I have a nasty time with thumbnails coming and going!!??!

Oddly, I've never done this. I changed the global prgm to open image files, Windows Snip & Sketch and every image now shows as a small thumbnail even if I choose VIEW Large Icons? What is wrong with using these other types of dedicate image manipulators that windows has a time opening the thumbnails?

Hello, jackadashacka

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

Thank you for your feedback. It can be very frustrating to consistently encounter issues with disappearing thumbnails on Windows 10. Here are some troubleshooting options:

1. you can confirm if the path is under OneDrive path, if it is under Onedrive path it does cause this problem. You can unsync OneDrive and move those images to other path.

2. Confirm settings and cache

Confirm the thumbnail settings:

Open File Explorer.

Click on the “View” tab and make sure “Show thumbnails instead of icons” is checked.

Increase the icon cache size:

You have already mentioned that you have increased the value of MaxIconsCache in the registry. This usually works, but make sure you do it correctly.

Open the Registry Editor by pressing Win + R, typing regedit and pressing Enter.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Right-click on the empty area on the right, select “New” -> “String Value” and name it Max Cached Icons, set the value to 4096 or greater.

Disclaimer: Generally, modifying registry subkeys or work group is intended for advanced users, administrators, and IT Professionals. It can help fix some problems, however, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For further protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click How to back up and restore the registry in Windows - Microsoft Support to view the article. 

Restart your computer to take effect.

Clean and rebuild the thumbnail cache:

Use the disk cleanup utility that comes with Windows or delete the thumbnail cache manually.

Open the Run dialog box, type cleanmgr and press Enter.

Select the C: drive and click OK.

In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, make sure that the Thumbnails option is selected and click OK to clean up the files.

Delete the thumbnail cache manually:

Open the Run dialog box, type %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer and press Enter.

Delete all files starting with thumbcache_.

3. Check System Settings

Advanced System Settings:

Right click on “This computer” and select “Properties”.

Click “Advanced System Settings”.

In the “Advanced” tab, click the “Settings” button under “Performance”.

Make sure that “Save taskbar thumbnails” and “Show thumbnails instead of icons” are checked in the “Customize” option.

4. Check file associations

Change the default program for image files:

Right-click on any image file and select “Properties”.

In the General tab, click the Change button.

Select the appropriate image viewing program (e.g. Windows Photo Viewer or Windows Photo Application) and click “OK”.

5. Check third-party program compatibility

If you are using a third-party image viewer or editor, it may also cause thumbnail display problems.

6. Rebuild Windows' icon cache

Delete the icon cache file:

Open the Run dialog box, type %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer and press Enter.

Delete all files starting with iconcache.

Restart your computer and Windows will automatically rebuild these cached files.

I look forward to your feedback, which will help me pinpoint your problem.

Best Regards,

Aaron| Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Okay, the MaxCachedIcons has already been used in the recent past, enlarging it. Thanks for the warning on using Registry. I have been fortunate to respect it enough that after many years, no major damage using it. I am going to try to run the

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer and press Enter.

Delete all files starting with thumbcache_

I see the folder. Now do I delete the entire contents of that folder that has .db after every file? There is also a folder present called NotifyIcon. Does it get deleted also? Thanks for your help!

Simply delete the files starting with iconcache.

If you find my reply helpful to some extent, you can log in to the account where you posted the question and click YES in the bottom left corner or the advanced option to mark it as an answer. Thank you for your help!

Aaron

Yes sir, did you read my signature: I never neglect to give kudos and answered if one is there. The 'thanksfor the help' was not a good bye. I always try the responses and then return with the results. Now what I found was no matter what I did, Explorer would not allow me to delete them, saying they were in use in Explorer?!?!? Well of course they were, that's where I went to delete them. So I used a little 3rd-party to delete them and got it down that way. I looked for results right away and some thumbs were showing, but I've not been back to see if they filled them in. I'll get back again.

I have tried deleteing these files all the way I know how. When I open them in Explorer to delete them it reports, Cannot Delete because they are open in Explorer? Well of course they are? It seems when I use some way or another to delete them they come back? I'm still working your suggestions. I'll final this before I drop it.

I am glad that your problem has been solved. In my first approach I have already pointed out that you can move to other paths to try. Feel free to ask questions in the Microsoft community the next time you have a problem.

Aaron

Though it's been a couple of weeks I had to get back and tell you how that it seems solved. Someone gave me a number of suggestions and then offhand asked me how many files and what types?

I realized I had oodles of videos and images. Some say that makes no difference. Maybe so. Some say OneDrive can be an issue. So I took these folders in Onedrive and placed them on a card drive. Then made a shortcut in Onedrive and these files still exists on Onedrive local but in the cloud. Somehow thumbnails are popping up all over the place like never before. I'm going with it!

I do not see a Solved option?
Thanks all! jep

It's been a few weeks, and I wonder how to select yours as an ANSWER. I googled this question and it said there was no direct way to select ANSWERED or SOLVED in MS Community. And I know that's not so as I have just looked at other questions I've asked and I've marked helpers posts as Answered. Why isn't it appearing here so I can credit you?