In some scenarios, however, the thumbnails do not show up at all. It usually happens due to improper settings. The error could also occur if the system files are corrupted or if the system is infected with a malware script.
Causes for Windows Thumbnails Not Showing
How to Fix Windows Thumbnails Not Showing?
In many cases, the thumbnails do not show due to some temporary glitches, which you can resolve with a refresh. For this, on your File Explorer or Desktop, right-click on an empty area. Then, select Refresh or Show more options > Refresh.
Improper thumbnail view settings.Using Folder View that doesn’t show thumbnails.OneDrive is not open (for synced files only).Corrupt system or application files.Errors on the thumbnail or icon cache.Malware infection.
Also, check if you have sufficient free space on your system drive and the drive with the thumbnail issue. Your drive requires a certain amount of space to cache temporary thumbnails. So if only a few MBs or KBs are free, you may encounter this error. If you still can’t resolve the issue, go through the possible solutions we have mentioned below.
Change Thumbnail View Option
Your system includes a setting to allow certain files to show their thumbnails instead of the file icons. If you somehow disabled this setting, you naturally won’t see the thumbnails. You can also change the thumbnail view settings from File Explorer Options. To do so,
Change Thumbnail View Option from Registry
If the thumbnail options are not available in the Performance Settings or File Explorer Options, you need to change it directly on your registry. Restart your computer after the command runs successfully and check if you still encounter the issue.
Check Group Policy Settings for Thumbnails
You can also set the thumbnail through the Group Policy settings. Such settings override the folder options or performance settings so you need to make sure the relevant policies do not disable thumbnails. To do so, Restart your PC after making the changes and check if the issue resolves.
Check View
Windows only shows thumbnails instead of file icons on certain views. So, if your current file view is List, Details, or Small icons, you can’t see the thumbnails. To change the view,
Resume OneDrive Syncing
You will experience this issue inside the OneDrive synced folders if your OneDrive app is closed or you have paused syncing. The files may still show the thumbnail if your cache contains their preview images. However, you can clear this cache through reboots or cleaning the temporary files. So, to resolve the issue, you need to open OneDrive or resume the syncing if you have paused it. To resume OneDrive, You can open the app by searching for it on the search bar (Win + S). However, if you have to open it every time on reboot, it’s better to enable opening it on startup. To do so,
Rebuild Thumbnail and Icon Cache
Another thing you can try is to delete your thumbnail and icon cache and allow them to rebuild. If the thumbnails are not showing due to errors on the cache files, rebuilding them should resolve the issue. Here are the necessary steps for this process: Then, restart your PC and check if you can see the thumbnails now.
Set Different App as Default for the File Type
Windows also won’t show the thumbnail for certain file types if their default application can’t open those files. In such a scenario, you need to set a different program (which can open the files) as the default app. To do so, Alternatively, you can also install the necessary codecs for the file types for the application or your system to make the default app support those files. If you are encountering this issue on video files like MP4 or MOV, we recommend you install K-Lite Codec Pack on your PC. It is a free package that includes the important codecs for audio and video files.
Repair System Files
It is also possible that some of the system files necessary to show the thumbnails have become corrupt. You can use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) and System File Checker (SFC) utilities to check for and repair such corruption. Here’s how you can do so:
Scan for Malware
Another possible reason for the issue is malware infection on the affected files or your system files. You need to scan your PC using antivirus software to detect and remove such threats. To do so by using the Windows Defender or Security app:
Reinstall Application
This error can also occur if the application you use to launch the files has issues. Usually, incomplete installation or bugs in the app are responsible for such errors, which you can easily solve by reinstalling the latest version of the app. Follow the instructions below to do so: If you are using Microsoft Store apps, you can use Windows PowerShell to reinstall the programs. To do so,
Force Thumbnails Using Third-Party Apps
If the previous methods all fail, you can use third-party apps that force thumbnails to show up to bypass the issue. There are many such apps available on the internet so pick a reliable one and install it on your PC.
