XnView Software

Hi, I'm a relatively new user of Xnview MP. At first, I was impressed by the capabilities of this application, but soon I encountered a problem that calls its usefulness into question. Namely, this image browser notoriously refuses to show some images in the Viewer, under certain situations. There are two such situations:

1. A new image (e.g. downloaded from the net or created by myself) appears in a directory I want to browse. This new image can be ignored by the Viewer for several hours until it becomes visible. Its miniature is seen in the Browser window, but the Viewer refuses to display it.

2. I am to compare a selection of images from the same directory. In every other image browser (including XnView Classic) I just have to select these files in the Browser window and open the Viewer. The selected images are then displayed sequentially. In my XnView MP it does not work. The Viewer would show the first image in the selection, and then some random pictures from the directory. This problem does not occur if the selection includes two files that are adjacent in the Browser window, but that's not much consolation.

I'm sure there must be some remedy but I couldn't find it. Let me stress that I met this problem in different versions of MP, installed on two different Windows 10 computers (at the moment I'm using the newest version of the app - 1.9.8.). I would be grateful for some effective advice—because MP, if freed from this bug, would be a truly excellent application.

Thanks, K.

Kerbicz wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 8:06 pm 2. I am to compare a selection of images from the same directory. In every other image browser (including XnView Classic) I just have to select these files in the Browser window and open the Viewer. The selected images are then displayed sequentially. In my XnView MP it does not work. The Viewer would show the first image in the selection, and then some random pictures from the directory. This problem does not occur if the selection includes two files that are adjacent in the Browser window, but that's not much consolation.

Could that possibly be a sort order settings issue: in the browser, View >Sort by with multiple display sub order options available... ?

Kerbicz wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 8:06 pm 1. A new image (e.g. downloaded from the net or created by myself) appears in a directory I want to browse. This new image can be ignored by the Viewer for several hours until it becomes visible. Its miniature is seen in the Browser window, but the Viewer refuses to display it.

I cannot reproduce

Kerbicz wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 8:06 pm 2. I am to compare a selection of images from the same directory. In every other image browser (including XnView Classic) I just have to select these files in the Browser window and open the Viewer. The selected images are then displayed sequentially. In my XnView MP it does not work. The Viewer would show the first image in the selection, and then some random pictures from the directory. This problem does not occur if the selection includes two files that are adjacent in the Browser window, but that's not much consolation.

is one of the files already open in Viewer?
if so, check 'Allow multiple Viewer tabs for the same file' in Settings>Interface

Thakks for the answers. In detail:

@cday I don't get your remark, I must admit. "... multiple display sub order options..." - I don't know what it is. Under View >Sort by I see just various types of ordering....

@user0: I shall try your solution. I will need some time to see if it works, for the display malfunction I described above appeared only from time to time; it will take some time to see if it has stopped appearing at all. Thanks.

Kerbicz wrote: Sun Dec 21, 2025 8:37 pm @cday I don't get your remark, I must admit. "... multiple display sub order options..." - I don't know what it is. Under View >Sort by I see just various types of ordering....

Difficult to express clearly, an example for sort by modified date:

View > Sort by -- Modified date -- Descending -- normal order

To see all available options, scroll down the long list of available options.

So not a single selection to define the sort order, but three possible selections required.