Thumbnails in Windows

The thumbnail system in Windows has 4 major configuration areas dating back to 2000. From thumbs.db files, checkboxes, group policy, and registry edits, the Windows thumbnail system is, like everything in Windows, old and layered.
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[@OffPHwnr]

This has to be the best channel for customizing windows. Another video that helps solve one of my many windows problems, cheers Chris!

[@rjjeffreys]

I have been working with PC's and Microsoft since the 80's (Yes, I am so old that rocks call me "Dad"). There have been numerous occasions when watching your excellent videos that I learn something new and most helpful. Keep up the great work here, Chris!

[@nubfaceforthelose]

Here is my life saver back again

[@m.irwannurhasim3708]

I should have found this link 5 months ago, you made my day. Thanks a bunch Chris

[@krzysztofmathews738]

THANK YOU! That one setting of unchecking the "always show icons, not thumbnails" solved a problem of my STL files not displaying properly in my folder. That was a tremendous help!

[@liamoakham]

Another excellent video, Chris.

[@dr2yaser]

the checkbox for always show icons never show thumbnails not showing in the options under view

[@Sight-Beyond-Sight]

I thought the thumbnail option was removed in newer windows. I never really took the time to get it back. Thanks!!

[@alx8439]

When I see the mess like this, I wonder, how is it possible that MS, being one of the most advanced IT companies, allow this kind of shit to happen to their own products.

[@Philipp..]

It's mostly because of backwards compatibility so they basically never change a feature but add stuff on top of it which can definitely create a software mess.

[@sungjinwoo91]

Thanks for another great video!!

[@xEricC1001x]

Thanks so much for this! It put me on the thought path of "What could have broken it" rather than "why isn't my ffmpeg command to set a thumbnail working". My issue wasn't any of these. But this video made me think of the K-Lite Codec pack i've had on this workstation since probably 2012. And THAT had checkboxes to make thumbnails, which I copied from my windows XP rig back then. It turns out my ffmpeg command was working all along but K-Lite clearly doesn't read attached_pic data for videos. The moment I hit "Use windows cache for mp4" my custom thumbnail popped up.

[@skullsir6002]

very very helpful thanks🥰

[@FALCONSOLDIER_CODMYT]

Thanks this helped the I got to 1:29 I already know the issue, just clicked on rest and it came back thanks man ❤ now i just have to subscribe 😁

[@solidhyrax]

Is there a way to do the same thing but on Linux? I've been looking to expand thumbnails there since I've switched. EDIT: oh I see you're going to do one of Linux next in the closing remarks! Looking forward to that video!

[@joker777ize]

Thanks for this great information.

[@BABYGIRL4U1]

Thank you so much! The Xn view helped me to see all my files SVG,PNG for cricut projects. thank god i found your video and watched 7mins in. thumbs up n sub

[@I.____.....__...__]

I use SageThumbs for a few esoteric file-formats, but I mainly use shark007's Icaros for generating thumbnails for most of the file-types, especially videos.

[@johlanpretorius2147]

Nice! Very informative, I always learn a lot from your videos.

[@workflowinmind]

Learned so much, thanks a lot for going this deep!

[@louisj9999]

SageThumbs didn't work for me, but XnView MP did!!!!!! XnView MP is a great application providing clear and detailed information upfront about your picture/video. Thank you, Chris! I really appreciate it!!!

[@georgemickel6608]

Thanks Chris... SageThumbs @6:11 saved me a ton of time. George

[@JV-pu8kx]

The thumbs.db, and desktop.ini, files can be a nightmare. Windows will forget to close these files, preventing you from moving or deleting the folder/directory, or "ejecting" the removable media (disk, thumb drive, etc.). The "Turn off caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db file" will help with this. You will still be able to see the thumbnails, Windows Explorer will just take longer to (re)generate them.

[@rudelchw]

Great tutorial, very useful, thanks a lot for taking the time to create it 👍

[@Ademar440]

My problem is that windows 11 doesn't generate thumbnail but only for mp4 files, so far I was just using a program called "media preview" and it worked fine until the most recent windows update, now I am back to the starting point.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

If you have a tag editor, you can add your own custom thumbnails for your videos. You can even give them titles and stuff. I haven't used Windows in awhile, but I do remember being able to do that. I just can't remember which programs were able to do that. I think it was easytag.

[@ianjameslake]

There are a few programs. MetaX, mp3tag, mkvtoolnix, and tageditor, to name a few. All these programs however require you to have an image already ready, to attach to the movie file. So you have to take a screenshot in your movie player, then open the external program to attach the image as the cover art. I have yet to find a something like a movie player that integrates easy thumbnail attaching/setting. i.e. I would like to be able to just pause a movie at a point that I wish the image paused on, to be set as the thumbnail, just by clicking a button, and have it attach as the cover art. :/

[@asan1050]

Chris Titus Tech ThanksMuch!

[@IHGChick]

Went to your website to look for cheatsheet but didn't find anything. Thought the Star Trek thing might be cool but no link attached to that. You do great instructional videos, though! Thank you for this!

[@dianaf6055]

I have Photo thumbnails showing but for videos it just shows the Triangle "play" video thumbnail. It used to show a photo of the video. What can I do? I have a Windows 10 or 11. It updates automatically so I have no idea what version I have anymore. Pleaseeeeeee help. Thanks in advance!!!

[@palashbaidya6371]

Is it applicable in windows 7 ultimate. The last process.

[@therealkevinleee]

can you show a way to make the thumbnails larger? like in a mac? the standard "Large" is still too small

[@ianjameslake]

If your using windows, in thumbnail view, hold down control, and scroll the mouse wheel. Alternatively, you can also right click in a blank part of the explorer file list, and select 'View-> Extra large icons'. You can also use the 'View' menu at the top of explorer, as there will be a section under it which has the same option for 'Extra large icons' as well.

[@therealkevinleee]

@@ianjameslake sorry I meant extr aLarge I use the shortcut a lot. its too small and hasnt been a function ever worked on unfortunately unlike mac or bridge

[@fox963]

Wow -- what a comprehensive video! I can tell you are very knowledgeable about thumbnails and computers in general. I have a somewhat related question. Is there an "easy" way to change the thumbnail of a video that is stored on your computer? By "easy," I mean can you play a video and when it gets to a certain point, can you freeze the video and use that image as its new thumbnail? Perhaps there is a third party software that allows you to do that, but I haven't found anything that seems very easy.

[@marcomontecino5161]

@fox963 Great question, please let me know if you get an answer.

[@JV-pu8kx]

Recommendations on how to enable thumbnails of wmf (Windows Metafile, a vector image format), and emf (Extensible Metafile, a superset of wmf), files? I have an extensive clipart collection that I need to be able to browse.

[@countermeasuresecurityengi9719]

YES YES YES !!! CTT for the “W”

[@wildfox47uk]

I have a question for you..... Is there anyway of making my Windows 10 thumbnails looking like the old way of Windows XP. I use to love the thunbnails on XP for my music, which i backup a lot of my own personal music, and the XP Thumbnails use to show whats in the thumbnail, it shows the front cover, back & CD windows 10 don't do that it seems to hide a few that in the thumbnail. That's the only disadvantage i have with Windows 10. I have been trying to workout a simple programe to use to make my thumbnails looking in the way of the old XP :-) Thank you

[@ibinfo-tube5063]

In the registry editor should I remove the DWORD > 1 to replace it with 0 data value ? because all has done, now the only obstacle is that the folders and the images still NOT showing thumbnail but the icons of windows photo viewer, any body for help and assurance ? 🤔🧐

[@AngeloMiguel24712]

HI, this is a great video but I need help on something else. I assume you can change the thumbnail of a folder with a picture of your choice, now what i need is the same thing but instead of changing a picture of the folder i wanna change the picture of a video thumbnail. I have some recordings that the thumbnail shows an image of the video and i wanna change that thumbnail for a picture of my choice. Changing the thumbnail on a video file with a picsture of my choise. How do i do that? HELP

[@iamnickdavis]

Thank you again.

[@chandlercalvert3174]

I can't figure out a way to get a hold of you but would you be interested in building a PowerShell tool like yours for a small repair shop?

[@mirmoji]

I set my refresh rate too high on my windows 11 LENOVO laptop, and now the screen is black, but still on. I've tried so many things to fix it but they do not work on my LENOVO laptop. Do you knoW how to solve this? I need help ASAP.

[@christopherjackson2157]

Awesome video In the next one can you make the windows explorer search function actually work?

[@thomasbawah]

I need help on thumbnails I have uploaded a video with thumbnails But the thumbnail does not appear to my audience

[@ex0stasis72]

I just want to know how I can tell Windows which timestamp to generate the thumbnails from.

[@mahdidiehard]

I couldn't configure how can i change my video thumbnail in win 10.

[@justinehercthehuman]

Somehow, mkv files do not show thumbnails you specifically assigned it with like using mkvtoolnix after I updated to Windows 11. Need a fix.

[@ianjameslake]

Look into Media Preview by Babelsoft. It's old software, but it still works very well for movie thumbnails. It will use the cover art that is attached in mkvtoolnix if it's available, otherwise it will generate one from a frame from a part way into a video.

[@FlameForgedSoul]

I do an end run around these issues by using XnView MP and Directory Opus, possibly worth a look for some of you.

[@devilzavacado8430]

Could you do a video on multi monitor display setup? Maybe with tools like display fusion or something?

[@Dexiray]

My pc turns on but can't recognise my monitor, how do I fix it? I swapped rams, reset cmos, cleaned cpu, nothing.

[@gray_san]

What do you think about Icaros in comparison to this?

[@ampecsu]

When I finally upgraded to Windows 10 a laptop, from 8.1, it seems the timestamps for many of my videos, on a portable hdd, have changed to like the first second of the video....very annoying for my por....I mean videos....hoping to find a solution here.

[@scotte8356]

Yeah I know what you mean. My por folder is filled with identical icons. Seems like the icon is generated about 2 seconds after the video starts. Would be nice to change it to about 5 seconds.

[@jon4715]

Major help, having issues with File Explorer hanging and I suspect it might be a non-standard filetype that has a standard suffix. But gosh, do I ever hate Windows...yet I can't leave it.

[@juliawladysiak]

nothing works

[@Raylightsen]

Screw windows 11, i will stay with windows 10.

[@g3bs]

Screw Windows, Switch to Linux

[@Raylightsen]

@@g3bs I'd change to linux if i could, but as of now, i haven't found a good alternative for my games in linux (i use standardalone versions, not dumb gaming platforms such as steam, etc).

[@g3bs]

@@Raylightsen alright that's okay but you can still try to dual boot (if you want ofc)

[@sifatullah9277]

@@g3bs I dual booted a lot and tried almost 15+ distros but it seems linux isn't made for my hardware. So nuke & paved Linux and now only using Windows. I like the theory of Linux but I've to wait to buy a 100% linux compatible computer before using linux.

[@zahimmm]

@@sifatullah9277 what is your hardware

[@nakdickson]

0:44 this feature is capable through 3rd party apps? I've always wanted it in windows.

[@EllieAndVee]

Hi hello! Im using tron, and what does it mean when Tron V12.0.4 screen turns green?

[@pcnetgear1]

thanks

[@charlottehiggins4522]

Images are blurred 😢

[@bhaveshverma8629]

Sage thumbs works?

[@ayushtomar039]

Hello chris sir! I am using 22h2 debloated iso, MSMG toolkit ive tried registry there's no option, please provide a reg key

[@mysticalsouls]

hmmm, I cannot locate the local group policy editor on my pc! the 'run' command you showed us here says 'Windows cannot find 'gpedit.msc'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again'....I've spent way to much time on this! What I'm trying to fix is that windows explorer is sooooooo slow to show the images of my pics, takes forever and reloads everytime I scroll down the list a bit. It's doing my head in, I work a lot with images and it's wasting so much of my time

[@aikhanam2]

you lost me in the last part, I have so many file names I cant find the thumbanail file

[@GameXzpt]

I don't know why I love uuuu. But I love uuu

[@jaymecarvalho9420]

Hello, how are you? How do I view Word thumbnails in File Explorer, I can't see it. My Word is 2007 and Windows 8.1 Pro. Can you help me? Hugs... (Ah, if you know of any Program that does this I would appreciate it), Hugs...

[@Gotcha-san]

I don't know where to ask this, so I hope its fine if I ask it here. Could you please add Winrar program to your Toolkit? I love to use your Toolkit, but the only thing Im missing there is an option to install Winrar. Thank you!

[@hundsy5287]

If he'll put a program like this, will be definitely 7-zip. But you can also download from your browser as well

[@lucaslogiuoco4446]

excellent, but I'm still worried about the windows palimpsest

[@kasunmadhusanka]

Hi Chris. I've got a question. After applying your desktop tweaks the transition speed of the context menu's get much more snappier. But I think it's too much snappy for my liking. Is there anyway I could go back to the stock transition speed without losing any of your other tweaks?

[@extreme123dz]

I use sagethumbs because i want to see my thumbnails, special with PDS files

[@dyonramselaar]

I would've liked to see more about SageThumb, in the video you literally only installed it and did nothing else with it. I get that it just shows more thumbnails for files Windows doens't show thumbnails for, but you didn't even go over it at all besides installing.

[@Inter-stelar]

Add ghostscript and powertoys for pdf previews

[@petergplus6667]

Is he really using the start menu centered?

[@bobcabot]

...what about the almost forgotten windows 8 ?! ( never one video - nowhere, do we need to pray...

[@Ko6pa]

I have only one wish, just make pdf previews visible by default without installing gigabytes of Adobe pdf junk )

[@TimkaSR]

I honestly just use Alt+P

[@bonespro]

Windows unable to show svg and psd files after 20 years is sad. Painful Product Management at Microsoft.

[@SupremacyGamesYT]

I use ICAROS for thumbnails

[@x91w]

Hope this doesn't rely on winget ;)

[@itsmyright2229]

Pogers

[@Toowavycrew]

Thumbnails... Im here for performance tips. Ill leave those off.

[@LeonisYT]

mfw when the first 6 minutes of the video is just explaining how badly windows handles thumbnails ---> -____-

[@tigerbalm666]

Nothing here worked for me. Still no fukking thumbs!

[@mylittleangel2660]

You are way to fast explaining things wow

[@666KoXz666]

i dont like thumbnails :-) Its big mess.. I have only nice icons and when i move cursor on file, thumbnail pop up for me :-) (qttabbar fearture:))

[@gilangignasraharjo6138]

Did all 4 and my thumbnail still doesn't show up :") *EDIT* Found the solution to my problem, REMOVE ONE DRIVE!!! :)

[@gilangignasraharjo6138]

NOT his fault, tried tons of other stuffs as well and nothing works

[@ctrlartdel]

Jesus christians! I have to set your videos to .25 speed go over things way too fast click click click click click click click.

[@Ukepa]

very good video, and a lot of work (thank you!).