Windows 10: I randomly cant see thumbnails/icons of screenshots in file explorer. & cant see the thumbnails & icons of some programs

Question

So this issue has been happening for a week and half ago. I have a msi gl66 and one day I wasn't able to see the previews/icons of images in file explorer. It like windows lost it ability to make me view the preview thumbnails of screenshots. this is not only just for screenshots, also some programs too like NIVIDA control panel.

I tried a lot of stuff like.
1: Restarting my pc
2: deleting thumbnail cache
3: SFC. scan
4: Explorer>Options>View>Always

*display icons, never thumbnails (checked and unchecked)
5: K-Lite Codec Pack in the Start Menu, Codec tweak tool> thumbnails> unenabled and enabled

*
And I've probably tried various other stuff too that I've forgotten about.

Is there anything else I can check?

How exactly does Windows build thumbnails, is there some code, or a .dll file somewhere?

Does Windows handle video and image/photo thumbnails differently?

I also don't have any thumbs.db files, anywhere (is this even still a thing?), even in folders with photos and thumbnails in them, even though I have turned on the option to show protected operating system files and hidden files.

Anybody know what's going on here?

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for your question and reaching out. I can understand you are having query\issues related to thumbnails not showing.

1. Please try to Clear Thumbnails Cache

In File Explorer, right-click on C drive to choose Properties -> Click on Disk Cleanup -> Thumbnails -> click on OK.

2. Please Check and set the visual effects settings of your Windows to show pictures thumbnails by following the below steps:

In the search bar, type View advanced system settings.

Select View advanced system settings.

In the System Properties dialog box, click on the Advanced tab.

Under Performance section, click Settings.

In the Performance Options box, click on the Visual Effects tab.

Under the Custom section, select the Save taskbar thumbnail previews and Show thumbnails instead of icons options.

3. Run below DISM commands from elevated prompt.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept as answer--

Answer 2

I tried clearing thumbnail files under drive C "cleanup" function, that didn't work.

But then I deleted some files on the C drive, it was just around 300 MB free, when it got to around 800 MB free, I refreshed the folder and thumbnails started showing up.

Answer 3

me ha sido de gran ayuda, ya puedo previsualizar imágenes etc..

muchas muchas gracias un saludo