Good questions.
Careful answers.

Compare file content rather than filenames. Fix My Photo Library computes SHA-256 for the selected photo files, so byte-identical content can match even after a rename or move. A filename match alone is not proof that two files contain the same data.

A backup result is marked verified only when enumeration and hashing complete and every unique source content is present. If a file cannot be read, the report stays incomplete. See the step-by-step photo backup verification guide.

The duplicate tool groups exact byte-for-byte matches. It does not claim two similar-looking photos are duplicates. You review the group, pin the photo to keep, and choose which copies to quarantine.

Quarantine is a separate folder with a recovery manifest. Restore rechecks the expected hash and chooses a new name if the original destination already exists. Read the safe exact-duplicate review guide.

Windows image codecs can fully decode some supported image files and fail on others. A failed decode is a diagnostic signal, not proof of physical corruption or a repair: the tool cannot reconstruct pixels that are missing from a damaged file.

The app reports known unsupported formats and resource limits separately. If a file is unavailable or changing, preserve it and retry from a stable copy rather than treating one failed check as proof of corruption. See the Windows photo-file health checklist.

EXIF capture time is embedded metadata; Windows Created and Modified are filesystem timestamps. They can disagree. EXIF wall-clock dates may also omit a timezone offset, making conversion to UTC ambiguous.

The app previews the date and offset. It does not guess a missing timezone. Corrected copies are the default. An explicitly confirmed in-place filesystem timestamp option has a journal-based Undo while content and timestamps still match; embedded EXIF is never rewritten. See the EXIF photo-date guide.

No photo contents are uploaded by the app. Scans, hashes, decoding, copies and quarantine operations are performed locally. Reports are saved only in the folder you choose. Job history stores a local summary; the activity log and action journal retain operation paths needed for review and recovery.

See the app privacy notice. Microsoft Store licensing and Windows platform services are separate from photo processing.

No. Image inspection depends on codecs installed on that Windows PC. Animated frames are checked within a fixed aggregate pixel budget. If a codec is unavailable or a file exceeds the decode limit, the app reports that separately from a failed supported-format decode.

Install codecs only from a source you trust. The app does not download a codec or upload the photo to inspect it.

Do not treat an incomplete scan as verified. Review access-denied, missing, changed-during-scan and cloud-placeholder rows. Make the source and backup available, then run the check again. The app can offer to copy content it confirmed missing, but it rechecks source hashes and never overwrites an existing file.

Yes. History shows recent job summaries and opens or exports a local activity.txt log with timestamps, outcomes, counts and paths for copy, quarantine, restore and report-export actions. Clearing job summaries does not delete the text log or recovery journal.

Yes. Choose System, Light or Dark in the app header. The preference is stored locally; Windows high-contrast colors take precedence.

If the backup contains a supported healthy image at the same relative path, select the damaged result and review the side-by-side preview. The app can create a new hash-verified copy in a separate recovery folder; it does not repair image data. Keep the source and backup while you check the recovered copy. Follow the photo backup recovery guide.