# Is there any way I can make WinXP's Explorer show thumbnails of .GIFs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-make-winxps-explorer-show-thumbnails-of-gifs/449280>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 14, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-make-winxps-explorer-show-thumbnails-of-gifs/449280 "2008-05-14T13:54:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-make-winxps-explorer-show-thumbnails-of-gifs/449280/1 "2008-05-14T13:54:40Z")

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I seem to be in a position where I’m dealing with a lot of .gif files with stupid names. I’d really like to be able to open an explorer window and quickly give them good names based on what they look like.

Problem is, my Explorer only shows a stupid default thumbnail for every .gif. .JPEGs and other types show up as actual thumbnails.

Is there an add-on or something I can use to change this?

(as an aside: Yes, I know, there’s a dozen applications I can use that will show me the thumbnails. I have some of them and that’s what I’m currently using. I’d rather just do it from Explorer, though, so please don’t litter this thread with suggestions of apps that do it - I have those already, that’s not what I’m looking for.)

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**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-make-winxps-explorer-show-thumbnails-of-gifs/449280/2 "2008-05-14T14:04:13Z")

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Never mind, I’m an idiot. Everything works when you actually open the correct folder. Move on, nothing here to see.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-make-winxps-explorer-show-thumbnails-of-gifs/449280/3 "2008-05-14T14:04:43Z")

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I can see the gif image just fine when Windows Explorer’s in thumbnail view. Something’s awry in your settings, methinks. Might be a filetype association matter - you may have to set an application to open GIFs. Or unset one. Or something.