Mapped SharePoint Libraries Load Image Thumbnails Too Slowly

Question

Hi all,

Our business recently moved from on-prem local servers connected via LAN to being completely in the cloud with the MS suite. We used to have our various storage drives mapped to Windows Explorer, so one of the first things we did when we moved to the cloud was map our new SharePoint libraries (accounts, marketing, sales, tech, management, etc) to Windows Explorer.

This runs fine, although some of those libraries contain folders filled with images and the problem is that the image thumbnails load far too slowly to make it usable... which means the easiest way to browse the image folder to find a specific image is to download the entire folder locally, which means the thumbnails load instantly!

Is this a known issue? Or is it simply down to our own bandwidth slowing down the serving of thumbnails? Or is there a way to make SharePoint process thumbnails in the cloud and deliver them, as opposed to the thumbnail processing taking place whenever we attempt to view the folder locally within Windows Explorer?

Thanks!

Dion

Answer 1

Hi Dion,

As Windows Explore use Webdav technology, it should be an expected behavior that SharePoint libraries load image Thumbnails slowly and it is not feasible to process thumbnails in the cloud. Thanks for your understanding.

However, you can using the sync feature to sync the Online document library to the local. Based on my test, the thumbnails can load perfectly. For your reference:

Sync your OneDrive for Business files

Restrictions and limitations when you sync SharePoint libraries to your computer through OneDrive for Business

Note:Asset/Picture library can't be synced. Please do not store pictures in them if you decide to use the sync feature.

Best Regards,

Sky Pei