Looking for a lightweight WebP viewer for Windows that doesn't sacrifice performance? QuickImageViewer (QIV) is a fast image viewer built with C++ and native Win32 APIs, designed for users who demand speed and direct control. Whether you need a portable image viewer with no install required, or simply want to escape the bloat of modern software, QIV provides a seamless experience for modern formats like WebP, JPEG XL, and JPEG.
It delivers 90%+ feature parity with legacy viewers at a fraction of the footprint (sub-300 KB).
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You can download the latest version of the viewer from the Releases page.
Built with native C++ for maximum efficiency (sub-300 KB).
- ⚡ Extreme Efficiency: sub-300 KB footprint with near-instant startup.
- 🧳 Portable: Fully self-contained; runs perfectly from any folder or USB drive with no installation required.
- 👻 Service-Like Persistence: Stays resident in RAM and "ghosts" into the background (Esc to hide), ready for instant recall.
- 🩹 Self-Healing: Automatically manages its own registry paths and file associations—just run it once after moving to any location.
- 🛠️ Zero-Magic Design: Native WIC-based decoding, explicit state management, and direct Windows API calls for maximum transparency and speed.
- 🧠 Smart Resource Management: Caches images in VRAM and preloads neighbors for a stutter-free browsing experience.
Simply download the latest binary from the Releases page.
💡 Note: If you move the executable to a new folder, run it once. The application will automatically detect the path change, self-heal the registry settings, and restore file associations.
Designed for developers who value explicit, direct code over declarative abstractions:
main.cpp: Application lifecycle and instance management.WicDecoder.cpp: Low-level WIC image decoding.RendererD2D/GDI.cpp: Hardware-accelerated (Direct2D) or fallback (GDI) rendering.AppState.h: Centralized, queryable system state.
Requires CMake and an MSVC compiler.
git clone [https://github.com/icyhoty2k/QuickImageViewer.git](https://github.com/icyhoty2k/QuickImageViewer.git)
cd QuickImageViewer
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config ReleaseLicensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPLv3). See the LICENSE file for full details.