Raw Image Extension 2.5.24.0

You copy a card off the camera, open the folder, and every photograph is a blank grey rectangle.

The files are fine.

Windows just has no idea how to read them.

Raw Image Extension is the free Microsoft add-on that fixes it, and it takes about a minute.

What It Actually Changes

The extension plugs into Windows Imaging Component, the layer the whole operating system uses to decode pictures. That is why one install fixes several things at once.

• File Explorer generates real thumbnails instead of blank placeholders.
• The preview pane shows the photograph rather than a generic file icon.
• Microsoft Photos opens RAW files directly, with no conversion step first.
• Any other application built on WIC picks up the same support automatically.

Thumbnails appear the first time you open a folder, and generating them for a full card takes a moment. That pause is normal and only happens once per folder.

What It Does Not Fix

Two things are worth knowing before you install, because both generate more complaints than the extension itself does.

The second is coverage. Microsoft updates the extension against the LibRaw library, so a camera released in the last few months may not be recognised yet even though its format nominally is.

Check the LibRaw supported cameras list for your exact body before assuming the extension will handle it. That page is the real answer to "why does my new camera still show blanks".

Formats and Manufacturers

If the difference between all these and a JPEG is still unclear, the guide on Understanding RAW Formats explains what a RAW file actually holds and why every maker has their own.

Installing It

The extension comes from the Microsoft Store, so the download button here hands you to the Store listing rather than serving a file.

There is nothing to configure. Install it, then open a folder of RAW photographs and the thumbnails build themselves.

One consequence worth knowing: if you have removed the Microsoft Store with a debloating script, there is no route to install this at all. That is the trade you made, and restoring the Store is the only way back.

What to Use for Actual Editing

The extension is for viewing and sorting. It gives you thumbnails and a preview, not a development workflow.

darktable is the free non-destructive processor most people land on, and RawTherapee goes further on precise colour control if you want it.

Canon shooters often prefer Digital Photo Professional, because it applies Canon's own colour profiles rather than a third-party interpretation of them. Nikon users have their own set of choices, covered in which codec or app Nikon shooters need.

For long-term storage, Adobe DNG Converter turns any RAW file into the open DNG standard, which sidesteps the whole question of whether software in ten years will still read your maker's format.

For a one-off conversion with nothing to install, ConvertICO RAW to Image does it in the browser.

Viewers That Do Not Need This At All

Several image viewers decode RAW themselves and ignore Windows entirely, which is the better route if you mostly want to browse rather than integrate with Explorer.

• FastStone Image Viewer pairs full-screen RAW preview with an EXIF panel.
• XnView reads over 700 formats and converts in batches.
• IrfanView handles RAW through plugins, with batch conversion attached.
• ImageGlass is the modern-looking one, and nomacs opens the RAW and PSD files most built-in viewers refuse.

For the data behind the picture rather than the picture itself, ExifToolGUI reads and edits the EXIF, IPTC and XMP fields embedded in every shot.

Older Windows and Maker Codecs

Raw Image Extension needs Windows 10 version 1903 or later. On anything older, the manufacturers' own codecs are the fallback, though all of them are frozen.

• Canon RAW Codec for CRW and CR2 on 32-bit Windows, discontinued.
• NEF Codec, Nikon's own, and Sony RAW Codec for ARW.
• Pentax RAW Codec for PEF previews.
• Microsoft Camera Codec Pack for multi-brand support on Windows 7 and 8.

The Other Windows Image Extensions

RAW is one gap of several. The same Store mechanism fills the rest.

• HEIF Image Extensions for the HEIC photographs an iPhone produces.
• WebP Image Extensions for Google's web format.
• JPEG XL Image Extension for .jxl, on Windows 11 24H2 or newer only.
• AV1 Codec, which covers AVIF stills as well as video.

Quick questions

Download Raw Image Extension and see your camera photos in File Explorer at last, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.