Thumbnails don't show after editing in Photoshop?

[StrangeDesign]

I've come across the strangest problem with Photoshop: whenever I edit a JPG image in the program and save, Windows Explorer won't show the thumbnail.

I've tried a lot of things so I'll list what I've learned/tried so far:

• It only affects JPG files, not other formats
• It doesn't happen when I create a file in Photoshop and save it as JPG (aka only when editing an existing JPG file)
• If I open the file but don't edit it and just choose 'Save As', the thumbnail does appear
• It only happens in Photoshop, not any other programs (whether it's other Adobe programs or something as simple as Paint)
• The saved file behaves like any other file except for showing it's thumbnail
• I've set Windows Explorer to show thumbnails, not icons
• Refreshing the folder the file is placed in, going out and back into the folder, changing the size of the thumbnails, and restarting Explorer didn't help
• The icons look the same after restarting the computer

I can't find any settings in Photoshop that seem related to the problem and Google is no help either. I didn't have this issue on my old computer with the same OS and version of Photoshop so I'm pretty lost here If anyone have the faintest idea of what's going on, please let me know!

Technical info

OS: Windows 10, 64x

Photoshop version: CS6

[Trevor.Dennis]

Have you tried all of the View settings in File Explorer including 'Extra large icons'.

Have you restarted your computer?

Do you see the JPG previews in Bridge?

Can you open the problem files in Windows Photo Viewer or other similar image viewer app?

[EDIT]  OK I see you have restarted your computer

[StrangeDesign]

Hi Trevor,

- Yes, all of the view settings and none of them display the actual image, just that blue/white icon
- Yes, just restarted to make sure
- I can't get Bridge to open right now but I'll edit this answer when it's come around
- Yes, that's the strangest part, they show just fine with the editing I applied in Photoshop so it's not because it doesn't save correctly

[EDIT] Bridge does show them! I just checked with a couple of files that don't show in Explorer but they are displayed correctly in Bridge

[Trevor.Dennis]

It's the 'After editing in Photoshop' that is the puzzle

Windows > Folder Options has a Always show icons, never thumbnails override, but that would affect ALL thumbnails.

I'm thinking along the lines that Photoshop is broken, so you could try a Preferences reset, and if that does not work, reinstall Photoshop.

Before you do that, I don't know what plug-ins you have installed, so try starting Photoshop while holding down the Shift key to force it to ignore any plug-ins and Extensions.  Edit and save a JPG and check the thumbnail.  This is all grasping at straws, but I have never heard of anything like this in the years I have been using this forum.

[StrangeDesign]

I took a look at that setting too, even tried to apply it, then uncheck it but no results

Probably, it's just been installed and has no plug-ins so I'll give the Preferences a reset, then reinstall if all fails

[gener7]

Are the File Handling options in Preferences checked?

You can also reset Photoshop Preferences:

[StrangeDesign]

I don't have the Thumbnail checkbox under the Image Previews options, just adding a screenshot here:

Same problem with resetting the preferences, there is no button for that but I went and removed the file manually in the folder. Sadly no change either so I think I'll try to reinstall the program

[Trevor.Dennis]

That's a good catch Gene, and a good reason to try resetting Preferences.

JourneyBell

With CS6 you need to hold down Shift Alt Ctrl _immediately_ after starting Photoshop to reset Preferences.  If you don't see a panel asking if you want to reset, then you were not fast enough, and need to try again.

[StrangeDesign]

I did try a lot of times and I always got a reaction from Windows, asking if I want to make changes to Photoshop. However, the box asking me to specifically reset the settings never appears. Watched some videos of it being done to be sure but it still didn't happen.

Then I did it manually and checked if the settings were reset, which they were, but it sadly didn't change anything about the editing problem.

I'll try to reinstall Photoshop ASAP and hope that it'll remove this obscure bug!

[calvegas21]

I've started to experience the same problem this morning but only sporadically. Three out of six images are failing to display as thumbnails after photoshopping. Did you find a solution?

[StrangeDesign]

I'm afraid not, it still happens every now and then without a consistent pattern 😕

[JASON5C92]

I have the same issue, I have photoshop CC 25.1 (december 2023), windows 11 home.
when I open my exported Jpegs on windows photos app, then I can see the thumbnail of that specific file, but I can't afford to open one by one and then close them, old JPGs exported from photoshop can still be visualzied not new ones 
please help