How-To Guides

How to Restore Deleted Temporary Files And Rebuild The Thumbnail Cache

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When temporary files are deleted, it can sometimes cause issues like missing image previews or disappearing taskbar icons. These files might include thumbnail caches and icon databases, which Windows uses to display previews and icons quickly. Luckily, you can restore these easily by rebuilding the necessary caches and adjusting settings.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to fix these issues:

1. Rebuild the Thumbnail Cache

The missing image previews are likely due to the thumbnail cache being deleted. Windows stores image thumbnails in temporary files, and when these are deleted, the system needs to rebuild them.

How to Rebuild the Thumbnail Cache:

  1. Open Disk Cleanup:
  • Press Windows + R, type cleanmgr, and press Enter.
  1. Select the drive where Windows is installed (usually C:).
  2. Once the Disk Cleanup tool opens, scroll down and uncheck the box next to Thumbnails (if it’s checked). This will ensure Windows doesn’t delete the existing thumbnail cache again.
  3. Click OK to run Disk Cleanup and then Restart your computer.

Windows will automatically regenerate new thumbnails when you browse folders with image files. You should start seeing previews again.

2. Restore Taskbar Icons

If certain taskbar icons have disappeared, this might be due to the temporary icon cache being deleted.

Fix Missing Icons in the Taskbar:

  1. Restart Windows Explorer:
  • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
  • Find Windows Explorer in the list, right-click it, and select Restart.
    This can refresh the taskbar and restore missing icons.
  1. Rebuild the Icon Cache:
    If restarting Explorer doesn’t work, you may need to rebuild the icon cache.
  • Open File Explorer and go to this location:
    C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local
  • Find and delete the file named IconCache.db. If it’s hidden, you’ll need to enable hidden files:
    • Go to the View tab in File Explorer and check Hidden items.
  • Once deleted, restart your computer, and Windows will automatically rebuild the icon cache.

3. Reset Folder Options (If Needed)

Sometimes image previews are turned off in Folder Options. Here’s how to make sure they’re enabled:

  1. Open File Explorer and go to the View tab.
  2. Click Options (far right) and then Change folder and search options.
  3. In the Folder Options window, go to the View tab.
  4. Under Advanced settings, ensure that Always show icons, never thumbnails is unchecked.
  5. Click Apply and then OK.

4. Re-enable System Icons (If Taskbar Icons Still Missing)

If system icons like the volume, network, or battery icons are missing, you can re-enable them:

  1. Go to Settings (Windows + I) > Personalization > Taskbar.
  2. Scroll down to Notification area and click Turn system icons on or off.
  3. Toggle the icons back on if they’re disabled.

5. Update or Reinstall Graphics Drivers (Optional)

If the image preview and taskbar issues persist, it could be related to a display driver issue. Updating or reinstalling the graphics driver might help:

  1. Update Driver:
  • Right-click on Start and choose Device Manager.
  • Expand the Display adapters section.
  • Right-click your graphics card and choose Update driver > Search automatically for updated driver software.
  1. If updating doesn’t work, try reinstalling the driver by choosing Uninstall device, restarting your computer, and letting Windows automatically reinstall the driver.

Read: Stay on Windows 10 or Upgrade to 11?

By following these steps, you should be able to restore image previews, rebuild missing taskbar icons, and get your system back to normal. If the problem persists after these steps, there could be further corruption in Windows, which might require a System Restore or more in-depth troubleshooting.