HEIC thumbnails not showing in Windows 10/11

The fix that works for most people

1. 01

   Look at a JPG in the same folder

   Switch the folder to Large icons. If JPGs show pictures and only the HEICs show a plain icon, carry on with step 2. If nothing shows a picture, skip to thumbnails switched off below.

2. 02

   Install both Microsoft Store packages

   HEIF Image Extensions (free) reads the container and HEVC Video Extensions (US$0.99 in the US Store on 11 October 2026) decodes the photo inside. Microsoft's own listing says the HEVC package must be installed to view .heic images. The Windows guide covers prices and the free device-manufacturer build.

3. 03

   Check that a HEIC now opens in Photos

   Double-click one. If Photos cannot show it either, the codecs are not working yet and no Explorer setting will help: see HEIF extension installed but not working.

4. 04

   Clear the thumbnail cache

   Run Disk Cleanup on drive C:, tick Thumbnails and delete. Full steps for Windows 10 and 11 are further down. This throws away the blank icons Explorer saved before the codecs existed.

5. 05

   Reopen the folder and give it a moment

   Explorer rebuilds thumbnails as you browse, so a large photo folder fills in gradually the first time. A reply from a Microsoft Community Support Specialist notes that HEIC thumbnails take longer to decode than JPEG ones.

How File Explorer builds a HEIC thumbnail

Each of the fixes on this page repairs one link in a short chain. Microsoft's developer documentation describes it: when a thumbnail is needed, Windows checks its thumbnail cache first, and only if the picture is not there, or the file has changed since it was cached, does it call the file type's thumbnail extractor. For image formats, Windows supplies a default extractor that works with any format a Windows Imaging Component (WIC) codec can decode. On a PC without the two Store packages, HEIC is not one of those formats.

The cache explains the most confusing symptom: extensions installed, Photos opens the file, yet Explorer still shows a plain icon. Microsoft's guidance for codec developers says that if images in a format already exist on the computer, the cache holds default thumbnails for them, because no decoder was available when they were first seen, and that a codec installer should notify Windows so it discards those and extracts real ones. Microsoft does not say whether the Store extensions do that. Clearing the cache yourself has the same effect.

Check 1: thumbnails are switched off for everything

If JPGs, PNGs and videos show plain icons too, the codecs are not the problem. Microsoft's support page for this exact symptom, written for medium, large and extra-large icon views, gives this fix:

1. 01

   Open Folder Options

   In File Explorer on Windows 11, select the three-dot menu (…) in the toolbar, then Options. On Windows 10, open the View tab, then Options, then Change folder and search options.

2. 02

   Untick 'Always show icons, never thumbnails'

   It is a check box on the View tab of the Folder Options dialog.

3. 03

   Select Apply, then OK

   Microsoft adds that you may need to restart the computer.

Two notes from Microsoft's Q&A forum, which are community answers rather than documentation. A moderator labelled Microsoft External Staff says, without citing a source, that PC-maker configurations, group policies and storage clean-up utilities can turn this setting on without you knowing. And in another thread, the accepted answer fixed missing thumbnails by ticking 'Show thumbnails instead of icons' under View advanced system settings > Advanced > Performance Settings > Visual Effects, although two later replies say it did not help them.

Check 2: the extensions are missing or broken

If only HEIC files show plain icons, Windows cannot decode them. Microsoft's HEIF Image Extension listing says the extension lets Windows read and write HEIF files, that a video extension must also be installed to view the images, and that for .heic, .hif and .heif files that means HEVC Video Extensions. A PC with only the free HEIF package will still show icons.

• Neither installed: install both from the Microsoft Store. The Windows guide has the prices and the step-by-step.
• PC maker's HEVC build already there: a free 'HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer' listing exists in the Store and counts as the codec, but the HEIF package is still needed.
• Both installed, HEIC still won't open in Photos: repair or reset the packages, check for a Windows N edition, and see the rest of the extension troubleshooting guide.
• Work PC with the Store blocked: you cannot add codecs yourself. Ask IT, or use a browser tool, which needs no install.

Check 3: clear the thumbnail cache

Thumbnails are a cache, not part of your photos. Microsoft's Disk Cleanup selects Thumbnails by default, and Windows rebuilds a thumbnail whenever it needs one that is not cached. Deleting them costs only a slower first look at each folder.

Windows 10: Disk Cleanup

1. 01

   Open Disk Cleanup

   Type disk cleanup in the search box on the taskbar and select it from the results.

2. 02

   Choose drive C:

   Select the drive Windows is on, then OK.

3. 03

   Tick Thumbnails

   Microsoft says Thumbnails is ticked by default along with Downloaded Program Files and Temporary Internet Files. Untick anything you want to keep.

4. 04

   Select OK, then Delete files

   Then reopen the photo folder in Large icons.

Windows 11

Microsoft's current page for Windows 11 points to Settings > System > Storage, Storage Sense and Cleanup recommendations rather than Disk Cleanup, and we could not find a Microsoft page that names a Thumbnails entry there. The Disk Cleanup tool is still reachable, and a third-party tutorial (Geek Rewind, updated October 2026) gives this route:

1. 01

   Open This PC in File Explorer

   Right-click Local Disk (C:) and choose Properties. On some builds you first need Show more options.

2. 02

   Select Disk Cleanup on the General tab

   Wait while it calculates how much space it can free.

3. 03

   Tick Thumbnails in Files to delete

   Then OK, and confirm with Delete Files.

Check 4: optimise the folder for Pictures

This is a speed tweak, not a fix for missing codecs. In Microsoft's Q&A forum a Microsoft Community Support Specialist suggested it for HEIC folders whose thumbnails load slowly, and the person who asked said it 'helps some'. Every folder uses one of five templates (General Items, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos), and Pictures is the one meant for photos.

1. 01

   Right-click the photo folder and choose Properties

   Use the folder itself, not a file inside it.

2. 02

   Open the Customize tab

   Under 'Optimize this folder for', choose Pictures.

3. 03

   Select OK

   The menu label and the five template names come from a How-To Geek tutorial; Microsoft's own documentation we found does not describe this dialog.

Check 5: OneDrive and other cloud placeholders

Photos synced by OneDrive may not be on your disk at all. Microsoft says a blue cloud icon means a file is only available online, that online-only files cannot be opened without an internet connection, and that opening one downloads it. Storage Sense can also turn files you have not used for a while back into online-only files, unless they are marked Always keep on this device.

1. 01

   Look at the status column or icon

   Blue cloud: online-only. Green tick: downloaded. Solid green circle with a white tick: always kept on this device.

2. 02

   Right-click the folder and choose Always keep on this device

   Wait for the green circles, which need an internet connection and free space.

3. 03

   Refresh the folder

   If thumbnails now appear, the placeholder was the problem. If they do not, go back to Checks 2 and 3.

Be careful drawing conclusions from cloud folders. Microsoft says Files On-Demand can show thumbnails of over 300 file types even without the app needed to open them, so a cloud file can show a picture on a PC that cannot decode it, and a missing one may only mean the file has not downloaded. iCloud Photos and other sync services also keep files that are listed but not stored locally; download them fully before judging anything.

Third-party thumbnail handlers

Microsoft's route is the two Store packages. If you cannot use the Store, one third-party plug-in we confirmed exists is CopyTrans HEIC for Windows. Its maker says it adds HEIC thumbnails to Explorer, opens HEIC in Windows Photo Viewer rather than the Photos app, adds a right-click Convert to JPEG, and has free and paid plans for Windows 7 to 11. We have not tested it, and those are the vendor's claims, not ours.

Is the file itself all right?

A plain icon in Explorer is not evidence of damage. If the same file opens on your phone, on a Mac or in a browser tool, it is intact. Our viewer decodes it in your browser without uploading anything, using its own decoder rather than Windows' codecs, so it works on any PC.

Two more checks if a single file stays blank. The thumbnail extractor shows whether the file carries its own small preview; Apple described 320 × 240 thumbnails in iPhone HEIC files at WWDC 2017, but many converted or edited files have none, which is normal. The health check tries a full decode and reports whether the file is truncated, damaged or not a HEIC at all. A damaged file is a different problem with its own guide.

What does not work

• Renaming .heic to .jpg. The bytes are still HEIC, so nothing that could not decode the file before can decode it now, and a name that lies about the contents causes new errors.
• Installing only the free HEIF package. Microsoft's listing says .heic images also need HEVC Video Extensions.
• Reinstalling Windows. A community report in Microsoft's Q&A forum says a clean Windows 11 install removed the extensions, so you would be back at step 2.
• Waiting for Windows Update to add HEIC. We found no Microsoft page saying Windows 10 or 11 includes these packages out of the box.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 side by side