, which suits sorting a set of similar shots.
Try the full-screen mode early. According to the developer, toolbars stay hidden and pop up when the mouse touches one of the four screen edges, giving access to EXIF information, the thumbnail browser and the main tools.
Editing tools and format coverage
Editing is basic but practical: red-eye removal, resizing, cropping, retouching and color adjustments, plus image annotation, drop shadow effects and a histogram. Lossless JPEG transitions are also included, which matters if you rotate photos often.
Format support is the strongest point. It reads BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, PSD, EPS, TIFF, WMF, ICO, CUR and TGA. Camera RAW coverage includes CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RW2 and DNG, among others. A musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects and scanner support round it out.
When XnView MP or ImageGlass fits better
Check the interface yourself before committing. Alternatives worth comparing are XnView MP, Honeyview, ImageGlass and nomacs. If you want a different viewer with its own approach to browsing and conversion, those are the names to look at.
FastStone remains a reasonable pick when RAW viewing, quick edits and slideshows in one small download are the goal.
What's new in 8.5
Version 8.5 was updated on June 24, 2026.
FastStone Image Viewer pros and cons
Pros
- Free to use
- Small 11.9 MB download
- Reads many RAW formats, including CR3, NEF, ARW and DNG
- Full-screen mode with hidden edge toolbars for EXIF and thumbnails
- Slideshow with 150+ transition effects and lossless JPEG transitions
Cons
- Windows only
- Visual previews of the interface are not part of this page
- Version 8.5 is the current release
- Proprietary license, so the source is not open
Is FastStone Image Viewer safe?
The installer is fetched from the publisher's own server, www.faststonesoft.net, and nothing is stored on TopDown APK. FastStone Corporation publishes it under a proprietary license at no charge. No independent scan results came with it, so run your own check on the file before opening it.
How to install FastStone Image Viewer
- Press the download button to get the official file.
- Run the installer you saved and confirm the Windows security prompt if the publisher matches.
- Follow the setup steps, then start FastStone Image Viewer from the Start menu.
