How to Clear Your Thumbnail Cache in Windows XP

To increase the speed with which your computer displays thumbnails thumbnail pictures, XP creates a hidden system file called thumbs.db file for the images in your system. whenever you return to that folder. However, these hidden files can consume lots of space if you have several pictures stored on your computer. You can safely remove these files and prevent them from being recreated by disabling the thumbnail cache. This tutorial will show you how to clear the thumbnail cache in Windows.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Because the thumbs.db file is hidden, you must enable Windows to show hidden files and folders. To do this, open Windows Explorer and click the Tools menu. Select Folder Options in the dropdown menu that appears. Once the Folder Options window opens, click the View tab.

2. Check the option labeled Show hidden files and folders. Uncheck the file labeled Hide protected operating system files. Click OK to continue.

3. . Click the Start button located at the bottom-left corner of the screen and click Search.
   Select the option for Search for files and folders located in the left pane. Enter Thumbs.db in the text field. Click Search. Windows will now search for all instances of the Thumbs.db file on your computer.

4. Click the Edit button found near the top of the window. After that, you will need to click Select All from the dropdown menu that appears. Now tall the files are highlighted.

5. Click the File button found at the top of the screen and select the Delete button on the dropdown menu that appears. The files will be sent to the Recycle Bin. You will need to empty the Recycle Bin to get rid of the files permanently.

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