Windows has the thumbnail database it uses for media files and documents like photos, videos, PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, etc. Windows 11 uses these graphic files to show a quick preview of the content in the files present in a folder. Windows automatically generates or removes these thumbnails as necessary whenever you create, copy or delete a file on your computer. As a result, your computer runs smoother since Windows won’t have to create a new thumbnail every time.
However, when you add thumbnails frequently, the Thumbnails Cache Database may get corrupted, and hence you may see the missing thumbnail issue on Windows 11.
To correct it, you will have to delete the database so that Windows may create a new database. It will solve the issue if it has arisen due to a database error.
This risewindows article will teach you how to clear and reset Thumbnails Cache on Windows 11.
If you want to view your thumbnail cache database, press
%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
You’ll find several database (.db) files in the File Explorer.
How to Enable Thumbnails in File Explorer Options?
If you do not see any thumbnails on your computer, you need to check whether it is enabled in the File Explorer Options or not. If it’s not, use the following steps to turn it on:-
Step 1: To begin, open File Explorer Options.
Alternatively, you can use the shortcut
control.exe folders
Step 2: After opening the File Explorer Options window, switch to the
Step 3: Find the
Step 4: Click the
Step 5: Click the
How to Erase Thumbnail Cache using Disk Cleanup?
If you want to delete the thumbnail cache using Disk Cleanup, use the following steps:-
Step 1: Open the Disk Cleanup tool.
Alternatively, you can use the shortcut
cleanmgr
Step 2: Now, you need to select a drive you want to clean up, which is usually the Windows installation drive (“C” drive), and click on the
Step 3: Check
Completion of the above steps will delete and reset the thumbnail database cache. Lastly, reboot your system to apply the changes.
How to Delete Thumbnail Cache using Command Prompt?
You can also remove the thumbnail cache through Command Prompt. To do that, use the following steps:-
Step 1: Start by opening an elevated Command Prompt.
Step 2: After doing that, type the following commands one by one and press Enter on the keyboard:-
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
del /f /s /q /a %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\thumbcache_*.db
start explorer.exe
The first, second, and third commands will terminate File Explorer, erase the thumbnail cache, and restart the File Explorer, respectively.
That’s it.
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