Available now · v1.0.0

LiteView: the tiny desktop viewer for formats Windows won't open

A ~2 MB image viewer for Windows, Linux and macOS with first-class support for SVG, WebP and AVIF — plus PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP and ICO — with thumbnails included. No codec packs, no 200 MB Electron bundle.

Download latest release Installation instructions

Free and open source under the MIT license. Source code on GitHub.

Problem & solution

The stock viewer can't open modern formats

Windows' built-in Photos app still can't open AVIF, WebP or SVG without extra codec packs — and won't thumbnail them either. LiteView opens all three natively, using the operating system's own web rendering engine (WebView2 on Windows, WebKitGTK on Linux, WKWebView on macOS) to decode them, so there's nothing extra to install beyond the app itself.

Features

What LiteView does

Modern formats, natively

SVG, WebP and AVIF decode through the OS's own webview engine — no codec packs required.

Actually lightweight

The whole app is about 2 MB. It cold-starts almost instantly and runs no background services.

Thumbnails everywhere

A filmstrip and a full grid view, lazy-loaded and prioritized for what's currently on screen.

A real viewer

Zoom at the cursor, pan, rotate, fit-to-window or 1:1, fullscreen, and a pixelated mode for inspecting pixel art past 300% zoom.

Keyboard-first

Arrow keys to move between images, G for grid, F for fullscreen, 0/1 for fit/actual size — everything reachable without the mouse.

Cross-platform

One codebase ships to Windows, Linux and macOS, packaged natively for each.

SVG WebP AVIF PNG JPEG GIF BMP ICO

Use cases

Who LiteView is for

Designers & developers

Quickly preview SVG assets and exported icons without opening a design tool or browser tab.

Photographers

Browse folders of modern AVIF/WebP exports with fast thumbnails and smooth zoom on large photos.

Anyone downloading modern web images

Open AVIF and WebP files saved from the web the moment double-clicking them stops working in Windows.

How it works

Usage

Launch LiteView from the app menu, or run liteview <image-or-folder> — opening one image loads its whole folder into the filmstrip.

Key	Action
`← / → / Space`	Previous / next image
`Home / End`	First / last image
Mouse wheel	Zoom at cursor
Drag	Pan
Double-click	Toggle fit / 100%
`+ / -`	Zoom in / out
`0 / 1`	Fit to window / actual size
`R`	Rotate 90°
`G`	Grid view
`F`	Fullscreen
`Ctrl+O / Ctrl+Shift+O`	Open folder / open file
`Esc`	Leave fullscreen / grid

Installation

Install LiteView

Download the package for your OS from the latest release, then follow the steps below.

Windows 10 / 11

Unzip the download, then run:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install.ps1

Installs per-user to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\LiteView — no admin rights needed — adds a Start Menu shortcut, and registers LiteView under "Open with" and Settings → Default apps. To make it the default for a format, right-click a file → Open with → Choose another app → LiteView → Always (Windows requires this last step to be manual). Uninstall with uninstall.ps1.

Linux

Install the WebKitGTK dependency, then run the installer:

sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0
bash packaging/install-linux.sh

Per-user install, no root needed for the app itself. Registers a desktop entry and sets LiteView as the default viewer for AVIF, WebP and SVG automatically. Uninstall with packaging/uninstall-linux.sh.

macOS 13+

Build the app bundle from the downloaded package:

bash packaging/build-macos-app.sh

Produces a universal LiteView.app (Intel + Apple Silicon) — drag it into Applications. The bundle is unsigned, so the first launch needs right-click → Open.

Permissions

What LiteView accesses, and why

As a desktop app, LiteView doesn't request browser-style permissions — it accesses your system directly, but only for what it needs. See the privacy policy for the full picture.

Capability	Why it's needed
Filesystem	Reads the image files and folders you explicitly open. LiteView never scans your disk beyond the folder you point it at.
Local storage	Remembers the last folder you opened, saved next to the app, so it can offer to reopen it on next launch.
OS dialogs & shell	Native "Open file/folder" dialogs, and an optional "Show in Explorer/Finder" action.
Window & display	Fullscreen toggling and window sizing.
Network	None. LiteView has no network capability and makes no network requests.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Why can't Windows open my AVIF or WebP file?

Windows' stock Photos app doesn't include decoders for AVIF, WebP or SVG out of the box. LiteView opens all three directly, using the OS's built-in web rendering engine to decode them instead of requiring separate codec packs.

Does LiteView send any of my images or data anywhere?

No. LiteView has no network permissions and makes no network requests. Every file you view is read from disk and decoded locally.

Does LiteView set itself as my default viewer automatically?

On Linux, the installer sets LiteView as the default for AVIF, WebP and SVG automatically. On Windows, Windows itself blocks programs from silently changing your default app — you set it manually via Open with → Choose another app → LiteView → Always.

How large is LiteView?

Around 2 MB in total — two files on Windows (the executable and a packed resources file) versus the roughly 200 MB a typical Electron-based viewer bundles.

Is LiteView free and open source?

Yes. LiteView is released under the MIT license and the full source is available on GitHub.