Fix: Thumbnails not showing in Windows 10 or 11 File Explorer

Are thumbnails for images and videos not showing in Windows 10 or 11 File Explorer? Here are a few solutions you can try to fix the problem.


When you open a folder with photos or video files in Windows 10 or 11 File Explorer, you will usually see thumbnails (reduced-size versions of images or videos).

Thumbnails will appear for almost all video formats (e.g., MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV, FLV, MPG, and MOV) and image formats (e.g., JPG (JPEG), PNG, GIF, and PNG).

If you only see default icons (e.g., VLC icons) and no thumbnail previews, you can try the solutions on this page to fix the problem.


Fix: Thumbnails not showing in Windows 10 File Explorer


1. Check the 'View' mode in File Explorer

First, you will have to make sure that the right 'View' mode is selected for the folder that contains your photos or videos.

The following 'View' modes show thumbnail previews for images and videos:

  • Extra large icons
  • Large icons
  • Medium icons
  • Tiles
  • Content

Steps

  1. Open File Explorer.
    Windows 10 file explorer
  2. Open the folder that contains your pictures or video files.
  3. Click on View in the top left menu.
    windows 10 file explorer folder view settings
  4. Click on one of the following options: Extra large icons, Large icons, Medium icons, Tiles, or Content.
    Windows 10 file explorer folder view options

2. Check a 'Folder Options' setting

  1. Open File Explorer.
    Windows 10 file explorer
  2. Click on File located in the top left corner.
  3. Click on Change folder and search options.
    open change folder and search options in file explorer
  4. In the 'Folder Options' window, you click on View.
  5. Make sure the Always show icons, Never thumbnails option is unchecked.
    windows 10 file explorer options
  6. If the option was checked and you unchecked it, click on Apply in the bottom right corner of the 'Folder Options' window.
  7. Click on OK.

3. Restore File Explorer settings to default

  1. Open File Explorer.
    Windows 10 file explorer
  2. Click on File located at the top left.
  3. Click on Change folder and search options.
    open change folder and search options in file explorer
  4. In the 'Folder Options' window, you click on Restore Defaults.
    windows 10 file explorer folder options restore defaults button
  5. Click on the View tab.
  6. Click on Restore Defaults.
    windows 10 file explorer folder options view tab restore defaults button
  7. Click on Apply below Restore Defaults.
  8. Click on OK.

4. Clear thumbnail cache

  1. Click on the Windows start menu button or search icon or search bar.
  2. Type disk cleanup.
  3. Click on Disk Cleanup when it appears in the search results.
  4. Make sure the system drive is selected. The system drive is the drive where Windows 10 is installed. Usually, it's the C drive.
  5. Click on OK.
    windows disk cleanup drive selection
  6. Check the checkbox next to Thumbnails.
    delete thumbnails using windows disk cleanup
  7. Click on OK.
  8. In the next window, you click on Delete Files.

Disk cleanup will now delete unnecessary files.

Windows File Explorer will automatically generate new thumbnails when required.


5. Make sure there's enough space on your system drive

When your system drive (the drive where Windows 10 is installed) becomes full, Windows might stop generating thumbnails.

Check the disk space of your system drive (usually the (C:) drive). If there's not enough disk space left on your system drive, you'll have to delete or move files from your system drive.

When your system drive reaches a minimum of 1 GB of remaining disk space, the thumbnails will reappear.


6. Restart the 'Windows Explorer' process

  1. Right-click on the Windows start menu button or taskbar.
  2. Click on Task Manager.
  3. In the 'Processes' tab, you right click on Windows Explorer.
  4. Click on Restart.
    Restart Windows Explorer process
  5. Close Task Manager.

If this solution doesn't work the first time, then try it at least three times.


7. Windows Performance Options 1

  1. Click on the Windows start menu button or search icon or search bar.
  2. Type advanced system settings.
  3. Click on View advanced system settings when it appears in the search results.
  4. In the 'Performance' section, you click on Settings.
    windows system properties performance settings
  5. In the 'Performance Options' window, you make sure the checkbox next to Show thumbnails instead of icons is checked.
    Show thumbnails instead of icons
  6. Click on Apply in the bottom right corner of the 'Performance Options' window.
  7. Click on OK.

8. Windows Performance Options 2

  1. Click on the Windows start menu button or search icon or search bar.
  2. Type advanced system settings.
  3. Click on View advanced system settings when it appears in the search results.
  4. In the 'Performance' section, you click on Settings.
    windows system properties performance settings
  5. In the 'Performance Options' window, you check the checkbox next to Save taskbar thumbnail previews.
    Save taskbar thumbnail previews
  6. Click on Apply in the bottom right corner of the 'Performance Options' window.
  7. Click on OK.

9. Use DISM and System File Checker tool

System File Checker is a Windows utility that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.

  1. Right-click on the Windows start menu button.
  2. Click on Command Prompt (Admin).
  3. If the 'User Account Control' window appears, you click Yes. Depending on your settings, you might need to enter your administrator password first and then click Yes.
  4. In the 'Command Prompt' window, you type (or copy and paste) the following command: 
    
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
  5. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
  6. This process may take a few minutes to start and complete. After you see the message 'The operation completed successfully,' you type (or copy and paste) the following command: 
    
sfc /scannow
    Fix Windows 10 Start Menu with System File Checker tool
  7. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
  8. The system file checker will scan all protected system files and replace corrupted files with a cached copy. This process may take a while. You have to wait till the process is complete.
  9. After you see the message 'Verification 100% complete. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.,' you close the 'Command Prompt' window.
  10. Check if the thumbnails are showing up. If it's still not working, restart your PC, and if that doesn't help, try the next solution.

10. Use Icaros (free tool)

Icaros is a free program that can generate thumbnails for almost all video and image file types.

You can download Icaros from majorgeeks.com.

  1. Open Icaros.
  2. Make sure that THUMBNAILING is activated. If it's deactivated, click on it to activate it.
    icaros thumbnailing
  3. Select an option (e.g., MOST KNOWN) at THUMBNAIL FILETYPES and PRESET.
    icaros preset options
  4. Close Icaros.

Fix: Thumbnails not showing in Windows 11 File Explorer


1. Check the 'View' mode in File Explorer

First, you will have to make sure that the right 'View' mode is selected for the folder that contains your photos or videos.

The following 'View' modes show thumbnail previews for images and videos:

  • Extra large icons
  • Large icons
  • Medium icons
  • Tiles
  • Content

Steps

  1. Open File Explorer.
    Windows 11 file explorer
  2. Open the folder that contains your images or videos.
  3. Click on View in the top menu.
  4. Click on one of the following options: Extra large icons, Large icons, Medium icons, Tiles, or Content.
    Windows 11 file explorer folder view options

2. Check a 'Folder Options' setting

  1. Open File Explorer.
    Windows 11 file explorer
  2. Click on the three-dot icon located in the top menu.
  3. Click on Options.
    Windows 11 File Explorer options
  4. In the 'Folder Options' window, you click on the View tab.
  5. Make sure the Always show icons, Never thumbnails option is unchecked.
    Always show icons, Never thumbnails setting
  6. If the option was checked and you unchecked it, click on Apply in the bottom right corner of the 'Folder Options' window.
  7. Click on OK.

3. Restore File Explorer settings to default

  1. Open File Explorer.
    Windows 11 file explorer
  2. Click on the three-dot icon located in the top menu.
  3. Click on Options.
    Windows 11 File Explorer options
  4. In the 'Folder Options' window, you click on Restore Defaults.
    Windows 11 File Explorer Folder Options Restore Defaults button
  5. Click on Apply located below Restore Defaults.
  6. Click on OK.

4. Clear thumbnail cache

  1. Right-click on the Windows start menu button.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. In the 'Settings' window, you click on System located in the left menu.
  4. Click on Storage.
    Open Storage settings in Windows 11
  5. Click on Temporary files, and it will search for temporary files you can delete.
  6. Once the scan is complete, check the checkbox next to Thumbnails.
    Delete Thumbnails
  7. You can also check other files you want to delete.
  8. Click on Remove files.
    Remove files button
  9. In the next window, you click on Continue.

Windows will now delete thumbnails and all other selected files.

This process may take a while, depending on what other files you've selected. Sometimes, it may seem like nothing is happening, but you must let the process complete.

Windows will automatically generate new thumbnails when required.


5. Make sure there's enough space on your system drive

When your system drive (the drive where Windows 11 is installed) becomes full, Windows might stop generating thumbnails.

Check the disk space of your system drive (usually the (C:) drive). If there's not enough disk space left on your system drive, you'll have to delete or move files from your system drive.

When your system drive reaches a minimum of 1 GB of remaining disk space, the thumbnails will reappear.


6. Restart the 'Windows Explorer' process

  1. Right-click on the Windows start menu button or taskbar.
  2. Click Task Manager.
  3. If the 'User Account Control' window appears, you click Yes. Depending on your settings, you might need to enter your administrator password first and then click Yes.
  4. In the 'Processes' tab of the 'Task Manager' window, you right-click on Windows Explorer.
  5. Click on Restart.
    Restart the Windows Explorer process
  6. Close Task Manager.

If this solution doesn't work the first time, then try it at least three times.


7. Windows Performance Options 1

  1. Click on the Windows start menu button or search icon located in the taskbar.
    Windows 11 start menu button and search button
  2. Type advanced system settings.
  3. Click on View advanced system settings when it appears in the search results.
    View advanced system settings
  4. In the 'Performance' section of the 'System Properties' window, you click on Settings.
    windows system properties performance settings
  5. In the 'Performance Options' window, you make sure the checkbox next to Show thumbnails instead of icons is checked.
    Show thumbnails instead of icons
  6. Click on Apply in the bottom right corner of the 'Performance Options' window.
  7. Click on OK.

8. Windows Performance Options 2

  1. Click on the Windows start menu button or search icon located in the taskbar.
    Windows 11 start menu button and search button
  2. Type advanced system settings.
  3. Click on View advanced system settings when it appears in the search results.
    View advanced system settings
  4. In the 'Performance' section of the 'System Properties' window, you click on Settings.
    windows system properties performance settings
  5. In the 'Performance Options' window, you check the checkbox next to Save taskbar thumbnail previews.
    Save taskbar thumbnail previews
  6. Click on Apply in the bottom right corner of the 'Performance Options' window.
  7. Click on OK.

9. Use DISM and System File Checker tool

System File Checker is a Windows utility that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.

  1. Right-click on the Windows start menu button.
  2. Click on Terminal (Admin).
    Open Windows Terminal as an administrator
  3. If the 'User Account Control' window appears, you click Yes. Depending on your settings, you might need to enter your administrator password first and then click Yes.
  4. In the Terminal window, you type (or copy and paste) the following command: 
    
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
    Run DISM Online Cleanup-image Restorehealth command
  5. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
  6. This process may take a few minutes to start and complete. After you see the message 'The operation completed successfully,' you type (or copy and paste) the following command: 
    
sfc /scannow
    Run System File Checker
  7. Press Enter on your keyboard.
  8. The system file checker will scan all protected system files and replace corrupted files with a cached copy. This process may take a while. You have to wait till the process is complete.
  9. After you see the message 'Verification 100% complete. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.,' you close the Terminal window.
  10. Check if the thumbnails are showing up. If it's still not working, restart your PC, and if that doesn't help, try the next solution.

10. Use Icaros (free tool)

Icaros is a free program that can generate thumbnails for almost all video and image file types.

You can download Icaros from majorgeeks.com.

  1. Open Icaros.
  2. Make sure that THUMBNAILING is activated. If it's deactivated, click on it to activate it.
    icaros thumbnailing
  3. Select an option (e.g., MOST KNOWN) at THUMBNAIL FILETYPES and PRESET.
    icaros preset options
  4. Close Icaros.

Windows

Related:

How to change the thumbnail of a folder in Windows 11