Local file review
SlideScope opens supported microscopy files from the computer. Opening a shared link is optional, and linked files can be cached locally for review.
Digital pathology & microscopy viewer Windows & macOS
OPEN ANY MICROSCOPY SLIDE IN SECONDS.
CZI, ND2, SVS, DICOM, and TIFF. Measure, annotate, share, and quantify with AI — in the cloud or right on your machine — in one fast app for Windows and macOS.
Student?Researcher?Scientist?Educator?Technician?Pathologist?Doctor? SlideScope — built for every one of you. Try it free.
3-day free trial · PayPal or card approval required · cancel anytime Up to 2 devices Desktop + cloud
Runs on your machine
- Open files & links
- Measure & annotate
- On-device AI quantification
Opening, viewing, measurement and quantification all happen locally. No upload required.
Cloud AI is optional
- Share slide packages
- AI Analysis
AI Analysis sends only a compressed view of the current frame, and asks before the first time.
- Code-signed installer
- SlideScope 1.8.38 2026-09-06
- For research, education and review — not for diagnosis
- Read trust & data handling
Open, review, measure, and annotate microscopy files with ease
SlideScope is a desktop digital pathology and microscopy viewer for Windows and macOS. Researchers, educators, laboratories, and pathology teams use it to open whole slide images from Aperio, Hamamatsu, 3DHISTECH, Leica, and Ventana scanners (SVS, NDPI, MRXS, SCN, BIF, QPTIFF) alongside CZI, ND2, LIF, IMS, DICOM, and TIFF microscopy files in one focused workspace.
Use calibrated measurements, precise annotations, shared slides, side-by-side comparison, and AI-assisted analysis without the cost or complexity of a heavy image-management platform. Whole slide imaging, histology, and virtual microscopy review all run from the same window, on your own machine.
What to know before you trust it with your slides
Accounts and saved notes
Accounts manage subscription access and can store slide notes. Do not place patient-identifying or restricted research information in saved notes unless institutional policy permits it.
AI Analysis
AI Analysis is optional and sends the visible frame to the hosted analysis service. Do not use it with data that your organisation does not allow you to send to that service.
Clinical-use boundary
SlideScope is intended for research, education, and review. It is not presented as a turnkey clinical diagnostic platform; diagnostic use requires institutional validation and regulatory review.
Features
- CZI for Zeiss microscopy images
- ND2 for Nikon time-lapse, Z-stack, and multidimensional microscopy files
- SVS for Aperio whole-slide pathology images
- NDPI, VMS, VMU, MRXS, SCN, BIF, SVSLIDE, QPTIFF, and AVS scanner slides from Hamamatsu, 3DHISTECH, Leica, Ventana, Aperio, Vectra, and Agilent ARGOS
- DICOM for research and education medical imaging review
- TIFF and microscopy TIFF export workflows
- LIF for Leica confocal and widefield microscopy files
- IMS for Imaris/Bitplane multi-channel imaging files
Search and AI discovery
- microscopy image viewer
- histology slide viewer
- digital pathology viewer
- whole slide imaging viewer
- microscopy image analysis
- cell counting software
- nuclei segmentation software
- CZI viewer
- ND2 viewer
- SVS viewer
- NDPI viewer
- DICOM viewer
- TIFF viewer
Release structure
- Windows 10/11 and macOS builds
- SSL.com code-signed Windows downloads
- Account-linked saved slide notes
- Brightness, contrast, and gamma controls with per-channel colours
- Export the current view or a selected region as an image
- Localized release notes and product documentation
- Slide overview navigator and file details without opening a slide
- On-device segmentation and object counting with folder batch runs
Find the right microscopy guide
Start with your file format, workflow, or current software. Each guide gives you a focused path to the details you need.
Digital pathology
Whole slide imaging and pathology
- Digital pathology viewerWhole slide images on Windows and macOS
- What is digital pathology?Scanners, whole slide images, formats, and viewers
- Whole slide image viewer comparisonEight WSI viewers on platform, price, and formats
- Histology slide viewerHistopathology sections and virtual microscopy
- Slide scanner image viewerBrightfield whole-slide scanner output
- Open NDPI scanner slidesHamamatsu NanoZoomer whole-slide review
File viewers
Open a file format
- Open CZI filesZeiss channels, Z-stacks, and metadata
- Open ND2 filesNikon time-lapse and multidimensional review
- Open SVS filesAperio whole-slide pyramid navigation
- Open MRXS files3DHISTECH slides and their companion folder
- Open TIFF and OME-TIFF filesTIFF and OME-TIFF viewing and export
- Open DICOM filesFrame navigation and study metadata
- File compatibilityExtensions, dimensions, codecs, and limits
Use cases
Explore a workflow
- Quantify cells and nucleiCounts, density and intensity on your own machine
- Learn SlideScopeShort task guides from install to real results
- Microscopy image analysisWhere viewing ends and analysis begins
- Microscopy image viewerOverview for mixed-format laboratories
- Saved annotationsNotes and regions that stay with the slide
- Online vs desktop viewersWhen a browser viewer is enough, and when it is not
- Trust and data handlingWhat stays on your machine and what does not
Software comparisons
Compare viewer options
- Which viewer to try firstA short recommendation by file type and job
- ImageJ and Fiji alternativeSimple review before deeper analysis
- QuPath and napari alternativeLightweight review without pipelines
- CellProfiler alternativeViewing and measurement as complements
- ImageScope alternative for MacWhole-slide review beyond Windows
- ZEN lite alternativeCZI review without the Zeiss suite
- NIS-Elements Viewer alternativeND2 review on Windows and macOS
Install and macOS guides
Install and open files on Mac
Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 5 reviews
SlideScope made it much easier for our lab to open CZI and ND2 files without jumping between different tools. The interface is simple, the zoom and navigation feel smooth, and the AI Analysis panel is surprisingly helpful when we need a quick explanation of what we are looking at.
Very practical viewer for day-to-day microscopy work. I mainly use it to review large SVS slides, check metadata, and export views for collaboration. It feels lightweight, focused, and much faster to explain to new team members than the heavier software we used before.
What I like most is that SlideScope does not try to be complicated. I can drag in a microscopy file, move through slices, measure areas, and get a clear AI-generated description when I need context. It saves time, especially when reviewing images with students.
Opening microscopy files from shared links is a big advantage for our workflow. We often receive files from collaborators, and SlideScope makes it easy to inspect them quickly without a long setup process. The support inside the app also gives the product a very personal feeling.
For the price, SlideScope gives us exactly what we need: CZI, ND2, SVS, DICOM, and TIFF support, smooth viewing, measurement tools, and clear AI readouts. It is especially useful for research and teaching where we need quick, reliable image review without a complex learning curve.
Independent comparison guide
AlternativesMicroscopy viewer alternatives for practical file review
Evaluate SlideScope when you need one desktop app that opens mixed microscopy files and quantifies standard objects on your own machine. Keep the original tool when you need microscope control, programmable image processing, scripted analysis pipelines, or institutional image management.
FAQ
What is SlideScope?
SlideScope is a desktop microscopy and medical imaging viewer for Windows and macOS. It supports CZI, ND2, SVS, DICOM, and TIFF review workflows.
Who is it for?
It is built for research labs, microscopy core facilities, educators, students, and pathology review teams that need practical file review, annotations, measurements, metadata, and export.
How does AI Analysis work?
AI Analysis reads the visible frame and returns a formatted expert-style explanation with language selection, copy/share controls, and text zoom. It is for research, education, and review workflows.
How do pricing and the free trial work?
Every new account starts with a free 3-day trial with full access to every feature — no charge today. After that SlideScope is $14.99 USD per month, and you can cancel anytime. Use one subscription on up to 2 desktop devices—Windows, macOS, or one of each—at no extra cost. Cloud-powered AI Analysis, shared views, and account-linked slide notes are included too. An individual annual option costs $149.99 USD per year, about two months free, and shared lab plans start at $49 USD per month for up to 5 contributor seats, with tiers up to 30 seats.
Is it a good histology slide viewer?
Yes, for histology and histopathology research, teaching, and review. Scanned sections open at full resolution, structures measure in calibrated micrometres using the pixel size recorded by the scanner, and annotations stay attached to the slide. Virtual microscopy courses use it because each student runs it locally.
Can it open whole slide imaging from a slide scanner?
Yes. SlideScope opens Aperio SVS, pyramidal TIFF and OME-TIFF, and Hamamatsu NDPI, VMS, and VMU, 3DHISTECH MRXS, Leica SCN, Ventana BIF, Aperio SVSLIDE, Vectra/PerkinElmer QPTIFF, and Agilent ARGOS AVS through the OpenSlide backend. It reads the scanner image pyramid, so gigapixel slides open on an ordinary laptop with no image server. MRXS, VMS, and VMU slides open from local storage only, because their pixels live in a companion folder, and a few vendor layouts such as multi-region SCN slides are declined with a clear message. It does not read Philips iSyntax or Olympus VSI.
Is SlideScope image analysis software?
Yes, for the quantification most laboratories actually need. Alongside viewing, calibrated measurement, metadata inspection, and annotation, Local Quantification segments nuclei, cells, or particles on your own computer and reports calibrated counts, density per square millimetre, morphology, per-channel mean intensity, and marker positivity, with CSV, GeoJSON, mask TIFF, and methods-summary exports and folder batch runs. What it does not do is scripted or custom pipelines, so ImageJ or Fiji, CellProfiler, and QuPath remain the right tools for bespoke analysis. Results are for research use and need visual quality control.
Can I compare two slides side by side?
Yes. Open a second slide beside the first and both panes stay on the same part of the tissue at the same magnification, which is the usual way to read an H&E against its IHC restain. Scale is matched in micrometres rather than by zoom factor, so two scans digitised at different resolutions genuinely correspond instead of only appearing to. Panning or zooming either pane moves the other.
Can I export measurements and annotations to QuPath?
Yes. Measurements, notes, and saved regions export as GeoJSON, which QuPath, ASAP, and the Python tooling around them read directly. Coordinates are written at full slide resolution rather than at the zoom level you happened to be viewing, so regions land in the right place. CSV export is also available for measurement tables.
Can I send someone the exact view I am looking at?
Yes. A shared view link carries the slide together with the position, zoom, and plane, so the person you send it to opens the same field of view instead of hunting across a gigapixel scan. Installed copies of SlideScope register a slidescope:// handler and open the link with one click; anyone without the app sees what the link points at on the website first. This is what makes remote review and teaching practical.
Is SlideScope a digital pathology viewer?
Yes. SlideScope is a desktop digital pathology viewer for Windows and macOS: it opens whole slide images from Aperio, Hamamatsu, 3DHISTECH, Leica, Ventana, and Akoya scanners at full resolution, measures in calibrated micrometres, keeps annotations attached to the slide, compares an H&E against its IHC side by side, and exports regions as GeoJSON for QuPath. It is intended for research, education, and review, not for clinical diagnosis.
What is digital pathology?
Digital pathology is the practice of scanning glass slides into whole slide images and then viewing, sharing, annotating, and analysing those images on a computer instead of at a microscope. A scanner produces a gigapixel image pyramid in a vendor format such as SVS, NDPI, or MRXS; a viewer such as SlideScope reads that pyramid so the slide opens in seconds on an ordinary laptop.
Is there a free version of SlideScope?
There is no permanently free tier. Every new account gets a free 3-day trial with every feature, and after that SlideScope is $14.99 USD per month, cancel anytime. If you need a free tool, the comparison pages on this site explain when QuPath, ImageScope, or NDP.view2 is the better fit.
Does SlideScope run on a Mac?
Yes. SlideScope ships native builds for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs on macOS 14 and later, and for Windows 10 and 11. That matters because Aperio ImageScope is Windows-only, so Mac users who receive SVS files usually arrive here looking for an ImageScope alternative for macOS.