Can't see icons within file explorer - Windows 10
I have recently discovered that when I open my File Explorer to view the Pictures folder, there are no icons or file thumbnails present.
I found that I can get them to reappear by going to View and changing the 'Layout' from Large icons to another option and then back again. However, if I progress further into a different folder, all of the icons are gone once again.
The problem also occurs when I am trying to open files in programs such as Photoshop when going to File > Open.
I have Google'd the issue and seen a few posts such as:
- This one describing the process of setting 'Display file icon on thumbnails'
- This one describing the System File Check scan and repair
- This one describing the process of clearing the thumbnail caché
However, none of these have solved the issue :-(
Update:
- I have 204GB free of 463GB on my C: drive
2 Answers
Your thumbnails cache may be broken. You can clear it by using disk cleanup and checking "Thumbnails".
If that doesn't work you can try the following CMD commands: taskkill /f /im explorer.exe (to kill file explorer)del /f /s /q /a %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\thumbcache_*.db (to delete the cache files) start explorer.exe (to start file explorer again)
Source of CMD commands: :
5How to recreate the thumbnail cache using Command Prompt
In the case, the previous steps didn't work, or you prefer to use command lines, you can use Command Prompt to delete and clear the thumbnail cache on Windows 10.Open Start. Search for Command Prompt. Right-click the result and select Run as administrator. Type the following command to stop File Explorer and press Enter:
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
Type the following command to delete all the thumbnail database files without asking for confirmation and press Enter:
del /f /s /q /a %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\thumbcache_*.db
Type the following command to start File Explorer and press Enter:
start explorer.exe
Close Command Prompt to complete the task
Try another method whose idea is roughly same as your first post.
Go to the local Group Policy Editor, User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->File Explorer.
Click File Explorer to see the state of "Turn off the display of thumbnails and only display icons". If it is enabled, disable it.
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