By default, Windows 11 File Explorer attempts to generate small visual previews (thumbnails) for almost every file on your computer. If you open a folder full of photos, videos, or PDF documents, Windows will display tiny images of the actual file contents instead of generic application icons.
While this is visually helpful, generating hundreds of high-resolution thumbnails requires a significant amount of CPU power and disk reads. If you have a massive folder containing thousands of RAW photos on a slow mechanical hard drive, opening that folder will cause File Explorer to freeze while it struggles to render the thumbnails. To maximize performance, you can force Windows to only display fast, generic file icons.
How to Turn Off File Explorer Thumbnails in Windows 11
You can disable thumbnail generation from the classic Folder Options menu.
- Open File Explorer (press Windows Key + E).
- Click on the three horizontal dots (…) located on the top menu bar to open the “See more” menu.
- Click on Options at the bottom of the drop-down list.
- A “Folder Options” dialogue box will appear. Click on the View tab at the top.
- In the “Advanced settings” scroll box, look at the very top of the list for an option labelled Always show icons, never thumbnails.
- Click the checkbox to select it.
- Click Apply, and then click OK.
Moving forward, File Explorer will instantly display the generic application icon for every file type (e.g., a standard blue media icon for MP4s, or the classic mountain landscape for JPGs). Folders will now open instantaneously, completely eliminating the sluggish rendering delays on older hardware.