Enable SVG Thumbnails in Explorer in Windows 11/10

Although Windows 11 and Windows 10 show the default SVG opening app, you can show the SVG thumbnails in File Explorer using this tutorial. It is possible to enable SVG thumbnails in File Explorer in Windows 11/10 with the help of Microsoft PowerToys.

Scalable Vector Graphics or SVG is pretty popular among graphics designers, who often design icons and all. If you download an SVG icon from any source or create an icon in SVG format, it displays the default SVG opener’s icon as the thumbnail. It may create issues when you have a lot of icons in one folder with generic names, and you want to find one of them quickly. You need to open all of them one after one to find the designed file.

If you want to get rid of this problem, you can simply enable the thumbnail or thumbnail preview in the File Explorer so that you can find the find whenever needed. If you do so, you do not need to open all the files to find the specific one. The good news is that you can enable the thumbnail preview for SVG files using Microsoft PowerToys. If you already have it on your computer, you do not need to download it anymore. However, if you do not have the app installed, go ahead and first install PowerToys on your PC.

Enable SVG Thumbnails in Explorer in Windows 11/10

To enable SVG thumbnails in Explorer in Windows 11/10, follow these steps:

1. Open SVG Preview PowerToys on your computer with administrator privilege.
2. Switch to the File Explorer add-ons tab on the left side.
3. Toggle the Enable SVG (.svg) preview button to turn it ON.
4. Toggle the Enable SVG (.svg) thumbnails button to turn it ON.

Let’s check out these steps in detail.

To get started, open the Microsoft PowerToys app on your computer with administrator permission. After that, switch to the File Explorer add-ons tab visible on the left side.

Here you can find two options – Enable SVG (.svg) preview and Enable SVG (.svg) thumbnails. If you want to turn on the thumbnail in the preview pane, toggle the Enable SVG (.svg) preview button to turn it on.

On the other hand, if you want to enable the SVG thumbnail preview in the File Explorer, toggle the Enable SVG (.svg) thumbnails button to turn it on.

Now, you can open the SVG icon folder to find the change.

How do I get SVG thumbnails in Windows Explorer?

To get SVG thumbnails in Windows Explorer or File Explorer, you need to use Microsoft PowerToys. After opening the app, switch to the File Explorer add-ons tab. Here you can find an option called Enable SVG (.svg) thumbnails. You need to toggle this button to turn it on.

How do I view SVG files in File Explorer?

There are multiple ways to view the SVG files in File Explorer. However, Microsoft PowerToys is one of the best and easiest methods to get the thumbnails in Windows 11/10. In the app, you need to toggle the Enable SVG (.svg) thumbnails option to view SVG files or thumbnails in File Explorer.