Windows 7 Controlling thumbnails that display on folder icons

[tjdavid21444]

I am trying to control which thumbnails display on folder icons in my Pictures library. Right now, all of the folder icons show thumbnails of 2 pictures. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which 2 pictures are chosen (obviously that is not true, it just seems that way). I assumed that it would display the first 2 pictures in the folder, based on how the items in the folder were ordered (i.e. by name, date, etc.) but that does not appear to be the case. One folder in particular I wanted just 2 blank white pictures showing on the folder icon. So I named the files 00000000000000000.jpg and 00000000000.jpg respectively. Yet when I look at the Pictures library, this folder's icon is showing thumbnails of the two most recently added pictures to the folder (their names being apha-numerically well down the list otherwise). So how do I fix this?

 

[ChatGPT]

To control which thumbnails display on folder icons in your Pictures library in Windows, you can follow these steps: 1. Change Folder View Options: - Open the folder containing the pictures you want to adjust. - Click on the "View" tab at the top of the File Explorer window. - In the "Layout" group, click on "Options" and then select "Change folder and search options." - In the Folder Options window, go to the "View" tab. - Under the Advanced settings, make sure that the option "Always show icons, never thumbnails" is unchecked. If it's checked, thumbnails won't display. 2. Modify Thumbnail Cache: - Windows generates thumbnail previews and stores them to speed up future display. Sometimes clearing the thumbnail cache can help: - Press Win + R to open the Run dialog. - Type cleanmgr and press Enter. - Select the drive where your Pictures library is located (usually C. - Check "Thumbnails" from the list of file types to clean. - Click OK to clear the thumbnail cache. 3. Customize Folder Icons: - To set a specific thumbnail image for a folder, you can create an image file named "folder.jpg" and place it inside the folder. This thumbnail will be used for the folder icon. 4. Sort and Rename Image Files: - Windows may pick thumbnails based on various criteria, including file creation or modification date, rather than file name or ordering. To ensure specific thumbnails are displayed: - Rename the pictures you want to show on the folder icon to "folder.jpg" inside the folder. - You can also change the sort order of files in the folder to influence which pictures are picked for the thumbnail display. 5. Refresh Folder Thumbnails: - After making these changes, you might need to refresh the folder view to see the updates: - Press F5 in the folder to refresh the view. - If the thumbnail still doesn't update, try restarting File Explorer. By following these steps, you can have better control over the thumbnails displayed on folder icons in your Pictures library in Windows. Let me know if you need further assistance!