Windows holds a copy of all the thumbnails of your images, videos, and documents in the Thumbnail cache. Doing this allows Windows to display the contents quickly when you open a folder. However, over time, the Thumbnail cache can accumulate large amounts of data and take up significant storage space.
Also, errors in the Thumbnail cache can cause problems with File Explorer. To avoid such problems, you need to clear the Thumbnails cache regularly. In this post, we will explore four quick ways to clear the Thumbnail cache in Windows 11.
1. Clear the thumbnail cache using the Settings app
The Settings app is the perfect place to manage memory on your Windows PC. You can access to clear Thumbnail cache on your computer. Here are step-by-step instructions for doing that:
Step 1: Press the Windows + I key combination to open the Settings application.
Step 2: Select System from the left sidebar and Storage option from the right pane.
Step 3: Click on Temporary files.
Step 4: Check the Thumbnails box.
Step 5: Click the Delete file button.
Step 6: Click Continue to confirm your choice.
2. Clear the thumbnail cache with the Disk Cleanup tool
Disk Cleanup is a built-in Windows utility that allows you to delete temporary files, DirectX shader cache, thumbnail cache, and other unnecessary files. To use it to clear the Thumbnail cache, follow these instructions:
Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Start Menu.
Step 2: Enter Disk Cleanup in the search bar and press Enter.
Step 3: Select the drive containing the OS (usually C drive for most users) and click OK.
Step 4: Tick the Thumbnails box and click OK.
Step 5: Click the Delete Files button in the Disk Cleanup prompt that appears.
3. Clear Thumbnail Cache Using File Explorer
Another convenient way to clear the Thumbnail cache is through File Explorer. However, similar to the Disk Cleanup tool, there is no direct option to clear the cache in File Explorer. You will need to delete the DB thumbcache files in the Explorer folder instead. Here’s how you can do it:
Step 1: Press the Windows + E keyboard shortcut to open File Explorer.
Step 2: Click the View option in the top bar, move the cursor to Show and select Hidden items from the context menu.
Step 3: Paste the following location into the address bar and press Enter.
%homepath%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
Step 4: Press Control + A keyboard shortcut to select all thumbcache files. Next, press the keyboard shortcut Shift + Delete to delete them permanently.
Step 5: Click Yes for the confirmation box to appear.
4. Clear Thumbnail Cache with Command Prompt
Command Prompt is a command line utility used to perform advanced Windows tasks. It can also be helpful in clearing the Thumbnail cache in Windows 11.
Follow these steps to clear the Thumbnail cache using the Command Prompt:
Step 1: Click on the Windows icon on the taskbar to open the Start Menu, type Command prompt in the search bar and select Run as administrator from the right pane.
Step 2: To clear the Thumbnail cache, copy and paste the following command and press Enter:
del /f /s /q /a %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\thumbcache_*.db
In the results you will see the names of all the deleted files.
Prevent Windows 11 from creating the Thumbs.db . file
You can prevent Windows 11 from making copies of your images, videos, and document thumbnails. To do that, you will have to configure Windows to not create Thumbs.db files. You can do that by following these steps:
Note: The following steps require access to the Local Group Policy Editor, which is only available in Windows Pro, Education, and Enterprise editions. If you try to access it in the Windows Home edition, you may get the error ‘gpedit.msc is missing.’ To access the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows Home and fix this error, refer to our guide on how to fix the missing gpedit.msc error.
Step 1: Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run tool.
Step 2: Enter gpedit.msc and click OK.
Step 3: In the Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the following location:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer
Step 4: Double-click the ‘Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files’ policy in the right pane.
Step 5: Select the Enabled option.
Step 6: Click Apply and then OK to save the changes.
Delete unnecessary files
Do you see black thumbnails when browsing folders in File Explorer? Clearing the Thumbnail cache can quickly fix black thumbnails in File Explorer. Furthermore, clearing the cache can also free up some extra space.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
