Description:
After installing Foxit PhantomPDF/Foxit Reader, all PDF files show thumbnail instead of icon. How to make icons for PDF files to always shows as icons never thumbnails in file explorer?
Solution:
Choose one of the following optional ways to turn off thumbnail previews for PDF files in windows explorer.
- Turn off thumbnail previews for all format documents in windows explorer via folder options
- Turn off the Foxit thumbnail handler plugin’s thumbnail displaying function and clear the thumbnail Cache in windows explorer
- Rename the Foxit thumbnail handler plugin’s file name and clear the thumbnail Cache in windows explorer
Turn off thumbnail previews for all format documents in windows explorer via folder options
1: Open Windows Explorer. Go to the View tab and click the Options button in the Ribbon menu, select Change folder and search options to open the Folder Options window.
2: Click on the View tab and check the option Always show icons, never thumbnails to disable thumbnail previews. Click OK to save your changes.
Note: After applying the view option “always shows the icon, never thumbnails” in file explorer, it will turn off the thumbnail previews for all documents in windows explorer. For example, icons of images, videos, Microsoft office files would also only be displayed as icons. If you want icon look only for PDF files without disturbing other types of files, please refer to other two ways mentioned in this article.
Turn off the Foxit thumbnail handler plugin’s thumbnail displaying function and clear the thumbnail Cache in windows explorer
1:Open Foxit PhantomPDF/Foxit Reader, go to File tab> Preferences >File Association,please click on Advanced... button to open the Advanced... window, please uncheck the option Include thumbnail when setting default PDF viewer, click on OK to close the Advanced... window, then click on Make default PDF viewer button under the File associations tab in the preferences window, click on OK to close the preferences window.
2: Clear the thumbnail Cache in your windows by opening File Explorer. Right-click on your system partition (C:\) and select Properties from the context menu.Under the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Locate and check the Thumbnails option, and then click OK to delete / clear the thumbnail cache.
Note: this way will only make the Foxit Reader’s Thumbnail handler plugin itself not display the thumbnail in PDF file icon. But if you still have other PDF viewer installed on your computer, other PDF viewer’s thumbnail handler plugin will also display PDF file icon as thumbnail, so you still need to disable the thumbnail handler plugin for other PDF viewer if you have other PDF viewer installed on your computer.
Rename the Foxit thumbnail handler plugin’s file name and clear the thumbnail Cache in windows explorer
1: Open Shell Extensions this folder in your Foxit PhantomPDF/Foxit Reader's main installation folder, somewhere like:
For 64-bit OS:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF\Shell Extensions
Or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\Shell Extensions
For 32-bit OS:
C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF\Shell Extensions
Or
C:\Program Files \Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\Shell Extensions
Please rename the file name for FoxitThumbnailHndlr_x64.dll or FoxitThumbnailHndlr.dll there.
2: Clear the thumbnail Cache in your windows by opening File Explorer. Right-click on your system partition (C:\) and select Properties from the context menu.Under the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Locate and check the Thumbnails option, and then click OK to delete / clear the thumbnail cache.
Note: this way will only make the Foxit Reader’s Thumbnail handler plugin itself not display the thumbnail in PDF file icon. But if you still have other PDF viewer installed on your computer, other PDF viewer’s thumbnail handler plugin will also display PDF file icon as thumbnail, so you still need to disable the thumbnail handler plugin for other PDF viewer if you have other PDF viewer installed on your computer.
