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Microsoft's 3D Viewer is gone. Your models still open.

Microsoft took 3D Viewer out of Windows in 2026. Open GLB, STL, OBJ, PLY, 3MF and DAE files in your browser instead, free, with nothing uploaded.

By 4 min read

A 3D model open in a browser window on Windows

Microsoft lists 3D Viewer among the Windows features it has removed, and points people to the Babylon.js Sandbox in its place. That page lists glTF, GLB and OBJ files, and not STL. If you double-clicked 3D files to look at them, here is a way that works in any browser.

What happened to 3D Viewer.

3D Viewer came with Windows 10 to show the models made in Paint 3D and 3D Builder. Microsoft took Paint 3D and 3D Builder away first, then listed 3D Viewer as removed from the Microsoft Store in 2026.

Open models in your browser instead.

Open the 3D viewer and drop a model on it. It opens GLB, glTF, STL, OBJ, PLY, 3MF, DAE and USDZ files, the formats 3D Viewer opened apart from FBX, which comes in a later update.

Nothing is uploaded: the model is read and drawn in the browser on your computer. KeepSimp can also be installed as an app from the browser's menu, and then opens without a connection.

What it does that 3D Viewer did not.

It measures: the size of the model at its real unit, its surface area, its volume when it is a closed shape, and the distance between any two points. It cuts through the model, lists its parts and saves a picture of it.

Further reading

Topics: microsoft 3d viewer alternative · 3d viewer windows 11 · 3d viewer online · free 3d viewer · open 3d file windows · 3d viewer no download

A little less theory. A little more doing.

Try it on your own terms, with a free browser tool.

Try the tool