How can I fix File Explorer not showing thumbnails in Windows 11?

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How can I fix File Explorer not showing thumbnails in Windows 11?

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Solving the mystery of File Explorer not showing thumbnails on Windows 11? Here’s what you can do! Trust us; tackling this issue is easier than you might think. We’ll walk you through it, step by step, drawing from our own experiences and some friendly tips gathered from fellow Windows users. Let’s dive in!

First off, let’s make sure your settings are on point. Open up File Explorer, click the three dots up top, and head to Options. Once there, check the View tab. If you see ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’ ticked, untick it pronto!

Next, let’s play with the icon size a bit. Right-click an empty space on your desktop or inside a folder, hover over View, and go for Medium or Large icons. Trust me, Small icons don’t let those thumbnails strut their stuff.

Here’s a quickie—give your desktop a refresh. Just right-click anywhere on your desktop and hit Refresh. Sometimes, a little nudge is all it needs.

If all else fails, give File Explorer a reboot. Hit Ctrl + Shift + Esc to pull up Task Manager, find Windows Explorer, right-click, and hit Restart. This is like giving it a quick refresh.

Ever heard of thumbnail cache causing problems? Well, it can! Open Disk Cleanup from the Start menu, choose your system drive (usually C:), tick Thumbnails, and hit OK to clear out those pesky cache files.

Now, let’s mess with some visuals. Go to System by right-clicking the Start button, then hit Advanced system settings. Under Performance, click Settings. Make sure Show thumbnails instead of icons and Save taskbar thumbnail previews are checked. Say “bye-bye” to clumsy icons!

Feeling fancy? Run a System File Checker. Open Command Prompt as admin, type sfc /scannow, and watch it work its magic. It’s got your back when files go rogue.

Keep your Windows and drivers up to snuff. Head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and scan for updates. Remember, outdated drivers are thumbnail killers too, so show them some love through Device Manager or hit up your manufacturer’s site.

Got space? Low disk space can be a party pooper for thumbnails. A good rule of thumb is keeping at least 15% of your disk free for things to run happily.

If you’ve been fiddling around with folder options, it might be time to hit Restore Defaults under File Explorer Options in the View tab. It’s like hitting the reset button on any wayward settings.

With these handy tricks, your thumbnails should start showing up like guests at a family BBQ. So, go ahead, give them a whirl, and share your newfound wisdom with a friend in need. Who knew it’d be this easy, right?

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Hey, if your File Explorer is being stubborn and not showing thumbnails on Windows 11, let’s sort that out together. There are a bunch of reasons this could be happening—settings might be wonky, files could be busted, or stuff just hasn’t been updated in a while. Here’s what typically causes the hiccups and how you can fix them:

1. Dive into Folder View Settings:

Ever wonder if your Windows setup decided it likes icons more than thumbnails? That could be why. Here’s the fix:

  • Open up File Explorer and pop into a folder with media files.
  • Hit the three-dot menu (⋮) > Options > View tab.
  • Make sure “Always show icons, never thumbnails” is unchecked.
  • Smash the Apply to Folders button and then OK to lock in the changes.

2. Tweak System Performance Settings:

Turning thumbnails off might give the system a nudge to work better, but it sure doesn’t look pretty. Here’s how to bring those thumbnails back:

  • Press Win + S, search for “Advanced system settings” and open it.
  • In the Advanced tab, go to Settings under Performance.
  • Pick “Adjust for best appearance” or make sure “Show thumbnails instead of icons” is checked.
  • Restart File Explorer (quickly via Task Manager) to make sure the magic happens.

3. Clear Out Thumbnail Cache:

Sometimes these sneaky cache files get corrupted and ruin the view. So let’s wipe those suckers clean:

  • Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, find “Windows Explorer” and give it a Restart.
  • Hit Win + R, type in %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer, and press Enter.
  • Delete everything that starts with “thumbcache_”.
  • Give your PC a restart to refresh the cache.

4. Time to Update Graphics Drivers:

Old or mismatched drivers might throw a wrench in the thumbnail works. Let’s update them:

  • Right-click that Start menu > Device Manager and open up Display adapters.
  • Right-click on your GPU driver and hit Update driver > Search automatically.
  • Once installed, reboot your system to let the changes settle in.

5. Mend System Files:

Corrupted system files can throw thumbnail creation out of whack. Let’s tackle that:

  • Open Command Prompt (Admin) and run:
    • sfc /scannow
    DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
  • Then, restart your PC.

6. Confirm Default Photo App Settings:

Sometimes, those third-party apps set as default mess with thumbnails. Let’s fix it:

  • Open Settings > Apps > Default apps.
  • Set “Photos” as the go-to app for image files, like JPEG and PNG.

7. Rebuild Search Index:

A messed-up index can harm File Explorer’s file display. Let’s rebuild:

  • Navigate to Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Indexing Options.
  • Click Advanced > Troubleshoot search and indexing and follow the prompts.

8. Keep Up with Windows Updates:

Old OS versions may have bugs causing thumbnail chaos. So let’s update:

  • Go to Settings > Windows Update and tap on Check for updates.
  • Install whatever’s pending and give it a reboot.

Bonus Tips:

  • Some third-party shell extensions—like ones from cloud services—can interfere too. Consider using Autoruns (a Microsoft Sysinternals tool) to disable non-Microsoft ones.
  • If the issue popped up recently, use System Restore to go back to when thumbnails were behaving.
  • There are handy third-party tools, like Wondershare Repairit or EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, that can solve these kinds of glitches.

At the end of the day, if things still aren’t working, doing a clean Windows installation might just be your ticket. But don’t worry, most times tweaking a few settings or clearing some cache will get things sorted.

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Okay, so your File Explorer is being stubborn and not showing thumbnails on Windows 11? No worries, here’s how you can get it back to functioning properly:

1. Enable Thumbnail Previews:

  • First off, boot up File Explorer.
  • Smack the ‘View’ button on the menu bar.
  • Head to ‘Options’, then jump into the ‘View’ tab.
  • Give ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’ a good uncheck.
  • Hit ‘Apply’ and give it an ‘OK’.

2. Adjust Folder Settings:

  • Swing by the stubborn folder, right-click it, and go for ‘Properties’.
  • Hop over to the ‘Customize’ tab.
  • Where it says ‘Optimize this folder for:’, just choose ‘General items’.
  • Don’t forget to ‘Apply’ and tap ‘OK’.

3. Clear Thumbnail Cache:

  • Fire up ‘Disk Cleanup’ from the Start menu.
  • Choose the drive with Windows installed—usually ‘C:’.
  • Tick ‘Thumbnails’ and give ‘OK’ a go to clear the cache.

4. Update Graphics Drivers:

  • Right-click ‘Start’ and get into ‘Device Manager’.
  • Expand ‘Display adapters’, right-click your graphics card, and hit ‘Update driver’.
  • Just follow the steps they give you to update it.

5. Configure Performance Settings:

  • Right-click ‘Start’ and go to ‘System’.
  • Tap ‘Advanced system settings’, and under ‘Performance’, click ‘Settings’.
  • Make sure ‘Adjust for best appearance’ or ‘Custom’ with ‘Show thumbnails instead of icons’ is checked.

6. Check File Explorer Settings:

  • Open ‘File Explorer’.
  • Check out ‘View’ -> ‘Show’ -> ‘Preview pane’.
  • Double-check to see if the ‘Preview pane’ setting is off.

7. Run System File Checker:

  • Open up ‘Command Prompt’ as an admin.
  • Type in sfc /scannow and let ‘Enter’ do its thing.
  • Hang tight while it runs, repairing any corrupt files.

8. Verify Icon Cache:

  • Still in ‘Command Prompt’, type ie4uinit.exe -show and give ‘Enter’ a press.

9. Rebuild the Icon Cache:

  • Fire up ‘File Explorer’ and go to C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local.
  • Delete IconCache.db—trust me, it’ll be fine.
  • Restart your computer for good measure.

Try these steps, and hopefully, it’ll get those thumbnails back in action. But if they’re still AWOL, hit up Microsoft’s community forums or their tech support for a hand.

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