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How to Disable File Thumbnails in Windows 10

by Ayushi Chauhan
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This tip is about the how to Disable File Thumbnails in Windows 10. So read this free guide, How to Disable File Thumbnails in Windows 10 step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.

How to Disable File Thumbnails in Windows 10 – Guide

File Explorer in Windows 10 can display thumbnail images of various sizes for files, folders, documents, photos, and videos to give you a quick look at their content without having to open them. Although it is a valuable feature which provides a visual queue to discover files faster without having to look up their names, rendering and caching all views can use significant system resources, especially on sites with lots of photos.

If your device is taking a long time to load the views, you are either debugging an issue or you don’t want to use this feature, there are at least three ways to disable thumbnails and show file icons instead of using File Explorer, Settings, or Group Policy in Windows 10. We’ll show you how to hide (and enable) file thumbnails in File Explorer in this Windows 10 article.

How to enable or disable thumbnails using File Explorer

Disable file thumbnails

To disable thumbnails, follow these steps:

  • Open File Explorer.
  • Click the View tab.
  • click on options button.
  • Click the View tab.
  • In the “Advanced settings” section, check the Always show icons, never thumbnails option.
  • Click on Apply button button.
  • Click OK button button.

    • Enable file thumbnails

    To enable file thumbnails in Windows 10, follow these steps:

  • Open File Explorer.
  • Click the View tab.
  • click on options button.
  • Click the View tab.
  • In the “Advanced settings” section, uncheck Always show icons, never thumbnails.
  • Click on Apply button button.
  • Click OK button button.

    • How to enable or disable thumbnails using Settings

    Disable file thumbnails

    To disable file thumbnails using the visual effects settings, follow these steps:

  • Open settings.
  • Click System.
  • Click About.
  • In the “Related Settings” section, click on the Advanced System Settings option in the right pane.
  • Click on the Advanced tab.
  • In the “Performance” section, click the Settings button button.
  • Click on the Visual Effects tab.
  • Uncheck Show thumbnails instead of icons.
  • Click on Apply button button.
  • Click OK button button.

    • After completing the steps, File Explorer will no longer show file thumbnails.

    Enable file thumbnails

    To use the visual effects settings to re-enable thumbnails, follow these steps:

  • Open settings.
  • Click System.
  • Click About.
  • In the “Related Settings” section, click on the Advanced System Settings option in the right pane.
  • Click on the Advanced tab.
  • In the “Performance” section, click the Settings button button.
  • Click on the Visual Effects tab.
  • Check the Show thumbnails instead of icons option.
  • Click on Apply button button.
  • Click OK button button.

    • How to enable or disable thumbnails using Group Policy

    Disable file thumbnails

    To disable thumbnails with Group Policy, use these steps:

  • Open Start.
  • Search for gpedit.msc and click OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
  • Navigate to the following path: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer
  • On the right side, double-click the Disable thumbnail display and display icons only policy.
  • Select the Enabled option.
  • Click Apply.
  • Click OK.

    • After completing the steps, users will no longer see file thumbnails while the policy remains enabled.

    Enable file thumbnails

    To show file previews with Group Policy, use these steps:

  • Open Start.
  • Search for gpedit.msc and click OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
  • Navigate to the following path: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer
  • On the right side, double-click the Disable thumbnail display and display icons only policy.
  • Select the Not configured option.
  • Click Apply.
  • Click OK.

    • Final note

    I hope you like the guide How to Disable File Thumbnails in Windows 10. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends.

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