How to disable thumbnails for all files

Question

I'd like to know how to disable thumbnails for all files, especially Windows .EXE executables - rather, I'd like to only see the icon for the file type. If this could be the case for folders too that'd be great.

I want this so that I can see what file is what at a glance - I rarely need an icon to tell me what I'm looking at; all it causes is confusion. I'm also very OCD when it comes to consistency so this would help increase my productivity by... a lot. Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi Roke,

Thank you for replying.

I will certainly continue to help you and you can be assured that it is certainly not frustrating to help you.

I have been researching on this and we can make a registry change, which might work for you. However, as this is not exactly how Windows handles the icons, we may only reach to a certain extent after which we may not be able to customize it further.

I would suggest you to take a backup of registry before proceeding.

**Note:**Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

Refer the steps to take a backup of Registry:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and click on OK.
3. Now, navigate to HKEY_Classes_Root\exefile
4. Right click on the exefile key and select Export.
5. Select a location export the file and enter a File name and select Save.

You can also create a System Restore point.

After exporting the registry key, refer the steps mentioned below to change the icon for exe file:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and click on OK.
3. Now, navigate to HKEY_Classes_Root\exefile
4. Right click on the DefaultIcons key and select Delete.
5. Restart the computer.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

Answer 2

Hi Roke,

Thank you for replying.

I apologize for the delayed response.

I see that you want to remove the icons for .exe files completely.

Although, this is not recommended, we can change a registry value for icons for particular extension for Windows Explorer. However, this cannot be done for icons in Task Manager.

Before proceeding, I strongly recommend that you create a System Restore point.

**Note:**Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

Refer the steps to take a backup of Registry:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and click on OK.
3. Now, navigate to HKEY_Classes_Root\exefile
4. Right click on the exefile key and select Export.
5. Select a location export the file and enter a File name and select Save.

After Exporting the registry key, refer the steps mentioned below to change the icon for exe file:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and click on OK.
3. Now, navigate to HKEY_Classes_Root\exefile\DefaultIcons.
4. On the right pane, double click on Default and change the value to 0.
5. Restart the computer.

On restart, all files with .exe extension will show blank icon in Windows Explorer.

If you need to revert this change, then you can double click on the registry backup and merge the key again.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

This seems to give every file a blank 'file' icon rather than a 'executable file' icon. Thank you - this is halfway - but not particularly useful. Is there any way I can achieve the aforementioned?

Answer 3

Hi Roke,

Thank you for replying.

I apologize for the delayed response.

I see that you want to remove the icons for .exe files completely.

Although, this is not recommended, we can change a registry value for icons for particular extension for Windows Explorer. However, this cannot be done for icons in Task Manager.

Before proceeding, I strongly recommend that you create a System Restore point.

**Note:**Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

Refer the steps to take a backup of Registry:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and click on OK.
3. Now, navigate to HKEY_Classes_Root\exefile
4. Right click on the exefile key and select Export.
5. Select a location export the file and enter a File name and select Save.

After Exporting the registry key, refer the steps mentioned below to change the icon for exe file:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and click on OK.
3. Now, navigate to HKEY_Classes_Root\exefile\DefaultIcons.
4. On the right pane, double click on Default and change the value to 0.
5. Restart the computer.

On restart, all files with .exe extension will show blank icon in Windows Explorer.

If you need to revert this change, then you can double click on the registry backup and merge the key again.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

Answer 4

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that you want to disable thumbnails for all the files, let me help you with the steps.

Refer the steps mentioned below:

Disable Thumbnails in File Explorer:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type control folders and click on OK.
3. Click on View tab.
4. Select the checkbox for Always show icons, never thumbnails under Files and Folders.

Disable Thumbnails in Visual Effects:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type SystemPropertiesPerformance and click on OK.
3. Go to Visual Effects tab and clear the checkbox for Show thumbnails instead of icons.
4. Click on Apply and OK.

Let us know if you need any further assistance, we will be glad to help you further.

Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

Thank you; knowing that calling SystemPropertiesPerformance opens that window makes customisation much easier for me.

However, I specified that I wanted the thumbnails on .EXE files to also be removed, for I already knew what the above steps did. Is there a way?

I'm just demonstrating what I mean by thumbnails for executables.

Answer 5

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that you want to disable thumbnails for all the files, let me help you with the steps.

Refer the steps mentioned below:

Disable Thumbnails in File Explorer:

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type control folders and click on OK.
3. Click on View tab.
4. Select the checkbox for Always show icons, never thumbnails under Files and Folders.

Disable Thumbnails in Visual Effects:

---

1. Press Windows Logo key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type SystemPropertiesPerformance and click on OK.
3. Go to Visual Effects tab and clear the checkbox for Show thumbnails instead of icons.
4. Click on Apply and OK.

Let us know if you need any further assistance, we will be glad to help you further.

Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator