Thumbnail Previews on Taskbar - Enable or Disable

Information

This will only show you how to enable or disable the Taskbar open window thumbnail previews option for all user accounts on the computer. This is not available in the Vista Home Basic edition.

Tip

If you wanted to turn the Taskbar thumbnail previews on or off instead, then see: How to Turn Open Window Thumbnail Previews On or Off for the Taskbar in Vista

WARNING

You must have the Windows Aero color scheme turned on for the Glass Transparency, Taskbar Thumbnail Previews, and Flip 3D features. See: How to Change the Color Scheme in Vista HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR: WINDOWS AERO See: Windows Help and Support: Troubleshoot problems with Windows Aero NOTE: The Windows Aero color scheme is not available for the Vista Home Basic edition. 1 GHz 32 bit or 64 bit CPU processor. The computer needs at least 1 GB of RAM. A graphics card with support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB of memory. The graphics card must support Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware. The graphics card driver must support Windows Vista Display Driver Model (WDDM) The computer display color depth must be set to 32 bits per pixel.

• How to Turn Preview Thumbnails On or Off in Windows Explorer in Vista
• How to Clear the Thumbnail Cache in Vista
• How to Change a Folder Preview Picture in Vista
• How to Turn Open Window Thumbnail Previews On or Off for the Taskbar in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable the Vista Taskbar Context Menus
• How to Enable or Disable the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties Window in Vista

NOTE

This method is only available for the Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. See Method Two below for the Vista Home Premium edition.

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
3. Click Continue for the UAC prompt.
4. In the left pane, click on User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Start Menu and Taskbar. (See screenshot below)
5. In the right pane, right click on Turn off taskbar thumbnails and click Properties.



6. To Enable Taskbar Thumbnails -

A) Dot Disabled or Not Configured and click OK. (See screenshot below step 7)
B) Go to step 8.

7. To Disable Taskbar Thumbnails -

A) Dot Enabled and click OK.

8. Close the Group Policy Object Editor window.
9. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.

NOTE

This will work for all Vista versions except for the Home Basic version.

Through a Download:

1. To Enable Taskbar Thumbnails -

A) Click on the download button below to download the Enable_Taskbar_Thumbnails.reg file.
B) Go to step 3.

2. To Disable Taskbar Thumbnails -

A) Click on the download button below to download the Disable_Taskbar_Thumbnails.reg file.

3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.
4. Right click the .reg (On Desktop) file and click Merge.
5. Click on the Run button for Security Warning pop-up.
6. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.
7. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.
8. When done, you can delete the .reg file (On Desktop).

The Manual Way:

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.
3. Click the Continue button for the UAC prompt.
4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5D)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
NOTE: If you do not have Explorer, then right click on Policies and click New -> Key and type Explorer and press Enter.

5. To Disable Taskbar Thumbnails -

A) In the right pane, right click on a empty area and click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value.
B) Type TaskbarNoThumbnail and press Enter.
C) Right click on TaskbarNoThumbnail and click Modify.



D) Type 1 and click OK. (See screenshot below)

E) Go to step 7.

6. To Enable Taskbar Thumbnails -

A) In the right pane, right click on TaskbarNoThumbnail and click Delete. (See screenshot above)
B) Click Yes to confirm deletion.
C) In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
D) In the right pane, repeat steps 6A and 6B if TaskbarNoThumbnail is there to.

7. Close regedit.
8. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.