Year groups
The timeline groups photos by year and keeps the counts visible, so a sparse year does not disappear into a long grid.
Chronological browsing
Thirty-nine years, one rail.
A long library needs a way to move through time. Live Gallery builds date groups and a timeline rail, so a decade is a jump rather than an endless scroll.
- Date groups
- Year rail
- Desktop gallery
2026412
20252,840
20141,206
20091,905
1998588
An illustrative year rail. The counts come from the local index.
A long library, grouped by the dates already in the files.
Time as a way in
Move by decade, not by scroll.
Folders tell you where a photo lives; dates tell you when it happened. The timeline uses the dates already in the metadata to give the library a second shape.
A rail to jump
The timeline rail is a quick way to move across a long library without dragging a scrollbar through thousands of thumbnails.
The same local index
Timeline browsing is another view over the local catalogue. It does not upload, re-import or rewrite the library.
Read the date
The metadata pass reads the capture date where the file or sidecar carries it.
Build the groups
Photos are grouped into years and the timeline rail is derived from those groups.
Jump through time
Use the rail to move between years, then browse the thumbnails inside the group.
The honest part
Dates need to exist
- A photo with no usable date may not land in the timeline where you expect.
- The timeline reads dates; it does not invent a capture date from the image.
- It is a browse surface, not an editor for correcting dates.
Good questions
Timeline, answered.
Where do timeline dates come from?
From the photo metadata and supported sidecars. The app does not guess a date from the pixels.
Can I browse by month as well as year?
The library is organised around date groups and a year rail; the gallery remains the main browsing surface.
Does the timeline upload anything?
No. It is a view over the local index.
Keep exploring
Related features.
Browse the library
Browse by face, tag and location.
Dedicated people, tags and locations views, plus folder and date filters. Search and object recognition are coming.
Locations
See where the library has been.
Photos with GPS are grouped by country, region and city using offline reverse geocoding.
Tags
Tags that survive the app.
Read existing keywords, add your own tags, and filter with real counts.
See it on your own library
Bring the folder.
Keep the originals.
Download the free beta, point it at a folder and try this on your own photos. No account, no upload, no card.
Windows 11 · Free 5,000-photo beta · No account needed