It’s important to note that folder thumbnails are different than folder icons. While folder thumbnails provide a visual representation of the contents of a folder, folder icons help differentiate between different types of folders. This guide will show you how to change, reset, and disable folder thumbnails in Windows 11. So, without further ado, let’s get going.
Change the Folder Thumbnail in Windows
By default, Windows picks a folder thumbnail or picture on its own based on the folder’s content. Windows may update the folder thumbnail to reflect the changes ss you add or remove items from the folder. However, if you prefer a specific thumbnail image for your folder that doesn’t change, you can set the folder thumbnail manually. There are a couple of different ways you can go about this. Let’s go over them one by one.
Change the Folder Thumbnail by Modifying Folder Properties
Step 1: Right-click on the Start icon and select File Explorer from the Power User menu. Step 2: Locate the folder for which you want to change the thumbnail. Right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu. Step 3: In the Properties window, switch to the Customize tab and click the Choose File button. Step 4: Locate and select the picture you want to use as a thumbnail and click Open. Step 5: Hit Apply, followed by OK. For folder thumbnails, Windows supports all the popular file types, including JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIF, GIF, and more. Once you complete the above steps, the folder thumbnail change should reflect immediately, but if it doesn’t, press F5 to refresh the folder. Of course, File Explorer will only show folder thumbnails if the view type is set to medium, large, or extra large icons.
Change the Folder Thumbnail by Adding an Image to the Folder
Step 1: Press the Windows + E keyboard shortcut to launch File Explorer and locate the image you want to use as a folder thumbnail. Step 2: Right-click on the image and click the copy icon from the resulting menu. Step 3: Navigate to the folder for which you want to change the folder image. Then, double-click on it to open it. Step 4: Right-click anywhere within the empty space and click the paste icon. Step 5: Click the View menu at the top, go to Show, and enable the File name extensions option. Step 6: Select your image file and press F2 to rename it. Type in folder.gif and press Enter. Step 7: Select Yes to confirm. And that’s about it. Windows will use the folder.gif file as the thumbnail image for the folder.
Reset Folder Thumbnail in Windows
Windows also lets you reset the folder thumbnail in case you change your mind later. Here are the steps for the same. Step 1: Press the Windows + E keyboard shortcut to launch File Explorer and navigate to the folder for which you want to reset the folder picture. Step 2: Right-click on the folder and select Properties. Step 3: Under the Customize tab, click the Restore Default button. Step 4: Click Apply followed by OK. If you have set the folder thumbnail by adding an image file, simply delete the folder.gif file to reset the folder thumbnail.
Disable Folder Thumbnails in Windows
Although Windows makes it simple to change folder thumbnails, doing so for each folder separately can be time-consuming. If you don’t see the need for folder thumbnails, you can choose to disable them completely. Here’s how to do it. Step 1: Click the magnifying icon on the taskbar or press the Windows + S keyboard shortcut to access the search menu. Type file explorer options in the search box and select the first result that appears. Step 2: Switch to the View tab and tick the ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’ checkbox. Step 3: Click Apply and then OK. It’s worth noting that the above process will disable thumbnail previews for files. To undo this change later, repeat the above steps and clear the ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’ checkbox.
Give Your Folders a New Look
Changing folder thumbnails on Windows should make it easy to differentiate between them. Also, if you change your mind later, resetting or disabling folder thumbnails isn’t too difficult. Is File Explorer taking forever to load thumbnails? You may have to increase the thumbnail cache size or adjust performance options to speed up thumbnail loading in Windows. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
