What happened to 3D Viewer
3D Viewer was Microsoft’s free app for looking at 3D models on Windows. Microsoft added it to the list of deprecated Windows features in February 2026, which means it is no longer developed, and removed it from the Microsoft Store on July 1, 2026.
It went the way of Microsoft’s other 3D apps: 3D Builder left the Store in July 2024, and Paint 3D on November 4, 2024.
What that means in practice:
- A copy that is already installed keeps working. Microsoft no longer develops it.
- It can no longer be installed. Its page in the Microsoft Store is gone.
- Files still double-click to it where it is installed. Where it is not, Windows asks which app to use.
Microsoft’s own page about the change points to the Babylon.js Sandbox, a viewer that runs in the browser.
Do you need it?
Windows runs the same without it: nothing in the system depends on it. If you never open 3D files, you can uninstall it from Settings, under Apps. If you do, it keeps working, and it is worth knowing what to use when it no longer does: a new PC, or a format it never opened.
What opens the same files
3D Viewer opened STL, OBJ, GLB and glTF, PLY and 3MF files, and FBX until Microsoft turned it off in February 2024. These open them now:
| Program | Runs on | Opens | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| tab3d | A browser, on any system | STL, OBJ, GLB, glTF, PLY, 3MF, and STEP, IGES and DXF | A quick look and measuring, with nothing installed and nothing uploaded |
| Blender | Windows, macOS, Linux | STL, OBJ, glTF, PLY, FBX, and more | Editing, rendering and animation |
| F3D | Windows, macOS, Linux | STL, OBJ, glTF, PLY, and more | A small, fast viewer, free and open source |
| PrusaSlicer, Cura | Windows, macOS, Linux | STL, OBJ, 3MF | Preparing a model for a 3D printer |
FBX is the one format of 3D Viewer’s that tab3d does not open yet. Blender does.
In File Explorer, Microsoft’s free PowerToys add small pictures of STL files to their icons, so a folder of models can be told apart without opening each.
On a Mac with macOS 27, Preview opens STL, OBJ, PLY, glTF and USDZ files with nothing installed.
What opens here
Drop a file on any page of tab3d and it opens in the browser, on Windows, macOS, Linux, a phone or a tablet:
- The STL viewer measures size, volume and surface area, and finds holes before a print.
- The GLB viewer plays a glTF’s animations and checks the file.
- The OBJ viewer shows an OBJ with its materials and textures.
- The 3MF viewer shows a 3MF project’s colors and filaments.
Nothing is uploaded: the file is read by your own browser, as 3D Viewer read it on your own PC.
What this guide says about other programs was checked on their makers' own websites on . tab3d is not affiliated with any of them.
Questions
What is Microsoft 3D Viewer?
A free Windows app from Microsoft that showed 3D models: STL, OBJ, GLB and glTF, PLY, 3MF and FBX files. Microsoft deprecated it in February 2026, which means it is no longer developed, and removed it from the Microsoft Store on July 1, 2026.
Do I need 3D Viewer on my computer?
Only if you open 3D models with it. Windows does not need it to run, and nothing else depends on it. An installed copy keeps working; if you do not use it, you can uninstall it from Settings, under Apps.
Can I still download 3D Viewer?
Not from Microsoft. Its page in the Microsoft Store is gone, and Microsoft offers no other download. Copies offered elsewhere are not from Microsoft. A program or a page that opens the same files is the safer choice.
Why does 3D Viewer no longer open my FBX file?
Microsoft turned FBX off in 3D Viewer in February 2024, for security, and advises against turning it back on. Blender and F3D open FBX files. tab3d does not open FBX yet.
What opens 3D files on Windows now?
For a quick look, a web page such as tab3d opens STL, OBJ, GLB, glTF, PLY and 3MF files in the browser without an upload or an install. To install something, Blender is free and opens all of them but 3MF, and FBX too, and a slicer such as PrusaSlicer or Cura opens STL, OBJ and 3MF for 3D printing.