Stopping Windows from Creating Thumbs.db Files

The Thumbs.db files is a system (typically, hidden) file that gets created in order to speed up the viewing of graphic thumbnails in a folder. Its existence sometimes poses some problems, though, so many users would just as soon not have the files created at all. To stop Windows from creating Thumbs.db files, click the Start button, type "gpedit.msc" (without the quotes), and press Enter. Windows displays the Local Group Policy Editor. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Local Group Policy Editor.

In the left pane, navigate to User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer. Once there the screen displays a number of different configuration settings for the computer. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. Turning off Thumbs.db.

Double-click the item on the right which says "Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files." You are then presented with a screen dedicated to the changing of this policy. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3. Changing the Thumbs.db policy.

Note, although it may seem backward, you are enabling the turning off of Thumbs.db, so be sure and click the Enabled radio button. OK your way out, and you won't have to bother with Thumbs.db files any more. (You may need to delete existing Thumbs.db files, but Windows won't create any new ones or make changes to any existing ones.)

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