What are the best FOSS image viewers for Linux?

Question

20

Options
Considered

221

User
Recs.

Nov 26, 2020

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 20 OptionsWhy?

Best FOSS image viewers for Linux	Price	License	OS
90 nomacs	-	-	-
89 qimgv	Open-Source	GPLv3	Linux, Windows
-- feh	-	-	-
-- Eye of Gnome (eog)	-	-	-
-- Viewnior	-	-	-

See Full List

19 Other Options Considered

Eye of Gnome (eog)

Top Con

No APNG support

And it won't be it seems https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=151281 See More

Top Pro

More lightweight than other kde or gnome dependent applications like gwenview, gthumb or kphotoalbum

Top Con

Still have gnome dependencies

Top Pro

Double-click to view Fullscreen

By default, double-clicking on the current image opens it in Fullscreen mode. This can be turned off in Preferences if desired See More

Top Pro

Image Slideshow

You can view a slideshow of all images in the current folder, and adjust the delay between images in the Preferences dialog See More

Top Pro

ESC key exits Fullscreen and program

Pressing the ESC key exits Fullscreen mode, as well as exits the program ... hence press the ESC key twice and you're out See More

Top Pro

Can set image as wallpaper

You can set the current image as your desktop wallpaper directly from within this program See More

See All

XnView

Add Video or Image

qView

Add Video or Image

Eye of MATE (eom)

Kirill Gorin's Experience

Ideal for occasional image viewing. See More

TruthfulSigyn's Experience

Ideal for occasional image viewing. See More

Ephoto

Add Video or Image

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score 66 · Accepted Answer

nomacs

Top Pro

Highly customizable

Top Con

Only partial support for HEIC

Apple's HEIC format is only partially supported. Nomacs can open individual images, but can't navigate among them. See More

Isti115's Experience

Usable as is without any extra configuration or learning curve, but very flexible for customizability needs. User interface has good interaction with mouse and keyboard as well! See More

Top Pro

Detailed view of image metadata

Top Con

Heavy compared to other Linux image viewers

Uses more memory and CPU than other lightweight image viewers. High CPU usage when starting. See More

NeighborlyVali's Experience

Usable as is without any extra configuration or learning curve, but very flexible for customizability needs. User interface has good interaction with mouse and keyboard as well! See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

Starts very quickly and has a small memory footprint. See More

Top Con

Returns to default settings after update

TolerantIxtab's Experience

Very large images See More

Top Pro

You can work with hot keys that can be reassigned as you want them

Top Con

Recent version has slowed down

The latest version (3.8) suddenly became very slow in Fedora 26. Slow to step from image to image; slow to open a directory; slow slow slow. Downgrading to the previous version (3.6) restored speed. See More

LivelyHeimarmene's Experience

One of the heaviest Linux image viewers regarding the resource usage (memory and CPU). Slow to start, but fast once open. See More

Top Pro

Simple and pleasant look

No cramped toolbars or large icons; the UI is cohesive, minimal and keeps out of your way. See More

Eugene Belousov's Experience

Similar to the good old XnView for Windows (not the MP version). Not quite as lightweight, but pretty good for 2019. See More

Top Pro

Frameless view

InsightfulTartarus's Experience

seems to be very useful See More

Top Pro

Lots of Image Adjustment Tools

Top Pro

Allows to cut (frame) images

It is important if you have to work with photos of documents and want to cut off the background on which you made photos. See More

Top Pro

Flexible thumbnail views

Can display thumbnails in a strip or a zoomable grid as well, also has hotkey for both of these. Opening a folder is one of the main actions on the toolbar! See More

Top Pro

Remembers last used folders

Often used folders (e.g., screenshots) can be quickly accessed. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Has builds for Windows, Mac and Linux. See More

Top Pro

Batch image processing

Has tools for applying conversions etc. to many files at once. See More

Top Pro

Comparing two images

This feature is called Synchronization. With the synchronization it is possible that multiple viewers perform the same action (like panning, zooming, etc.). This feature is useful when comparing two images. See more here. See More

See All

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The Best 1 of 20 OptionsWhy?

My Recommendation for nomacs

My Recommendation for nomacs

Highly customizable

Only partial support for HEIC

Detailed view of image metadata

Heavy compared to other Linux image viewers

Lightweight

Returns to default settings after update

You can work with hot keys that can be reassigned as you want them

Recent version has slowed down

Simple and pleasant look

Frameless view

Lots of Image Adjustment Tools

Allows to cut (frame) images

Flexible thumbnail views

Remembers last used folders

Cross-platform

Batch image processing

Comparing two images

19 Other Options Considered

My Recommendation for qimgv

My Recommendation for qimgv

Plugin Support

Fast and Lightweight

Simple UI

Ability to run shell scripts

Can support video playback

Open-Source/Libre

Customize Shortcuts

Support Linux and Windows

My Recommendation for feh

My Recommendation for feh

Minimalistic

Minimalistic

Loads up images faster than my imaginary girlfriend replies to my texts

My Recommendation for Eye of Gnome (eog)

My Recommendation for Eye of Gnome (eog)

No APNG support

More lightweight than other kde or gnome dependent applications like gwenview, gthumb or kphotoalbum

Still have gnome dependencies

Double-click to view Fullscreen

Image Slideshow

ESC key exits Fullscreen and program

Can set image as wallpaper

My Recommendation for Viewnior

My Recommendation for Viewnior

Lightweight design

Fast

Minimal interface

My Recommendation for gThumb

My Recommendation for gThumb

Easy to use

No delete confirmation

Feature packed

Not lightweight, needs a lot of gnome packages

Gets the job done without showing off its UI features

My Recommendation for Gwenview

My Recommendation for Gwenview

Quickly view image metadata

Very slow on remote folders

Easy to navigate folders

Not lightweight

Easily resize, crop, flip and rotate

Keyboard shortcuts can be redefined

Images can be sorted by name, date and size

My Recommendation for XnView

My Recommendation for XnView

My Recommendation for qView

My Recommendation for qView

My Recommendation for sxiv

My Recommendation for sxiv

Fast

Thumbnail mode

Userscripts can be applied to single images or thumbnail mode selection

Acts as a filter for images that interacts with the command line

My Recommendation for Eye of MATE (eom)

My Recommendation for Eye of MATE (eom)

My Recommendation for GPicView

My Recommendation for GPicView