Disable those pesky Thumbs.db files
If you have a folder with any pictures in it, or if you choose the “thumbnails” view for a folder, a system file called “Thumbs.db” will be generated. The purpose of the file is to act as a kind of database (hence, the extension “db”) that makes generating thumbnail views faster. If you have the default folder settings, you may not be aware of these files because they are system files and are hidden. (See this post about hidden files.) However, they can become annoying if you delete, copy or move folders. The system status of Thumbs.db means that you will get messages asking if you really want to do whatever it is you are trying to do. Since Windows seems to scatter these files all over the computer, these messages can become tiresome and also interfere with scripts. Although Thumbs.db can be an advantage in a folder with many pictures, Windows overuses them and I turn them off.
Although you can delete individual Thumbs.db files, they are regenerated every time you open a folder where they apply. To disable the creation of Thumbs.db files, go to a folder and Open the “Tools” menu. Choose “Folder Options - View” and scroll down the list of Advanced Options. Put a check by the line “Do not cache thumbnails”. You can use the button “Apply to all folders” or just use the setting for the current folder. Click “OK” when you are finished. Note that any Thumbs.db files previously generated will still be there.
How do you delete all the old Thumbs.db files? There may be hundreds or even thousands of them so some sort of mass deletion is necessary. One way is to do a search for “thumbs.db” and then delete them in the search list by selecting them all and pressing the delete key. Just make sure that your search function is configured to find hidden, system files.
Actually, there is an even better way to get rid of these files. Deleting a lot of files of the same kind (or, in this case, the same name) is a perfect example of a chore that the command line does quickly and efficiently. It will be the subject of a forthcoming tip.
Update: I forgot to point out that certain virtual system folders will not be affected by the setting to disable thumbnail caching.
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Reader Susan wrote to me in an email:
Hi, Vic, I followed your advice in “Disable those pesky Thumbs.db
files”, but have returned to caching thumbnails. The effect that I found
not workable for me is the lack of alphabetization of the file/folder
names when I would “Save as” a file. Just thought you would want to
know of a side effect that could bother some people.
There’s no doubt that disabling thumbnail caches may not suit everybody. For example, if you have folders with a lot of pictures, the caching makes opening a folder noticeably faster.