At the Adobe MAX conference on November 10, 2026, Adobe presented a collaboration with Microsoft. As a result, the Photos app in Windows 11 will get AI editing from Adobe. Neither company has so far given a date for all users.
The photo editor is set to receive four features: You extend an image beyond its edge, rotate a photo without losing any parts of the image, change a selected area with a text description, and remove objects along with a naturally filled-in background. In addition, there is a connection to Adobe Express.
What is changing in the photo editor?
Microsoft introduced the Photos app with a revamped editor on October 15, 2026. The tools are divided into four areas, which are called Crop, Enhance, Repair, and Stylize in the English interface. Participants in the Windows Insider Program have been able to test the new version since that day.
Photos app: new version and Adobe preview
Dates according to Microsoft and Adobe, as of November 15, 2026
- October 15, 2026New Photos app is released for Windows Insiders
- November 10, 2026Adobe announces AI editing and templates from Adobe Express
- December 2026Preview with Adobe features for Windows Insiders
- Later in 2026New Photos app planned for all Windows 11 users
For the Adobe features, Adobe names December and "the coming months"; a date for all users is missing.
Sources: Adobe Blog, Windows Experience Blog
From the app's photo view, a photo can be handed over to Adobe Express. There, Adobe first places your photo into a template before you continue working in Express, Adobe writes in its blog.
The new editor already has a tool for removing objects: Under Repair, you circle or paint over a distracting object, and an improved AI model fills in the removed spot, as Microsoft writes. Whether Adobe's feature replaces or complements this tool is not explained by Microsoft or Adobe in their posts. It is equally unclear whether the editing runs on your PC or in the cloud.
Who gets the features, and what do they cost?
In the introduction of its post, Adobe names December 2026 as the start of the preview for Windows Insiders. In the section on the features, the company writes more generally that the preview will come in the coming months. According to Microsoft's plan, the revamped Photos app is to reach all Windows 11 users later in 2026. Whether the Adobe features will be included then is not stated anywhere.
Neither company names a price, neither in euros nor in dollars. System requirements and an exact date for the features are also missing. Adobe likewise does not mention regions or a German interface. Whether your computer supports the features will therefore only become clear with the preview.
What this means for you
For photos that you edit on the side on a Windows 11 PC, you can try out from December as a Windows Insider how well extending and object removal work in the Photos app. The Insider preview is test software, so it is better not to set it up on your work computer.
For confidential client photos, wait until Microsoft or Adobe explain whether the editing runs locally or in the cloud.
How Adobe Express is structured is shown in the lesson on the platform overview, before you send photos from the app there.
What else Adobe showed at MAX 2026 and which of it is still in beta can be found in the article Adobe MAX 2026: Color Mode is here, AI assistants remain in beta.
Adobe presented the collaboration on November 10, 2026, and Microsoft presented the revamped photo editor on October 15, 2026.
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