Installation and first launch
Download and install photoKam Radar. The first time you run it, a 5-step welcome guide asks only where to look for photos, how to view them and which screen colors to use — and then you're ready to go. Finding photos and creating thumbnails happen quietly in the background, and the information about the photos found is stored only on this PC.
When to use it
- When you install photoKam Radar for the first time.
- When you move to a new PC and install it again (for your license, see Free version · Full version · License registration).
- When you skipped the welcome guide, or want to change where photoKam Radar looks for photos (a few folders ↔ the whole computer).
- When you want to take a tour of the features on the screen.
- When you update to a new version or uninstall the app.
Where to find it
- Installer: the Download page of this website.
- Welcome guide: appears automatically the first time you run the app after installing it. To see it again, click Settings at the bottom of the left sidebar → Welcome guide in the Application group → Show again.
- Screen tour: the compass button (Feature tour) on the right of the top bar, or Take a tour on the last step of the welcome guide.
- Photo finding (indexing) status and speed: the status bar at the very bottom of the window. For detailed settings, go to Settings → Indexing & storage → Background indexer.
- Updates: Settings → Application → Updates.
Step by step
A. Installing on Windows
- Download the installer
Download the Windows installer from the Download page of this website.
- Run the installer
Double-click the downloaded file. On the Welcome screen, go on to the next step.
- Accept the terms
Read the license agreement, accept it and go on to the next step.
- Check the installation folder
If you leave it as is, the app is installed in
C:\Program Files\photoKam Radar. - Install and approve
Click Install. If Windows asks something like "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?", click Yes.
- Launch right away
On the Finish screen, finish with Launch photoKam Radar checked. The app starts and the welcome guide appears.
B. Installing on macOS
The macOS version is for Macs with Apple silicon (M series). Where this guide says Ctrl for a shortcut, use ⌘ (Command) instead. It runs on macOS 13.3 or later.
- Double-click the downloaded
.dmgfile. - Drag the photoKam Radar icon to the Applications folder.
- Run it from the Applications folder
The first time you open it, if a confirmation saying the app was downloaded from the internet appears, click Open. The app is notarized by Apple, so no "unidentified developer" warning appears.
C. Finishing the welcome guide
- Read the welcome screen
Read the four promises and click Let's go.
- Choose where to look
If your photo folders are organized, add them with A few folders → Choose folders. If you're not sure where your photos are, leave The whole computer selected. Then click Next.
- Choose a view
Choose one of Grid · Tiles · List and click Next.
- Set the theme and selection color
Your choices show on screen as soon as you click. Click Next.
- Start
Check the summary and click Start (or Take a tour). Photo finding starts from this point.
D. Watching your photos appear
- Check the status bar
At the bottom left of the window, Scanning folders… → Reading photo information… → Creating thumbnails… appear in turn, along with the number of photos left and how many are processed per minute.
- Add new photos
When the button at the right end of the gallery toolbar changes to N new photos · Refresh, click it. So that the list doesn't jump while you scroll, newly found photos are added to the list only when you click the button. You can also press F5.
- Photos that appear first
Your user photo folders (Pictures, DCIM) are searched first, then the Desktop, Documents, Downloads and Videos folders, then your user folder, and finally everywhere else. That's why familiar photos show up quickly.
E. Showing the welcome guide again and changing where to look
- Open Settings at the bottom of the left sidebar (or press Ctrl+,).
- Click Show again under Welcome guide. The 5-step guide appears again, and the last button is Save.
- To change only where to look, choose A few folders or The whole computer in Where to look under Background indexer. Photo finding starts again with the new scope.
F. Updating
- After you start the app and the screen has fully appeared, it checks in the background a few seconds later whether a new version is available (Check for updates at startup — on by default).
- If there is a new version, the An update is available window shows the version number and what's new.
- Click Install now and a progress bar appears with n% downloaded · verify, then install; the update is downloaded → checked for file damage → installed, in that order (the button shows Installing… meanwhile). You can stop the download with Cancel download, and if it fails, the button changes to Try again.
- Click Later to close the window for this session only. You'll be reminded the next time you run the app.
- To check yourself, click Settings → Check for updates now → Check now. If you have the latest version, it says "You're up to date".
G. Uninstalling (Windows)
- In Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps, find photoKam Radar and uninstall it.
- Uninstalling closes the running app and the background indexer, and also removes the entry that starts it automatically when you sign in.
- Your organizing records, such as ratings, flags, tags and edits, stay on the PC. If you reinstall, you can pick up where you left off. Your original photos, of course, stay as they are.
Result
When you finish the guide, the gallery opens, and you can follow the progress of photo finding in the status bar at the bottom. Photos whose thumbnails are being created show a loading icon, and files for which no thumbnail can be created show a ⃠ mark.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Where | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome guide | Enter | Next step (Start on the last step) |
| Welcome guide | ← · → | Previous · next step |
| Welcome guide (only when shown again) | Esc | Skip |
| Screen tour | → · Enter / ← | Next / previous step |
| Screen tour | Esc | Close |
| Anywhere | Ctrl+, | Open Settings |
| Anywhere | F1 | Open the user guide included with the app (short version) |
In the macOS version, use ⌘ (Command) instead of Ctrl (for example, ⌘+,).
Good to know
If your photos are organized in one or two folders, A few folders is quieter and faster. If you want to find everything, including external drives and old backups, The whole computer is more convenient.
You can change the photo-finding speed right away by clicking the status text in the status bar and choosing Eco · Balanced (default) · Performance (Screen layout — Status bar).
Photo finding pauses automatically so that it doesn't get in the way of using your computer: while a full-screen game or video is running, while running on battery, when free disk space is low, and while you watch a video in this app. It goes slowly while you use the app and speeds up when you step away.
"Your files are never modified" on the first step is a promise about finding, showing and correcting photos. Photo editing and Rotate 90° in the grid and full view also leave the original untouched and store your changes separately as edits. The only things that actually change files are file operations you run yourself: Rename, moving with Organize ▾, Move to Recycle Bin, pasting into the grid (Ctrl+V) and Apply for video rotation (Viewing and selecting photos).
If you click Skip in the welcome guide, photo finding may not start. If the status bar shows a red dot with Indexer is off or Indexer not found, click Restart under Settings → Background indexer.
The background indexer keeps running even after you close the app. To stop it from starting automatically every time you turn on the computer, turn off Settings → Start automatically at logon (when it's off, photos are found only while photoKam Radar is running).
During an update or uninstallation, the running photoKam Radar and the background indexer are closed automatically. If you were editing, click Done first to close the editor.
Frequently asked questions
Does installing copy my photos somewhere else?
No. Your photos stay where they are; only organizing information such as the list, thumbnails and ratings is created separately on this PC.
I have hundreds of thousands of photos. How long does it take to find them all?
It depends on the number of photos and the speed of your disk. While you use the app, Balanced aims for about 120 photos per minute, Performance about 600 and Eco about 30. It speeds up when you step away. To finish quickly, switch to Performance in the status bar.
I chose the wrong scope in the welcome guide.
Change it in Settings → Where to look, or choose again with Welcome guide → Show again.
Does it find photos on cloud drives (OneDrive and the like)?
Cloud drives and network drives are off at first. Turning them on makes your files download, so turn them on in the Volumes screen only when you need to.
What information is sent over the internet?
The contents and paths of your photos and files are never sent. The internet is used only to load map images, to check for updates, and for Send anonymous usage statistics (an anonymous installation ID, install · update · launch · exit records and usage time, app version, OS and its version, CPU type (x64 · ARM), language · region, and whether the copy is licensed — can be turned off in Settings).
I clicked Later in the update window, but it appears again.
Later closes the window for this session only. You'll be reminded the next time you run the app. A version marked This update is required. has no Later and must be installed.
If I uninstall and reinstall, will my ratings and edits be lost?
No, they remain. Uninstalling leaves your organizing records on the PC, so you can pick up where you left off after reinstalling.