Windows 8.1 Preview Pane only shows Icons for pictures - no previews

Anonymous
2013-11-18T15:19:36+00:00

I can view previews of documents (pdfs and docs) but previews of jpegs (and all other image file formats) will only show icons no matter what I configure as the Default Program, i.e. Photo, MS Paint, or Photoshop.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2013-11-18T19:34:26+00:00

Hi,

Thanks for reporting this problem! It sounds like you need to change a system setting relating to thumbnails. Perform the following steps to enable thumbnails to be shown:

  1. Launch File Explorer (Winkey+E).
  2. Click the View tab at the top of the window.
  3. Click the Options button.
  4. In the Folder Options window that appears, click on the View tab..
  5. Uncheck the "Always show icons, never thumbnails" option.
  6. Click Apply, then OK.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-06-09T14:05:33+00:00

    Where do you change from "Corel Photo Paint" to "Photos"?

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-04T14:16:08+00:00

    ditto. I have thousands of images I need to be able to preview. It just flat out stopped working. I have 16GB RAM and 80% of my 1.5TB HD available. I have tried all these solutions and a few more. Nothing works. 

    I can see the FOLDER icons, but the file icons are a blank sheet of paper and there is no preview. Also, if I select a folder, the sub-folders do not show in the left panel.

    If I select File Properties, the wheel spins forever - nothing ever shows up. Eventually, Explorer just stops working and I have to close it.

    Rebooting and even shutting down and do nothing. 

    UPDATE: cleaned registry, cleaned HD of temp files; refreshed RAM, defragged HD, rebooted - everything works now. Why? I have no idea.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-08T22:46:38+00:00

    this computer is only a few weeks old, and until today, windows was displaying previews just fine. now, if i open a directory and highlight a JPG or PDF, sometimes a SLOW green loading bar eventually produces a preview, and sometimes nothing happens at all.

    lots of RAM, spacious SSD for the system, and i have tinkered and toggled all over to no avail. very frustrating.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-08-31T17:25:50+00:00

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