Forum Discussion
Thumbnails in Explorer.exe Using Up Significant Memory
It seems that there is an issue with explorer with storing thumbnail cache for folders containing 6k to 8k resolution videos.
For context, I keep virtual reality videos in one folder and every single time I open this folder and browse through all other files and sub folders, the memory usage for explorer spikes up.
I need help on how to fix this issue. Any workarounds such as storing thumbnail cache on the drive instead of the RAM would help.
I'm using Windows 10 22H2
1 Reply
Your captures show two things: roughly 4.4 GB against Explorer in Processes, and substantial video-file data in File Summary, much of it on standby. Treating all of that as Explorer's thumbnail cache would obscure the diagnosis.
Windows checks a thumbnail cache before invoking a thumbnail extractor. A cache does not eliminate the memory needed to generate and display previews, so I would test thumbnail generation rather than try an undocumented cache relocation.
For a workaround on an edition with Group Policy, enable User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer > Turn off the display of thumbnails and only display icons. Reopen the folder and repeat the browsing sequence.
Compare RAMMap's Processes and File Summary results separately before and after. If Explorer's usage keeps growing with thumbnails disabled, preserve those snapshots and test a copy containing a few videos. That would narrow the investigation beyond thumbnails.
