Note that some of these apply to only the current user, while others persist across the entire system. This tutorial will cover 4 different methods to turn off and on thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer. This simple visual style can be beneficial if you need to quickly separate images from video files. Disabling them replaces that with a generic icon, all of them showing the logo of the application Windows opens them in. They’re what helps you quickly find the media file you’re looking for. This leads many to wonder how to remove the preview pane in Windows 10, as well as thumbnails in general.įor the unfamiliar, preview thumbnails in Windows 10 are the little icons that show for every image and video. Though they act as a media preview and video previewer, they can also slow down low-powered PCs and cause UI clutter. Windows 10’s preview thumbnails are incredibly useful if you have confusing file names, but those who are well-organized may just find them an annoyance.