How to fix Windows 7 bug where “thumbs.db” prevents renaming or deleting most recently viewed folder

Vitosal, about 12 yrs, 3 mths ago
Saturday August 11, 2012 8:22 AM

Thanks Bro, worked like a charm :-)

Anusha, about 12 yrs, 22 days ago
Monday October 29, 2012 1:14 PM

Thank you very much. Worked for Windows 8 as well. Just have to select "File Explorer" instead of "Windows Explorer" in Group Policy Editor. <3

Ned, about 12 yrs, 22 days ago
Monday October 29, 2012 1:17 PM

Good to know. Also interesting to see they still haven’t fixed this annoying problem with Windows 8.

Niamh, about 12 yrs, 19 days ago
Thursday November 1, 2012 11:10 AM

Thanks. That has been driving me crazy for so long - it's great to finally see the back of it.

revaaron, about 11 yrs, 11 mths ago
Monday December 17, 2012 1:34 AM

in win8 it is
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\File Explorer

Ned, about 11 yrs, 11 mths ago
Tuesday December 18, 2012 12:55 AM

Thanks, I have updated the article.

CecilyT, about 11 yrs, 9 mths ago
Sunday January 27, 2013 4:24 AM

What do you do if you have Win8 Home edition and no gpeditor?

Hannnah, about 11 yrs, 8 mths ago
Monday March 4, 2013 8:58 AM

I tried running the "gpedit.msc" process and it didn't work. Is there anything I could do as an alternative? I have Windows 8 on my laptop. Thanks!

Sofia, about 11 yrs, 7 mths ago
Tuesday April 9, 2013 9:39 PM

Victory! Thank you so much and I am glad I found this page! I have been suffering for months renaming and deleting folders.

Cathy, about 11 yrs, 6 mths ago
Monday May 6, 2013 9:53 PM

Thanks!

Rafi, about 11 yrs, 3 mths ago
Thursday July 25, 2013 10:55 AM

This is not a fix, you just turning off the option. What if I want to see preview and still able to delete/rename folders with ease. It's a windows bug.

Ned, about 11 yrs, 3 mths ago
Thursday July 25, 2013 10:53 PM

Thumbnail preview will still work.

Paurian, about 11 yrs, 3 mths ago
Tuesday July 30, 2013 3:02 PM

Thanks! This thing has been pestering me for months!

LaFouine94, about 11 yrs, 1 mth ago
Thursday October 3, 2013 9:04 PM

Yes, but it will be longer to preview, since it is not cached.

Sam, about 11 yrs, 1 mth ago
Thursday October 10, 2013 12:30 PM

I've been having this problem repeatedly since we upgraded to Windows 7. Previously had XP and did not experience this problem at all. Why, and what is different about Windows 7? Just curious. Thanks for this fix, I will be trying it out.

soulcatcher, about 11 yrs, 5 days ago
Friday November 15, 2013 4:41 PM

From observation I've determined only one thumbs.db can be locked. Create a new text file in a different directory than the one you want to rename/unlock.

Rogier, about 10 yrs, 11 mths ago
Friday November 22, 2013 12:47 PM

Little typo: "gpudate /force" should be "gpupdate /force"

Ned, about 10 yrs, 11 mths ago
Friday November 22, 2013 12:51 PM

Thanks. I have fixed the typo.

Cats, about 10 yrs, 11 mths ago
Tuesday December 17, 2013 10:33 PM

This worked well.
Is there an option to disable it only on network connections?

Jerry, about 10 yrs, 11 mths ago
Friday December 20, 2013 2:09 PM

Thanks. Worked like a charm. Nice and easy... :)

Nancy, about 10 yrs, 10 mths ago
Wednesday January 15, 2014 1:23 PM

I do not have the ability to do this as I receive a file from a vendor containing the thumbs.db file and I have no control over their system. Is there another solution?

Ned, about 10 yrs, 10 mths ago
Wednesday January 15, 2014 1:25 PM

Receiving something from a vendor containing Thumbs.db will make no difference to this solution. If your computer does not write them, then it won't lock them.

Thomaz, about 10 yrs, 3 mths ago
Wednesday July 30, 2014 5:18 PM

Muito obrigado;
By Brazil

Momentum, about 10 yrs, 2 mths ago
Friday September 19, 2014 8:19 PM

Found it! thx. Pffff annoying!!! :) its fixed now. Thanks again.!

David, about 10 yrs, 1 mth ago
Wednesday October 8, 2014 1:24 PM

Didn't work. Tried enabling, tried /force. Tried creating a text file in a different folder as per a reader comment. Wit's end.

Ned, about 10 yrs, 1 mth ago
Wednesday October 8, 2014 1:28 PM

If you are having trouble deleting a folder, then probably something else has opened that folder, or a file in it.

Paul, about 9 yrs, 9 mths ago
Thursday January 29, 2015 11:54 AM

Useful worked perfectly for W7 x64 pro

praveen, about 9 yrs, 7 mths ago
Sunday April 5, 2015 8:34 AM

I cannot open my folders in all drives
Getting that cant open application thumbs .db files are missing. Reinstalling may fix the problem.
Pls tel me a solution

Jerry Hewett, about 9 yrs, 4 mths ago
Monday July 6, 2015 3:04 PM

The way to fix this problem is just to turn off Thumbs.db altogether.

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /v NoThumbnailCache /d 0x1 /t REG_DWORD /f

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v DisableThumbsDBOnNetworkFolders /d 0x1 /t REG_DWORD /f

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /v NoThumbnailCache /d 0x1 /t REG_DWORD /f

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v DisableThumbsDBOnNetworkFolders /d 0x1 /t REG_DWORD /f

ascool_asice, about 9 yrs, 2 mths ago
Friday September 11, 2015 7:37 AM

Wow thanks for this... it seemed to have resolved all my frustrations with this problem

chuck, about 8 yrs, 10 mths ago
Tuesday December 29, 2015 8:52 PM

Why we have to do this is beyond me. It's the dumbest setting to have on by default.

john smith, about 8 yrs, 10 mths ago
Friday January 15, 2016 2:29 PM

I'm on a university computer where I don't have access to Group Policy, Command Prompt, etc. What can I do?