If Windows 11’s thumbnails aren’t acting as they should, clearing the thumbnail cache should bring things back to normal.
Thumbnails are those small picture previews of images or documents displayed within File Explorer. Those thumbnails make it easier to visually identify files. However, Explorer doesn’t always properly display file thumbnails.
If you see blank thumbnails in Explorer, or some don’t look right, clearing the thumbnail cache might fix them. The thumbnail cache is a storage space for thumbnail image previews, which can sometimes contain corrupted data. This is how you can clear (erase) the thumbnail cache within Windows 11.
Windows 11’s Disk Clean-up utility enables you to erase different types of data files. That tool includes a Thumbnails option you can select to clear the thumbnails cache. These are steps for clearing the thumbnails cache with Disk Clean-up:
Windows 11’s Settings app includes a temporary file cleaner tool that’s similar to Disk Clean-up. You can also select to clear temporary files in the thumbnails cache with that utility. This is how to clear the thumbnail cache within Settings:
Command Prompt, or CMD, is a command-line app with which you can clear the thumbnail cache. You can clear out that cache with the Command Prompt by executing a del command for the thumbcache_*.db file in the following steps:
Alternatively, you can set up a batch file based on the Command Prompt command for clearing the thumbnail cache. Adding such a batch file to the Windows 11 desktop will provide a handy shortcut for clearing the thumbnail cache. You can set up a batch file that deletes the thumbnail cache like this:
You can also set up a keyboard shortcut for a batch file that clears the thumbnail cache. To do so, set up the Clear Thumbnail Cache.bat file as outlined above and save it in a different folder to Desktop. Right-click your Clear Thumbnail Cache.bat file in the folder you saved it in to select Show more options > Create shortcut.
Then you’ll have a Thumbnail Cache.bat file shortcut on the desktop you can set up a hotkey for. Right-click that batch file’s desktop shortcut to select Properties. In the Shortcut tab that opens, click inside the Shortcut key box.
Press C to set up a Ctrl + Alt + C hotkey, and click Apply to save. Pressing the Ctrl + Alt + C key combo will now run the batch file for clearing the thumbnail cache.
The Explorer folder includes a series of thumbcache DB files. You can clear the thumbnail cache by manually deleting those files within File Explorer. Follow these steps to delete those thumbcache files:
You might also need to clear the thumbcache.db files from the Recycle Bin. Double-click the Recycle Bin shortcut on your desktop. Then select the Empty Recycle Bin option there.
When you clear the thumbnail cache with the methods above, the thumbnails in it will get automatically recreated. Deleting that cache effectively refreshes its data. So, clearing the thumbnail cache can often be an effective potential solution for fixing thumbnail display issues in File Explorer.
Jack has been a freelance tech journalist for more than a decade. He has covered Windows Vista, 7, 10, and 11 topics within a multitude of guides for Make Use Of and numerous other websites.
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