[SOLVED] I have to rebuild Windows 11 icon cache almost every day.

[Rdgeno]

Hi I've been trying to fix the icon cache permanently in Windows 11 for quite some time. I have found where other people have this problem but I haven't found a solution that works.

What happening is when I open File Explorer the icons will be really small. They are smaller than the smallest setting that Windows gives you. Basically they are a small dot.
I go to C>Users>User Name>AppData>Local and I delete the Icon Cache at the bottom then from Local I go to Microsoft>Windows>Explorer then delete everything that says Icon Cache. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
I have followed this guide also and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/rebuild-icon-clear-thumbnail-cache-windows-10

When whatever I'm trying doesn't work I just do it again and eventually it does.
My computer's specs are.
MOBO B450M
16 Gb 3100 RAM
RTX 3070
3700X CPU
The OS is on an M.2 1 Tb and I have four 2Tb SSD's.
I'm pretty sure the specs aren't going to matter but God only knows at this point.
Thank you in advance for anything you can come up with.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I have to rebuild Windows 11 icon cache almost every day

many issues like this popping up with Windows 11 constantly.
but you are troubleshooting their "unfinished/beta" OS for them so it's best to report all of the issues you face directly to Microsoft so they can work on it and have it ready for those that will be eventually using the finished product.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The OS is on an M.2 1 Tb
I'm pretty sure the specs aren't going to matter but God only knows at this point.

What make/model M.2 drive?

 

[Endre]

Hi I've been trying to fix the icon cache permanently in Windows 11 for quite some time. I have found where other people have this problem but I haven't found a solution that works.

What happening is when I open File Explorer the icons will be really small. They are smaller than the smallest setting that Windows gives you. Basically they are a small dot.
I go to C>Users>User Name>AppData>Local and I delete the Icon Cache at the bottom then from Local I go to Microsoft>Windows>Explorer then delete everything that says Icon Cache. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
I have followed this guide also and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/rebuild-icon-clear-thumbnail-cache-windows-10

When whatever I'm trying doesn't work I just do it again and eventually it does.
My computer's specs are.
MOBO B450M
16 Gb 3100 RAM
RTX 3070
3700X CPU
The OS is on an M.2 1 Tb and I have four 2Tb SSD's.
I'm pretty sure the specs aren't going to matter but God only knows at this point.
Thank you in advance for anything you can come up with.

Hello!

Was the install of Windows 11 a clean install, or was it an upgrade from Windows 10?
If it was an upgrade, then please try re-installing the OS clean!

(A huge percentage of errors and weird stuff happening in Win11 are due to the upgrade to it, instead of a clean install).

 

[Rdgeno]

many issues like this popping up with Windows 11 constantly.
but you are troubleshooting their "unfinished/beta" OS for them so it's best to report all of the issues you face directly to Microsoft so they can work on it and have it ready for those that will be eventually using the finished product.

Thank you.

 

[Rdgeno]

Hello!

Was the install of Windows 11 a clean install, or was it an upgrade from Windows 10?
If it was an upgrade, then please try re-installing the OS clean!

(A huge percentage of errors and weird stuff happening in Win11 are due to the upgrade to it, instead of a clean install).

It is an upgrade from the Dev Channel way back when it first came out.
The one thing I should have mentioned is the three updates back the problem started.
The next update seemed to have fixed it then this update seems to be causing it again.
I like your idea here's a big question though is there a way to do a clean install and be able to keep my games and their saves in place?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

is there a way to do a clean install and be able to keep my games and their saves in place?

only if the games are on a separate drive can you "keep" them in place.

if not, one option is to backup all of the game data onto another drive.
then when you have the fresh OS installed you could copy them to wherever you want them installed again and have whichever distributor(Steam, Epic, GOG, etc) just scan the existing files and they will only update what's needed and add registry entries, etc.
makes a good reason to have a dedicated 'games' drive apart from your OS.

for save games & user files you can do the same, just manually back them up elsewhere and replace them later.
any that offer cloud saves can just store the data online.

 

[Endre]

It is an upgrade from the Dev Channel way back when it first came out.
The one thing I should have mentioned is the three updates back the problem started.
The next update seemed to have fixed it then this update seems to be causing it again.
I like your idea here's a big question though is there a way to do a clean install and be able to keep my games and their saves in place?

If you have partitions on your drive(s) and the OS is on partition C, while the kits of games, files and personal files are on some other partition (D/E/F etc.) then yes you can.
(After the re-install of the OS, you’ll have to reinstall those programs again).

 

[Rdgeno]

only if the games are on a separate drive can you "keep" them in place.

if not, one option is to backup all of the game data onto another drive.
then when you have the fresh OS installed you could copy them to wherever you want them installed again and have whichever distributor(Steam, Epic, GOG, etc) just scan the existing files and they will only update what's needed and add registry entries, etc.
makes a good reason to have a dedicated 'games' drive apart from your OS.

for save games & user files you can do the same, just manually back them up elsewhere and replace them later.
any that offer cloud saves can just store the data online.

Thank you and the reason I have the SSD's is my games are on them and five externals. The M.2 is basically empty I install everything to the drives.
I was worried about the save game data primarily because I don't know where it saves it to. Some games I have found but others are somewhere else and I haven't found it yet.

 

[Rdgeno]

What make/model M.2 drive?

Intel 670p NVMe PCIE M.2 1TB
If it matters on UserBenchmark it's testing at 322% Preforming above expectations 66th percentile.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I don't know where it saves it to.

the majority will be in your "C:\Users\*user_name" folder or under one of the "AppData", "Documents" or "Saved Games" folders.

some can be under "C:\Users\Public".

others will be under "C:\ProgramData".

while others will be under the root game installation folder.

they can be located in any of the included sub folders so it may take some time to locate.

unless it's a very obscure game it's usually very easy to just google game's name along with "save location".