Your computer might be doing this when you are trying to view a picture in Windows. It’s probably because of changes made from the last update. One easy fix is to delete your thumbnail cache, which can easily be found by opening up File Explorer and browsing through this file folder: C:\Users\NAMEHERE\AppData\Local\.thumbnails
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For media assets like as images and videos, as well as specific documents such as PDFs, Word documents, and PowerPoint presentations, Windows keeps a thumbnail database.
These little graphic thumbnails provide a thumbnail of a file’s content. When you create or copy a file on your computer, Windows creates thumbnails for you automatically. Instead of producing a new thumbnail, the thumbnail for that file is pulled immediately from the thumbnail database the next time you access it.
However, if you upload more and more files to your computer, this database may grow too enormous. You may encounter the missing thumbnail problem on Windows if this database becomes faulty or unstable.
In such cases, you might try removing the Thumbnail database and forcing Windows to create it from scratch. If the missing thumbnail problem was caused by a database error, this would be the solution.
We’ll go through how to remove and reset the Thumbnail Database using Storage settings, Disk Cleanup, and Command Prompt in this article.
Also, check your Folder Settings before deleting the Thumbnail databases, since you may have mistakenly deactivated Thumbnail view for files.
Thumbnail support is enabled in Folder Options.
Press the Windows + R key and type the following command in the Run window to open the Folder Options settings.
files containing control.exe
Select the View tab in the Folder Options box. Make sure the checkbox “Always display icons, never thumbnails” is unchecked. For thumbnails to work, this option must be unchecked.
Using Windows Storage Settings, reset the Thumbnail Database.
Windows Storage Settings may help you get rid of items you don’t need, such as those in the Recycle Bin, Downloads folder, and temporary files.
To free up storage space, go to Storage Settings and erase thumbnail cache files. Windows would rebuild the thumbnail database after deleting these files.
Press the Windows + R shortcut key, then enter the following command in the Run window to access Storage settings.
ms-settings:storagesense
This will open the System > Storage settings window. Click on Temporary Files to open the files which are not needed by your system and can be safely removed.
However, selecting the Downloads folder tick will also show files in your Downloads folder, so be cautious.
In the System > Storage > Temporary file, windows uncheck every checkbox except for Thumbnails and click on Remove Files.
This will clear the Thumbnail Cache, which should resolve the thumbnail issue. If this technique fails, you may use Disk Cleanup to remove it.
Using Disk Cleanup, delete the Thumbnail Cache.
You may also use Windows’ built-in Disk Cleanup program to erase the Thumbnail Cache.
Press the Windows + R shortcut key and input the following command in the Run dialog to launch Disk Cleanup.
cleanmgr
The “Disk Cleanup for Windows (C:)” window will appear. Uncheck everything but the Thumbnail checkbox and click OK in this window.
Your thumbnail database will be deleted and reset as a result of this action.
Using Command Prompt to Remove Thumbnail Cache
You may also use the Command Prompt to remove Thumbnail Cache. Look for Command Prompt in the Start Menu.
To launch Command Prompt with elevated privileges, click “Run as Administrator.” This is vital because without admin credentials, you won’t be able to remove the Thumbnail Cache database.
To stop Windows Explorer from operating in the background, use the following command in the Command Prompt window. Before we can remove these files, we must first shut Windows Explorer.
explorer.exe taskkill /f /im
This command will collapse the Windows taskbar at the bottom, and your desktop will become black or blank, which is normal. After clearing the Thumbnail Cache Files, we could restart Windows Explorer and everything would be back to normal.
In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to erase the Thumbnail cache files.
percent LocalAppData percent MicrosoftWindowsExplorerthumbcache *.db remove /f /s /q /a
To restart Windows Explorer, use the following command.
launch the explorer.exe program
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The “windows 11 folder thumbnails reddit” is a problem that has been present for a while. Windows 10 users have reported this issue and there are many fixes to fix the issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I turn on thumbnails in Windows 11?
A: There are many options for turning on thumbnails in Windows. You can find the option under Settings > Personalization > Start, and there is also an option at a Desktop Context Menu that you may be able to access by clicking on your computers desktop (right-click).
Why are my thumbnails not showing the pictures?
A: This is a known issue with our website. We are working on it, but there is no ETA for when the problem will be fixed. Please stay tuned as we work to fix this soon!
How do I view PDF thumbnails in Windows 11?
A: On Windows 11, in order to view PDF thumbnails, you need to use the Save As option. If this option is not available for a file type on your computer then it means that there are no tools or applications that can open up these files on Windows 11.
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