The Windows 11 2022 update brings Thumbnail previews to folders.
Windows 11: Thumbnail previews do not show on folders
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Anonymous
My folders are appearing as blank folder icons, where in Win 10 they showed thumbnail previews of the contents.
I've searched online for answers, and most appear to apply to earlier versions, and tell me to uncheck the 'icon only, no thumbnail' choice in View|Options, but that is already unchecked, so that is not the answer.
Does anyone have an actual working answer? Thanks if you do!
.....ph
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Answer accepted by question author
149 additional answers
Sort by: Most helpful
-
Anonymous
2022-08-26T18:38:38+00:00 In my responses I have always said, the issue is with properties/customize of a folder, “add a file to show ON this folder.”
NOT a preview, just a customization.
The link is there, but doesn’t work. It worked in ‘10, not ‘11.
No pic’s of the result to show on the phone.
-
Anonymous
2022-08-26T18:11:47+00:00 I have tried every solution here and on the internet to no avail. However, I have found my own fix (not certain if only temporary yet). Create a new folder, copy and paste said photos, etc into the new folder and Bob`s your Uncle the thumbnails have reappeared.
-
Anonymous
2022-08-05T05:29:17+00:00 Hi Graham S_014,
Actually, my question was answered on page 9 of this thread. Either way, my problem differed from the gist of this thread, eg. Previewing folder contents versus selecting a file to show on the icon.
For example, I have a picture of a dollar sign ($) and a finance folder. In Windows 10, I could select that picture to show on that folder, making it readily recognizable. In Windows 11, the same is there, but it doesn't work. (See my prior posts)
Seeing picture previews is a whole different issue, for which I think a fix is coming.
-
Anonymous
2022-08-04T13:58:10+00:00 How about this. When I look at my 'Pictures folder, I can't enable the thumbnails. But if I plug in my external hard drive, I can see thumbnails.