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If you don’t mind long load times when rendering an Explorer thumbnail or filmstrip view full of many (or large) files, carrying out the following steps will prevent your computer from generating future Thumbs.db files.
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Keep in mind that these steps won't delete and recreate the thumbnails. Once you completed the steps, Windows 10 will automatically recreate the database files with fresh new icons. Type the following command to start File Explorer and press Enter:Ĭlose Command Prompt to complete the task. Make sure to close them all, and repeat the steps. If you still see some iconcache files, then it's likely that some apps are still running, which will prevent you from deleting the database files. Type the following command to verify that you successfully deleted the icon cache files and press Enter: Repeat these steps, but making sure Command Prompt starts with administrative privileges. Quick Tip: If you get access denied trying to remove the files, you're probably not running Command Prompt with as an administrator.
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Type the following command to delete the iconcache files and press Enter: You need to close File Explorer to be able to delete the icon cache files. Important: Once you terminate File Explorer, your desktop background and taskbar will disappear, leaving a black screen - but it's OK, it's only temporarily. Type the following command to stop File Explorer and press Enter: The output of the dir command should list these database files:
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Type the following command to verify the icon cache database files are at the location and press Enter: Type the following command to navigate to the icon cache database location and press Enter:Ĭd %homepath%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
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