Thumbnails in Windows Explorer

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