Control when thumbnails are used for files.
Shaun McCance
shaunm@gnome.org
Michael Hill
mdhillca@gmail.com

# File manager preview preferences

The file manager creates thumbnails to preview image, video, and text files. Thumbnail previews can be slow for large files or over networks, so you can control when previews are made. Click Files in the top bar, pick Preferences and select the Preview tab.

# Files

By default, all previews are done for Local Files Only, those on your computer or connected external drives. You can set this feature to Always or Never. The file manager can browse files on other computers over a local area network or the internet. If you often browse files over a local area network, and the network has high bandwidth, you may want to set the preview option to Always.

In addition, you can use the Only for files smaller than setting to limit the size of files previewed.

# Folders

If you show file sizes in list view columns or icon captions, folders will be shown with a count of how many files and folders they contain. Counting items in a folder can be slow, especially for very large folders, or over a network. You can turn this feature on or off, or turn it on only for files on your computer and local external drives.