How to Turn Off Thumbs.db From Appearing?

The auto creation of Thumbs.db files in folders with images can get annoying. Before burning photo albums into DVD-R, I often have to go around searching and deleting such files. This can also get annoying for web developers using version control software e.g. TortoiseGit and TortoiseSVN.

Eh .. Sometimes, deleting these files can get the "file is in use and cannot be deleted" prompt. Very annoying.

So what exactly is Thumbs.db? As quoted from Wikipedia,

On Microsoft Windows operating systems, starting with the IE4 Desktop Update for Win95/98, a thumbnail cache is used to store thumbnail images for Windows Explorer's thumbnail view. This speeds up the display of images as these smaller images do not need to be recalculated every time the user views the folder.

Yes we know the purpose of Thumbs.db but what if we still wish to turn off Thumbs.db from appearing? There is a way to do it by tweaking a setting on the Local Group Policy Editor.

1. From the Start Menu, click Run option. Or, you can use Win+R keyboard shortcut.
   
   
2. Type gpedit.msc and hit ENTER key. This will launch the Local Group Policy Editor.
   
   
3. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > then either Windows Explorer (Windows Vista/7) or File Explorer (Windows 8).
   
   
4. Look for "Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files" key and double click on it.
   
   

   

   Local Group Policy Editor

5. Select Enabled and click OK.
   
   
   

» How to Switch Off the Thumbs.db Image Cache File in Windows | Sitepoint