How to enable or disable taskbar thumbnail previews on Windows 11

Taskbar thumbnails can be fun, but they can also be distracting or annoying. Considering how often you hover over this area, you may have inadvertently closed important windows a few times.

Another drawback is that it uses more system resources, so if you've been looking for a way to be more resource efficient, we'll show you how to disable it. However, if your hardware specs can handle it and you like the preview, you can enable it.

How to enable taskbar thumbnail preview in Windows 11?

1. Using the Settings app

1. tap the key and click Settings. Windows
2. Click System and select About.
3. Click Advanced System Settings.
4. Navigate to the Advanced tab and select Settings under Performance.
5. In the Visual Effects tab, check Enable panning, Save taskbar thumbnail previews, and Show thumbnails instead of icons”
   options. Hit Apply and OK to save changes.
6. You may need to restart your computer.

Make sure to check that all thumbnails are enabled, including those in File Explorer. Sometimes, thumbnail previews in File Explorer may not display due to incorrect configuration.

2. Use the Group Policy Editor

1. Press to open the run command. WindowsR
2. Type gpedit.msc in the dialog box and click.Enter
3. Navigate to the following location: <strong>User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Start Menu and Taskbar</strong>
4. Switch to the "Standard" tab and double-click " Open taskbar thumbnail".
5. Select Enable, then click Apply and OK to take effect.

3. By using the Registry Editor

1. Please back up the registry or create a restore point before making any changes.
2. Press to open and run the command. WindowsR
3. Type Registry Editor in the dialog box and click .Enter
4. Navigate to The following location: <strong>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced</strong>
5. Right-click an empty area in the right pane and select " Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value " and name it "Extended UIHoverTime".
6. Double-click "Extended UIHoverTime", and then in the "Value Data" entry, type a value of 1000 and below.
7. Restart the computer.

If the taskbar thumbnail preview disappears too quickly, you may need to change the hover time delay.

How to disable taskbar thumbnail previews in Windows 11?

Disabling thumbnail previews is just reverse engineering the steps above.

• If you used the Settings app option, all you have to do is check all the options in step 5.
• For Group Policy Editor, you will set the "Not Configured" option.
• Finally, for the Registry Editor, set the "Value Data" entry for the ExtendedUIHoverTime key higher, starting with 100,000 and above.

The goal is to set an extremely high value so that even if you leave your mouse on the icon for a while, the thumbnail preview won't have a chance to show up.

How to restore the classic taskbar on Windows 11?

While upgrading to Windows 11 has its own benefits, not everyone agrees with the UI changes. However, you can download the classic Taskbar app from the Microsoft Store for just $0.99.

If that doesn’t seem like a good deal, ExplorerPatcher is free and gets you the classic taskbar along with other Windows 11 customizations.

Seeing as this is a third-party application and its legitimacy cannot be verified, WindowsReport is not affiliated with it in any way. Be sure to run a thorough anti-virus check before downloading.

So there you have it. Should you enable or disable this feature? The taskbar thumbnail preview feature makes it easier to access your favorite programs, but many Windows users disable it to save space and keep the taskbar clean.

If you're a big fan of taskbar previews but the thumbnail previews aren't showing up, you can check out our helpful guide for a quick fix.

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