AutoCAD or Inventor DWG thumbnails or previews do not display in Windows Explorer

Autodesk Support

Jan 24, 2025

Products and versions covered

Issue:

Thumbnails or preview images of drawings are not shown for AutoCAD or Inventor DWG files in Windows Explorer.

Windows Explorer is set to display folder content as small, medium, large, or extra large icons, or the preview pane is active.
The default DWG file icon is displayed instead.

The DWG file icon thumbnails is displayed as blank (white).

Causes:

Uninstalling a previous version of AutoCAD.
Installing a new version of AutoCAD.
Drawing saved in a different version of AutoCAD.
File saved in an older file format (2010 or earlier) which handles thumbnail preview images differently.
File saved through WBLOCK.
File set to not save a thumbnail preview image.
The view settings in Windows Explorer are not configured to show previews.
.dwg registry has lost its file association with AutoCAD or become corrupted.
If part of the registry for Windows policies has been deleted, missing or set to the wrong value, such as DisableCAD, EnableLUA, FilterAdministratorToken, ConsentPromptyBehaviorAdmin.
- If these four registries are missing, corrupted, or set to different values, thumbnails may not function correctly.

Solution:

Make sure that the drawing file is set to save a thumbnail preview image

At the Command prompt in AutoCAD, enter THUMBSAVE and set the value to 1.
Save the drawing file to update its thumbnail image.

Check that DWG files are set to open with AutoCAD DWG Launcher

Select the DWG file, choose Properties, and check if with is set to AutoCAD DWG Launcher. See DWG file type associativity in Windows.

Make sure that Windows is set to display thumbnails

Go to the Windows Control Panel > Folder Options > View tab.
Deselect Always show icons, never thumbnails and click OK.

Note: DXF and DWF files saved from AutoCAD will not display a preview image, although the Windows system should be able to interpret DWFx files and display a preview.

Multiple AutoCAD versions installed

Uninstall all AutoCAD versions.
Reinstall the desired version.

Corrupted .dwg registry

Run Registry Editor as an administrator.
Delete the .dwg registry entries located at the following registry path.
- HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.dwg.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\.dwg.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\DwgCommon\shellex\apps\(deleted subregistry in apps).

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.dwg.

Launch AutoCAD.
Register the DWG file association.
Restart the Windows Explorer process from Task Manager.

Check for set to different values or deleted, missing in Windows Policies registry

The following four registries are involved in managing administrative privileges for user accounts in Windows OS.

Windows Policies

Name	Definition	Type	Default Value	Default's definition
ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin	The behavior of the consent prompt for administrators.	DWORD(32bit)/REG_DWORD	2	The User Account Control (UAC) prompts for consent on the secure desktop.
DisableCAD	The ability to disable the Ctrl+Alt+Delete secure attention sequence.	DWORD(32bit)/REG_DWORD	0	The Ctrl+Alt+Delete sequence is enabled and required for logging in.
FilterAdministratorToken	The built-in Administrator account uses Admin Approval Mode	DWORD(32bit)/REG_DWORD	0	The administrator token is not filtered, and the built-in Administrator account runs with full administrative privileges.
EnableLUA	Enables or disables User Account Control (UAC) on the system.	DWORD(32bit)/REG_DWORD	1	The user Account Control (UAC) is enabled, helping to prevent unauthorized changes to the system.

If a registry is missing, add the missing registry.
1. Start > Type REGEDIT and run as administrator.
2. Path : HKEY\LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies.
3. Verify if the 4 registries exist.
4. Right-click > New > Select DWORD (32-bit).
5. Enter the registry name.
6. Double-click the created DWORD (32-bit) registry.
7. Add the value as Default Value.
8. Reboot.
If these four registries are missing, corrupted, or set to different values, thumbnails may not function correctly.
1. Start > Type REGEDIT and run as administrator.
2. Path : HKEY\LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies.
3. Verify if the 4 registries exist.
4. Double-click the registry.
5. Change the value to Default Value.
6. Reboot.

Note : Before trying with the registry, be sure to back up the system registry in Windows Policies.

Warning!

Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft knowledge base. Use the Microsoft Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as outlined for your operating system in the Microsoft article How to back up and restore the registry in Windows and in the related solution How to back up the system registry. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor.