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How to clear the thumbnail cache in Windows Vista?
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/229/1/How-to-clear-the-thumbnail-cache-in-Windows-Vista.html
By Ramesh Srinivasan
Published on August 11, 2007
 
I have a folder that contains all my .jpg files. When I select to view the .jpg by thumbnail, majority of the pictures display do not match the file names?

How to clear the thumbnail cache in Windows Vista?

Question

I have a folder that contains all my .jpg files. When I select to view the .jpg by thumbnail, majority of the pictures display do not match the file names?

Clear the thumbnail cache

Windows keeps a copy of all of your picture, video, and document thumbnails so they can be displayed quickly when you open a folder. If you delete the thumbnail cache, they will be automatically created when needed. The thumbnail preview problems can be resolved by clearing the thumbnail database and let the system rebuild it as and when required. To do so, use these steps:

  • Click Start, type cleanmgr and press ENTER
  • Click My files only
  • Select the system drive letter from the drop-down list
  • Uncheck all the entries except Thumbnails
  • Click OK

More information

The thumbnail database is stored globally in Windows Vista, unlike Windows XP, where the thumbnail database is stored on a per-folder basis. In Windows Vista, the default Thumbnail cache location is mentioned below:

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer