Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10

If you face the issue where pictures do not display the thumbnail preview instead it shows the icon of the default image viewing application, then you’re at the right place as today we are going to see how to fix this issue. Whenever you open File Explorer and open a folder containing images, you will see that thumbnail preview is not working, which is a very annoying issue.

Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10

There can be many reasons that can cause this issue such as Thumbnails, or Thumbnail Previews might be disabled, or thumbnail cache might be corrupted etc. So without wasting any time let’s see how to Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10 with the help of the below-listed troubleshooting guide.

Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10

Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Disable Icons

1. Open Windows File Explorer then from the menu click on View and select Options.

change folder and search options | Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10

2. Switch to the View tab and uncheckAlways show icons, never thumbnails“.

uncheck Always show icons, never thumbnails under Folder Options

3. Click Apply, followed by OK.

4. Reboot your PC to save changes.

Method 2: Enable Thumbnail preview

1. Press Windows Key + R then type sysdm.cpl and hit Enter to open System Properties.

system properties sysdm

2. Switch to Advanced tab then click Settings under Performance.

advanced system settings | Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10

3. Make sure you are under Visual Effects tab then checkmarkShow thumbnails instead of icons“.

Make sure to check mark Show thumbnails instead of icons

4. Click Apply, followed by OK.

5. Restart your PC to save changes.

Method 3: Clear thumbnail cache

Run Disk Cleanup on the disk where the Thumbnail Previews are not showing.

Note: This would reset all your customization on Folder, so if you don’t want that then try this method at last as this will definitely fix the issue.

1. Go to This PC or My PC and right-click on the C: drive to select Properties.

right click on C: drive and select properties

3. Now from the Properties window, click on Disk Cleanup under capacity.

click Disk Cleanup in Properties window of the C drive | Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10

4. It will take some time to calculate how much space Disk Cleanup will free.

disk cleanup calculating how much space it will be able to free

5.Wait until Disk Cleanup analyzes the drive and provides you with a list of all the files that can be removed.

6.Checkmark Thumbnails from the list and click Clean up system files in the bottom under Description.

Check mark Thumbnails from the list and click Clean up system files | Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10

7. Wait for Disk Cleanup to complete and see if you can Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10.

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That’s it you have successfully Fix Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows 10 but if you still have any queries regarding this post then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.

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