How to Fix PowerPoint Files Thumbnail Preview not showing

In older versions of PowerPoint, I could get a thumbnail preview of the content of the pptx file, now that I am using 2019 all I see is an icon and have to open each one individually to glance at the content. The instructions to enable thumbnail previews on the Internet is outdated and do not apply to the newest version of PowerPoint.

Here’s how you create a thumbnail preview image for your PowerPoint file on Windows & macOS:

1. Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click File followed by Info to open what Microsoft calls the backstage.
   
   
   

   
   
3. Over on the right-hand side, click the Properties heading then click Advanced Properties in the drop-down menu.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click the Summary tab in the window that opens.
   
   
   
   
   
5. At the bottom of the window, tick the Save preview picture check box.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Click OK and save your presentation.

Back in Windows File Explorer, or your desktop if that’s where your presentation is, press F5 to refresh the view and your preview thumbnail will magically appear. If you don’t see it, you may need to clear your Windows thumbnail cache. Here’s how to do that:

• Click the Windows Start button and type cleanmgr followed by Enter (or click Disk clean-up when it appears).
• Make sure the Thumbnails check box is ticked at the bottom of the list and then click OK followed by Delete Files.
• Go back to Explorer (or your desktop) and press F5.