Users often need to resize images to fit them better on websites, blogs, documents, or even within frames for printed output. Almost every general image-editing app for Windows has options for resizing pictures. Windows 11 also includes pre-installed apps you can utilize for resizing images to more ideal dimensions.

Here are some ways to resize images in Windows 11 with its pre-installed Microsoft apps and some third-party software alternatives.

1. How to Resize Images With Photos

Photos is primarily a default image viewer app that comes with Windows 11, but it does include some basic editing options. You can use that app to resize your images in pixels and percentage terms. These are the steps for resizing pictures with Photos:

  1. Open Photos by clicking Windows 11’s Start button and selecting that app’s pinned menu shortcut.
  2. Click All Photos to view your images.
    The All Photos button in Microsoft Phots
  3. Right-click an image for resizing and select Open.
  4. Click the See more (ellipses) button in the editing window that opens.
  5. Select the Resize image option.
    The Resize image option
  6. Select the Pixels option.
  7. Then input different pixel values in the Width and Height boxes. If you only modify one value, the other one will be automatically proportionally changed to retain the same aspect ratio.
    Image resize options in Photos
  8. Click Save to apply the resize.

Users who select the alternative Percentage option need to enter percentage values in the Width and Height boxes. Entering values like 80 and 90 will reduce the size of the image by 20 and 10 percent. Inputting higher numbers like 110 and 120 will increase the image’s size by 10 and 20 percent. Thus, the percentage size change amounts to how much the values are above or below 100.

The Resize box in Photos also includes a Quality bar setting. However, you can only use that setting for JPG output. Select the .jpg option in the File extension drop-down menu. Then drag the bar’s slider left or right to set the picture quality in the resized image.

2. How to Resize Images With Paint

Microsoft Paint is the raster graphics app bundled with Windows 11. It’s a relatively basic drawing and image-editing software compared with the likes of PhotoShop. However, utilizing Paint is fine for basic stuff like resizing and cropping images. Our Paint guide to resizing and cropping images includes full instructions for how you can change your images’ dimensions with that app.

paint's-resize-image-options
The resize image options in Paint 

3. How to Resize Images With Paint 3D

Paint 3D is an advanced version of the aforementioned Paint with options for adding and modifying three-dimensional objects. That Microsoft app also incorporates a tool for resizing images with your mouse and inputting values. This is how you can resize your images within Paint 3D in Windows 11:

  1. Paint 3D isn’t a pre-installed Windows 11 app. If you don’t have that app, open the Paint 3D page on the Microsoft Store website.
  2. Click Get in Store app on the Paint 3D app page.
  3. Select the Open Microsoft Store option to bring up Paint 3D in the app.
    Paint 3D in the Microsoft Store
  4. Click Get (the install option) to add Paint 3D to your app library.
  5. Select Start > All apps to view installed software on the menu.
  6. Scroll down and select Paint 3D.
  7. Then click Open and Browse files.
    The Browse files button in Paint 3D
  8. Select an image to resize, and click the Open option.
  9. Click the View more options (three-dot) menu button.
  10. Select Canvas options to access options for resizing the image’s dimensions.
    The resize image options in Paint 3D
  11. Click the Resize image with canvas checkbox to select that option.
  12. Now left-click a corner of the image, hold the mouse button, and drag the mouse cursor left/right to reduce or expand the picture. The values in the Height and Width boxes change as you drag the mouse.
  13. When you’re done resizing, click the Menu button.
  14. Select the Save option. Or you can select Save as if you prefer not to overwrite the original file.

You can also enter different values in the Width and Height boxes to resize the image. Select Pixels or Percentage on the drop-down menu to change the value type. Deselect the Lock aspect ratio option if you don’t want to retain the image’s proportions.

4. How to Resize Images With Edge

Canary and beta versions of the Edge web browser include a built-in image editor feature with which you can resize images. You can try out that feature as covered in our article about editing images in Edge. However, you’ll have to make do with extensions (or web apps) for resizing images in Edge stable for now. This is how you can resize your pictures in Edge with the Image Magic Extension:

  1. Open the Image Magic page in Microsoft Edge.
  2. Click Get to add Image Magic to Edge.
  3. Then press the Extensions (jigsaw piece) button in Edge.
    The Extensions menu in Edge
  4. Click Image Magic to bring up that extension’s window.
  5. You’ll need to drag and drop a picture file onto the Image Magic window to resize it. Open a folder containing some images and drag one onto the Image Magic window.
  6. Select the Resize checkbox.
  7. Click Fill with image dimensions for the Resize option to see the current values for the selected picture in the Width and Height boxes.
    The Image Magic window
  8. Input alternative pixel values in the two Width and Height boxes.
  9. Press the Convert button to download the resized image. You’ll find that image in whatever folder you’ve set Edge to download files in.

5. How to Resize Images via Windows 11’s Context Menu

Some third-party editing apps for images integrate with File Explorer’s context menu. CoolTweak and Image Resizer are two such apps that add options for resizing images to the context menu. Those options enable you to resize images by right-clicking their files in Explorer. Check out our guide about adding resize image options to the context menu for further details about CoolTweak and Image Resizer.

6. How to Batch Resize Images With FastStone Photo Resizer

FastStone Photo Resizer is a freeware app designed for applying basic image editing to multiple files. You can utilize that software to batch resize, crop, rename, and convert image files. It also includes options for adding watermarks and text to pictures. You can batch-resize images with FastStone Photo Resizer as follows:

  1. Open the FastStone Photo Resizer download page.
  2. Click the green download option for the EXE file.
  3. Double-click FSResizerSetup44.exe in whatever folder includes the downloaded FastStone Photo Resizer setup file.
  4. Select Next > I Agree > Install within the software’s setup wizard.
  5. Open the FastStone Photo Resizer software.
  6. Select images to resize in the Batch Convert tab by clicking their files and pressing the Add button.
  7. Then select the Use Advanced Options checkbox.
  8. Press the Advanced Options button.
    The FastStone Photo Resizer 4.4
  9. Click the Resize checkbox if it’s not already selected.
  10. Select the In Pixels radio button.
  11. Input values in the New Width and New Height boxes. Or select an option on the Pick a Standard Size drop-down menu.
    The resize settings in the Advanced Options window
  12. Click OK to exit Advanced Options.
  13. Select Browse for the Output Folder option. Choose a folder to include the resized files, and click the OK button.
  14. Press Convert to resize the images.

FastStone Photo Resizer also includes additional In Percentage, In Print Size, and Resize based on one side options for resizing. You can select quarter, half, double, or triple options on the percentage preset drop-down menu. The In Print Size option enables you to resize images in centimeters and inches for printing purposes.

Make Your Images Fit Better by Resizing Them in Windows 11

So, there are various ways you can resize photographs and pictures with different Windows 11 apps. The pre-installed Photos and Paint apps are sufficient for resizing images in pixels and percentages. However, you can resize images with your mouse in Paint 3D. FastStone Photo Resizer is an especially useful app for users who need to resize single or multiple images for printing. Or check out CoolTweak to resize your photos from the context menu.