How to Turn Preview Thumbnails On or Off in Windows Explorer in Vista
INFO: This will show you how to turn file and folder preview thumbnails on or off in all Windows Explorer windows. A thumbnail is a reduced image of a graphic, used to display multiple images at once.
WHY: Thumbnails can cause navigating through a Windows Explorer window to be to slow for you while your waiting for the thumbnails to load.
NOTE: You will need to have View or Views, on Windows Explorer window Menu bar, set to either Medium Icons, Large Icons, or Extra Large Icons to see a thumbnail preview of the image as the icon.
RELATED LINKS:
1. How to Clear the Thumbnail Cache in Vista
2. How to Change a Folder Preview Picture in Vista
3. How to Turn Open Window Thumbnail Previews On or Off for the Taskbar in Vista
4. How to Enable or Disable the Taskbar Thumbnail Previews in Vista
5. How to Change the Visual Effects Options for Appearance and Performance in Vista
EXAMPLE: Thumbnails On
Explorer ON.jpgImage_On.jpg
EXAMPLE: Thumbnails Off
Explorer OFF.jpgImage_Off.jpg
METHOD ONE:
Through Folder Options:
1. Open Folder Options.
NOTE: For how, see:
How to Open and Change Folder Options in Vista
2. Click on the
View tab. (See screenshot below)
3. To Turn OFF Folder and File Preview Thumbnails -
A) Check
Always show icons, never thumbnails.
4. To Turn ON Folder and File Preview Thumbnails -
A) Uncheck
Always show icons, never thumbnails.
5. Click
OK.
Folder_Options.jpg
METHOD TWO:
Through Performance Options:
1. Open Visual Effects Performance Options.
NOTE: For how, see:
How to Change the Visual Effects Options for Appearance and Performance in Vista
2. Click on the
Visual Effects tab. (See screenshot below)
3. To Turn OFF Folder and File Preview Thumbnails -
A) Uncheck
Show thumbnails instead of icons.
4. To Turn ON Folder and File Preview Thumbnails -
A) Check
Show thumbnails instead of icons.
5. Click
OK.
Performance_Options.jpg
METHOD THREE:
Through the Local Group Policy Editor:
NOTE: This is only available for the Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. See Method Four below for Vista Basic and Home Premium editions.
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,
Windows Components, and
Windows Explorer. (See screenshot below)
5. In the right pane, right click on
Turn off the display of thumbnails and only display icon and click
Properties.
Group_Policy.jpg
6. To Enable Windows ExplorerThumbnails -
A) Dot
Disabled or
Not Configured and click
OK. (See screenshot below)
B) Go to step 8.
7. To Disable Windows Explorer Thumbnails -
A) Dot
Enabled and click
OK.
Properties.jpg
8. Close Local Group Policy Editor window. Your done.
METHOD FOUR:
Through the Registry:
NOTE: This will work for all Vista versions.
Through a Download:
1. To Disable Windows Explorer Thumbnails -
A)
Disable_Explorer_Thumbnails.reg < Click To Download
B) Go to step 3.
2. To Enable Windows Explorer Thumbnails -
A)
Enable_Explorer_Thumbnails.reg < Click To Download
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. When done, you can delete the
.reg file (On Desktop).
8. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply changes.
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)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Reg1.jpg
5. To Disable Windows Explorer Thumbnails -
A) In the right pane of
Explorer, right click on a empty area and click
New ->
DWORD (32-bit) Value and type
DisableThumbnails and press
Enter. (See screenshot below)
B) Right click on
DisableThumbnails and click
Modify.
Reg2.jpg
C) Type
1 and click
OK. (See screenshot below)
Modify.jpg
D) The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below)
Reg3.jpg
E) Go to step 7.
6. To Enable Windows Explorer Thumbnails -
A) In the right pane of
Explorer, right click on
DisableThumbnails and click
Delete. (See screenshot above)
B) Click
Yes to confirm delete.
7. Close regedit.
8. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply changes.
That's it,
Shawn