Windows Thumbnail Generator

With the hype generated by the launch of Windows 11, most users did not even notice that the new OS was missing a major feature, namely the content thumbnail preview. Windows Thumbnail Generator is a small, dedicated tool that can recreate the missing feature and allow users to easily see the type of files inside a folder.

After the utility starts up, users need to select a folder. The utility was created via the open source ImageMagick and can composite the media in a folder. The tool generates an INI file directly on the desktop that users can set as the thumbnail. It is worth mentioning that the application can generate recursive thumbnails, meaning that the icons can be created for the sub-folders as well.

In the eventuality that the thumbnails are not updated after following the aforementioned steps, then there is a good chance that the cache is not properly updated. The workaround for this entails opening the Disk Cleanup utility and reset the thumbnail cache.

Another common issue with the tool can occur for directories with special characters especially after manual writing. According to the developer, the INI file created is made using the native language encoding of the system. In case the INI file was created manually, then it is probably written in UTF-8 and hence, users need to enable the support for the encoding.