Created
October 20, 2025 00:05
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PowerShell script to reset Windows 11 icon and thumbnail caches for fixing broken or missing explorer thumbnails.
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| <# | |
| .SYNOPSIS | |
| Reset Windows 11 icon and thumbnail caches to fix broken or outdated explorer thumbnails. | |
| .DESCRIPTION | |
| This script was created to fix broken taskbar or explorer thumbnails, particularly when shortcuts are renamed. | |
| It stops Windows Explorer, clears both icon and thumbnail cache databases, and restarts Explorer cleanly. | |
| This process can also solve other visual cache inconsistencies or shell display issues in Windows 11. | |
| .PARAMETER None | |
| No parameters required. Must be executed with Administrator privileges. | |
| .EXAMPLE | |
| .\Reset-ThumbnailCache.ps1 | |
| Stops and restarts Explorer while clearing all thumbnail and icon cache files. | |
| .NOTES | |
| Created: 2025-10-20 | |
| Version: 1.0 | |
| #> | |
| # Stop Explorer process | |
| Get-Process explorer -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force | |
| # Define cache file patterns | |
| $cacheFolder = Join-Path $env:LocalAppData 'Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' | |
| $iconCacheFile = Join-Path $env:LocalAppData 'IconCache.db' | |
| $iconCachePatterns = 'iconcache_*.db','thumbcache_*.db' | |
| # Remove main IconCache.db if it exists | |
| if (Test-Path $iconCacheFile) { | |
| Remove-Item $iconCacheFile -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | |
| } | |
| # Remove all icon and thumbnail cache files | |
| Get-ChildItem -Path $cacheFolder -Include $iconCachePatterns -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | | |
| ForEach-Object { | |
| Remove-Item $_.FullName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | |
| } | |
| # Restart Explorer | |
| Start-Process explorer.exe | |
| # Output result | |
| Write-Host 'Icon and thumbnail caches have been cleared. Explorer has been restarted.' -ForegroundColor Green |
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