Author: Raymond

In Windows 10, sometimes thumbnail icons display improperly. This can be easily fixed by deleting the thumbnail cache files. Let’s explore how to do this.

This is for Windows 10 operating system

Check out TechSavvy.Life for similar blog posts!

Tweet

What Are Thumbnails?

By default, instead of using generic icons for documents, Windows 10 creates small pictures of image or document contents called thumbnails. These tiny images are stored in a special file called the thumbnail cache. By using this file, Windows does not have to recreate thumbnail images every time you open a folder.

If you are seeing incorrect thumbnails, it’s likely that the thumbnails stored in the cache for those particular files have been corrupted or are missing. This could be due to a bug in Windows or perhaps an intermittent hardware problem.

In that case, the best course of action is to delete your thumbnail cache and allow Windows to recreate the faulty thumbnails the next time you restart your machine.

Clear the Thumbnail Cache

First, open the Start menu and in the Cortana search bar, type Disk Cleanup. Click on the Disk Cleanup app that appears in the upper left hand corner. See below image:

In the Disk Cleanup window, locate the Files to Delete list. Uncheck all items except for Thumbmails. With Thumbnails checked, click OK to remove the thumbnail cache file. Refer to below image:

A pop-up dialog box will ask, Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files? Just click Delete Files. See following image:

Another pop-up will appear, this time showing you the progress of deleting your Windows thumbnails. Refer to below image:

After the thumbnail cache files have been deleted, restart your computer. Now, open File Explorer or look at the Desktop to see if this has fixed your problem. Hopefully, the thumbnails have been recreated and are now correct. If not, you may want to follow the guidelines below.

Disable Thumbnails

This is only recommended if the above guidelines fails to fix the problem.

Open the Start menu and type in File Explorer Options in the Cortana search bar. Next, click on the associated Control Panel app in the upper left hand corner. Refer to below image:

In the File Explorer Options window, click on the View tab. Then, in the Advanced Settings section, checkmark the option Always show icons, never thumbnails. Next, click OK to save your change. See below image:

Now, close the File Explorer Options window and restart your machine. Windows will now only display standard icons for documents instead of thumbnails

If you find TechSavvy.Life blog posts extremely helpful check them out for posts on smart phone apps, Macs and PCs!

Tweet

I Would Like to Hear From You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

If you spend any time examining the Task Manager, you will be amazed at the number of processes running on your PC. But what do they do and how can we find out? Is it safe to stop or disable them?

This is for Windows operating system

Click to tweet on how you like TechSavvy.Life!

Tweet

What is a Process

A process or running process refers to a set of instructions currently being processed by the computer processor.

Windows Processes are Windows Services and background programs you normally don’t see running on the computer. A process may be a printer program that runs in the background and monitors the ink levels and other printer settings while the computer is running.

A typical computer has dozens to hundreds of processes running all of the time to help manage the operating system, its hardware and the software running on the computer. Refer to below image of my running processes (I have over 150) with one open application (WordPress) under Google Chrome. The sort order is by the Memory column.

Also, note that Google Chrome has 32 instances of the program running. Just click the arrow next to the Name field to expand the list. See following image:

Start the Task Manager

There are a couple of ways to start the Task Manager.

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del and click on the Task Manager option
2. Right-click on the Start button then click on the Task Manager option. See below image;

Stop a Process

Next, highlight a running process, then right-click and select End Task. You would do this if you are unable to normally close a program/task or a program/ task is consuming a lot of memory and/or CPU. Refer to below image:

Search a Process

What is this process your machine is running? Highlight a process, right-click and select Search Online. Your Microsoft browser will open with the search results for your highlighted process. See below image:

Other Features

You can sort any column by clicking on the column heading, just like in Excel.

You may highlight a process, then select Resource value, From here, select an option, then select how you want to view the process, Percents or Values. See following image:

Click to tweet if you find TechSavvy.Life blog posts extremely helpful. Check them out for posts on smart phone apps, Macs and PCs!

Tweet

I Would Like to Hear From You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Congratulations! You are reading my 100th WordPress blog post. Thank you for reading and even sharing. I started blogging after Thanksgiving 2019. It has been a fun learning experience about smart devices and Windows. Please keep reading and leaving comments and/or Tweets.

By default, Windows 10 displays checkboxes whenever you select a file. This was designed for easy file management on a touch screen. You might prefer the classic approach without the checkboxes. Let’s explore how to enable/disable this feature using two methods.

When enabled, a small square appears beside each file icon, thumbnail or file name. They appear in every File Explorer layout mode.

This feature first appeared in Vista and became enabled by default in Windows 8.

This is for Windows 10 operating system

This is my 100th blog post. Click to tweet on how you like TechSavvy.Life!

Tweet

Access File Explorer

First, open File Explorer by pressing Windows + E or click the pinned File Explorer folder icon in your Taskbar. You may also click Start to locate the File Explorer. Refer to below image:

Method 1: Enable/Disable Checkboxes

Once there, in the ribbon tab, click the View tab. See below image:

Locate the option Item check boxes. Toggle the box to show or hide checkboxes. Your change is immediately applied. Refer to below image:

Method 2: The Folder Options

Access the File Explorer as mentioned above and click on the View tab.

Next, click the Options button and select Change folder and search options to open the Folder options window. Now, select the View tab

Scroll down the list till you see Use check boxes to select items. Toggle the box to show or hide checkboxes. Click Apply to save your choice, then click OK. See following image:

This is my 100th blog post. Click to tweet if you find TechSavvy.Life blog posts extremely helpful. Check them out for posts on smart phone apps, Macs and PCs!

Tweet

I Would Like to Hear From You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Microsoft new Windows 10 Power Toys Run feature offers you a quick way to locate and launch programs, files, folders and other items by typing their names. Let’s explore this new feature.

This is for Windows 10 operating system

Click to tweet on how you like TechSavvy.Life!

Tweet

PowerToys Features

New with PowerToys version .018 and above is a quick launch feature called PowerToys Run. After you trigger its keyboard shortcut, the program appears on your screen. Just simply start typing in the name of the program, file or folder you want to open. From the search results, simply click on your desired item. But there is more.

The Run feature also allows you to open windows and running processes, launch apps like the Control Panel or Task Manager and perform calculations.

Install PowerToys

You will find the latest version at Microsoft’s GitHub page for PowerToys. If you are upgrading or installing for the first time, the Microsoft’s Windows Desktop Runtime should be automatically installed as part of the feature.

After installation, click on the desktop shortcut you created in the install to launch the program. Now, click on the PowerToys icon in the System Tray. See below image:

The Settings Menu

Right-click on the icon to access the the Settings option. In the PowerToys Settings screen, click on the entry for PowerToys Run. Next, click on the toggle switch to enable PowerToys Run.

By default, the feature shows you four search results. It is recommended that you increase this value to eight for a better result. Also, the default shortcut key is Alt + Spacebar, you can change this shortcut to your liking.

When you are finished, close the Settings screen. Refer to below image:

The Quick Laucher

Lets restart PowerToys Run by pressing the shortcut you defined. The quick launcher appears on the screen with an invitation for you to start typing. Start typing the name of the application, folder or file you wish to access. From the search results, click on the correct result to open it. At the upper right hand corner are two small icons. The first icon lets you open the application as an administrator; the second one opens the folder that contains the application’s executable file. The launcher window and its results are saved for other searches. See below image:

Next, you can find and launch open windows and running processes. At the Run launcher, type the name of an open application, file, web page or other process, and then select the item you wish to bring to the foreground. Refer to below image:

You can also open shell plugins built into Windows, which include such items as Control Panel, Task Manager and Command Prompt. To trigger such a plugin at the launcher, type > followed by the first few letters of the plugin, such as > control or > task and then select the item you want from the results. See following image:

The Calculator Feature

You can perform simple calculations at the launcher, a handy alternative to the Windows Calculator. To do this at the launcher, type the first number, followed by the symbol for the calculation (+ for addition, – for subtraction, * for multiplication or / for division), followed by the second number. After you finish the equation, the launcher displays the results. You can then click the result to copy it to the Clipboard. Refer to below image:

Click to tweet if you find TechSavvy.Life blog posts extremely helpful. Check them out for posts on smart phone apps, Macs and PCs!

Tweet

I Would Like to Hear From You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.