Which image and archive formats does PicView support?

Updated

PicView opens virtually all common image file types plus several specialized ones, and it can browse images stored inside archive and comic book files without extracting them first. It runs on Windows 10/11 and macOS, and is available in both portable and installable versions. The one catch: .7z and .cb7 archives require 7-Zip or WinRAR to be installed on your system.

Image formats

According to the PicView site, the viewer supports "virtually all image file types," including:

  • (Animated) WEBP — both still and animated WebP files
  • (Animated) GIF
  • SVG — vector graphics
  • AVIF
  • HEIC
  • PSD — Photoshop documents
  • And many others beyond this list

The animated format support is worth noting: if you work with animated WebP or GIF files, PicView will play them rather than showing only the first frame.

Archive and comic book formats

PicView can load and display images directly inside compressed archives, so you don't need to unpack a file just to look at its contents. Supported archive types include:

  • ZIP
  • RAR
  • CBR (comic book RAR)
  • CBZ (comic book ZIP)
  • .7z — requires 7-Zip or WinRAR installed
  • .cb7 — requires 7-Zip or WinRAR installed

The .7z and .cb7 limitation is the main thing to check before you rely on PicView for those formats. If you already have 7-Zip or WinRAR on your machine, they'll work; if not, you'd need to install one of them first.

What this means in practice

If your image collection spans standard formats, animated files, design files like PSD, and comic book archives, PicView lets you browse them all from one tool instead of juggling a photo viewer, a comic reader, and an archive utility. The archive support is especially useful for comic readers (CBR/CBZ) and for anyone who receives images packaged in ZIP or RAR files.

For .7z and .cb7 specifically, confirm you have 7-Zip or WinRAR installed — otherwise those files won't open in PicView even though the other archive formats will.

Quick reference

Format type Examples Notes
Standard images Common image types "Virtually all" supported
Animated Animated WEBP, animated GIF Plays animation
Vector SVG —
Modern/next-gen AVIF, HEIC —
Design PSD —
Archives ZIP, RAR, CBR, CBZ Opens without extracting
Archives (conditional) .7z, .cb7 Needs 7-Zip or WinRAR installed

If you want to verify a specific format before committing, the fastest check is to download the portable version and open a sample file — no installer or registry changes required.