How to Enable Image Preview in Folders (Windows 10/11) (2024)

Co-authored byNicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: May 13, 2024Fact Checked

ARTICLE

VIDEO

Quick Steps

Download Article

1. 1

   Open File Explorer

   . Click the folder icon at the bottom of the screen, or press the Windows key + E key on your keyboard at the same time.

2. 2

   Open a folder. You'll need to enable image previews for folders individually. Using the File Explorer's left-hand column of folders, navigate to the folder in which you want to enable image previews.

   Advertisem*nt

3. 3

   Click the View tab. It's on the upper-left side of the File Explorer window. A toolbar will drop down from the top of the window.

4. 4

   Click the Options icon. This icon is in the toolbar at the upper-right corner of the window.

5. 5

   Click the View tab. It's at the top of the pop-up window.

6. 6

   Uncheck the "Always show icons, never thumbnails" box. You'll find this in the "Files and Folders" section near the bottom of the window.

   • If you don't see this box, double-click the "Files and Folders" heading to make it appear.
   • If this box is already unchecked, you may have to fix the corrupted thumbnail cache.
7. 7

   Click Apply, then click OK. Both options are at the bottom of the window. Doing so will apply your settings and close the window.

8. 8

   Make sure your folder is displaying the proper viewing option. To see image thumbnail previews, your folder must display files and folders using a supported viewing option (e.g., Extra large icons). To change the current view setting, do the following:

   • Click the View tab.
   • Click one of the following "Layout" options: Extra large icons, Large icons, Medium icons, Tiles, or Content.
   • If you cannot see image previews after following these steps, you'll need to fix the corrupted thumbnail cache.

Advertisem*nt

Download Article

1. 1

   Open File Explorer. To do so, click the folder icon in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, or press Windows key + E on your keyboard.

2. 2

   See Also

   PowerToys File Explorer add-ons utility for WindowsCheck file size before uploading it in React Uploader componentUploading Files in React from a Form with Drag and Drop on Space JellyImport images from a camera into Preview on Mac

   Open the folder that contains your images. For example, to enable image previews in your Pictures folder, click Pictures in the left panel. If the photos are in a different location, click This PC in the left panel, then navigate to that location.

3. 3

   Click the View menu. It's at the top of the File Explorer window.

4. 4

   Select an option that displays previews. Choose any of these options to display image previews in the folder: Extra large icons, Large icons, Medium icons, Tiles, or Content.

   • If you cannot see image previews after following these steps, you'll need to fix the corrupted thumbnail cache.
5. 5

   Enable the Preview Pane (optional). If you just want to see small previews in the folder, you can skip this step. If you want to see a larger preview in a separate panel without opening the image, click the View menu and select Preview pane.

   • This will also allow you to see previews of non-photo files, including DOCX and PDF formats.
6. 6

   Show image previews for all subfolders (optional). If you want to quickly enable image previews for all folders within an existing folder, select the parent folder, then follow these steps:

   • Click the three horizontal dots at the top of the window.
   • Click Properties.
   • Click the Customize tab.
   • Select Pictures from the "Optimize this folder for" menu.
   • Check the box next to "Also apply this template to all subfolders."
   • Click OK to save your changes.

Advertisem*nt

Download Article

1. 1

   Know when this is necessary. Windows 10 keeps a cache of thumbnails for every one of your computer's files. If this cache becomes corrupted, your folders' image previews won't display properly. If you've tried enabling image previews already, clearing the thumbnail cache may solve your problem.^[1]

2. 2

   Open Disk Cleanup. Press the Windows key, type disk cleanup, then click Disk Cleanup when it appears at the top of the menu.

3. 3

   Scroll down and check the "Thumbnails" box. You can uncheck every other box in the main window, but the "Thumbnails" box must be checked.

4. 4

   Click OK. It's at the bottom of the window.

5. 5

   Click Delete Files when prompted. Doing so will prompt Disk Cleanup to delete your computer's thumbnails from the cache.

   • This can take several minutes, especially if you've never deleted thumbnails before. Once the pop-up window disappears, you can proceed.
6. 6

   Open your preferred folder. Go to the folder in which you wanted thumbnails to appear. After a moment of refreshing, your pictures' previews should appear.

   • If thumbnails still aren't showing, you may need to disable the "Always show icons, never thumbnails" setting in Windows 10 or Windows 11 and ensure that your folder is using the proper viewing option.

Advertisem*nt

Community Q&A

Ask a Question

Video

Tips

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

How helpful is this?