webP File Explorer thumbnails on Windows

[wheeleran]

Hi. Am working with webP for the first time seriously, and am struggling to find the solution to being able to see webP image thumbnails in file explorer on windows. googlefu is failing me. can anyone help me with this, because a default Open With app icon on the webP image isn't much help identifying the image, and having to open it to remind myself what it is is a pain.

secondly - and this may be a bug - i have the default Open With app set to Microsoft Edge, but the webP image icon is set to Affinity Photo (v2). It was Edge, but it's changed, and would seem to be Affinity taking over the icon after i wrked with a number of webP images. double clicking the image is still opening the image in Edge, as set, but the icon is Affinity. can anyone help me with these two issues? 

[David in Яuislip]

Install the WebP Image Extensions and choose an appropriate layout such as Large icons

Site is not acepting jpegs at the moment so I've zipped the example screenshots

WebPstuff.zip

[wheeleran]

WebP Image Extensions for me in Microsoft on Windows 11 says Open rather than Install, and when i open it it just opens the Windows Movies & TV app. My File Explorer is set to Large Icons always, but i tried toggling, and when i search through the list of installed apps, it's not there. webP opens fine on Microsoft Edge, which given the app description suggests that it IS there? but it's File Explorer thumbnails that's the problem. Do you have any idea what's going on here? I've tried installing Icaros, and the Google codec pack as well, without success. 

[v_kyr]

See:

• Downloading and Installing WebP (--> Download for Windows)
• How do I get Explorer to show thumbnails for WebP files? (MS community)
• WebP Image Extensions
• SageThumbs
• ... etc.

[David in Яuislip]

15 minutes ago, wheeleran said:

Windows 11 says Open rather than Install

I don't understand this, if you don't see  WebP Image Extensions under Settings/Apps & Features then it is not installed. Maybe windows 11 is different from 10, I'm afraid that nothing would surprise me. 

 

18 minutes ago, wheeleran said:

opens fine on Microsoft Edge, which given the app description suggests that it IS there

nope, Edge is a browser that handles webp files, it doesn't require WebP Image Extensions

[wheeleran]

i thought i had it, but no; i thought maybe it didn't work retroactively, so i cut and pasted the image from where it was into the Photos folder and there was the thumbnail. when i moved it back to the original folder, it was still the thumbnail. but as soon as i nagivate out of that folder and back in, the image is back to the app icon again. damn.

[wheeleran]

31 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

See:

• Downloading and Installing WebP (--> Download for Windows)
• How do I get Explorer to show thumbnails for WebP files? (MS community)
• WebP Image Extensions
• SageThumbs
• ... etc.

thanks for this, but i've explored these, except for Sage. i'll have a look at it, but is it only right-click popup?

[v_kyr]

1 hour ago, wheeleran said:

but is it only right-click popup?

Features

• Extended thumbnail image view of Explorer folder <-- ***
• Image preview in Explorer right-click menu
• Extended info tips
• ...

[wheeleran]

On 12/21/2022 at 12:17 AM, v_kyr said:

Features

• Extended thumbnail image view of Explorer folder <-- ***
• Image preview in Explorer right-click menu
• Extended info tips
• ...

i've tested Sage and it still doesn't work. As soon as i navigate away from the folder then back in the thumbnail changes back to the Edge browser icon. There seems to be something particular about the images i'm making in Affinity, because any webP files i download from the internet render fine; there may be a flash of the default edge icon, but then it changes to the actual picture. Any ideas?

[v_kyr]

Then deinstall/remove Sage and try out the Google WebP-Codec for Windows instead. Though it might be an older one you can give it a try (see related).

Or see and try instead ...

• How to troubleshoot when the thumbnail images of WebP files are not shown on File Explorer

... and ...

• WebP Image Extensions

[wheeleran]

i went through the troubleshoot guide and tried Honeyview. no luck. and i've had the Google codec installed for a while. thanks for all these links and ideas, but nothing is working. 

[v_kyr]

21 minutes ago, wheeleran said:

i went through the troubleshoot guide and tried Honeyview. no luck. and i've had the Google codec installed for a while. thanks for all these links and ideas, but nothing is working. 

Strange that nothing seems to work on your Win 11 side here. - However, see also related:

• Thumbnail previews in WIndows 11

• Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews in File Explorer in Windows 11

• Clear and Reset Thumbnail Cache in Windows 11

• Show or Hide Preview Pane in File Explorer in Windows 11

[wheeleran]

4 hours ago, v_kyr said:

Strange that nothing seems to work on your Win 11 side here. - However, see also related:

• Thumbnail previews in WIndows 11

• Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews in File Explorer in Windows 11

• Clear and Reset Thumbnail Cache in Windows 11

• Show or Hide Preview Pane in File Explorer in Windows 11

hi. i've worked through all of these, nothing works, even preview pane, which declares 'no preview available.' thanks though.

 

[wheeleran]

2 hours ago, N.P.M. said:

https://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

K-lite? wow, i haven't used that for years! sure, i'll give it a try, but why is webp under the list of 'other video'? i'm curious. thanks for the blast from the past.

[firstdefence]

Being "Windows whatever," have you tried "Turning it off and on again" 

[wheeleran]

38 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

Being "Windows whatever," have you tried "Turning it off and on again" 

i've been working on this for days, and i turn my computer off every night....

[firstdefence]

As a workaround have you considered using an alternative to Windows Explorer?

XYplorer seems to be a popular choice: https://www.xyplorer.com/product.php#overview

 

 

[v_kyr]

12 minutes ago, N.P.M. said:

Well if we're going to suggest something like that, xnviewmp is free for personal use.

XNView MP is more an image viewer but no file manager (as Win Explorer) per se. As a widely used image viewer for Win systems, IrfanView + IrfanView Plugins is pretty good here. - And as an alternate file manager on Win systems TotalCommander would always be my personal first choice, which BTW works nicely together with IrfanView when setup accordingly!

[wheeleran]

2 hours ago, firstdefence said:

As a workaround have you considered using an alternative to Windows Explorer?

XYplorer seems to be a popular choice: https://www.xyplorer.com/product.php#overview

 

 

thanks for the suggestion, but no, i haven't, and i wont; it defeats the purpose. thanks for the lead though, i'll have a look at it!

[wheeleran]

Merry Christmas to you all for trying to help me. after a lot of testing i've understood that the issue is very much because the file system i'm using is within my Synology Drive Client. Yes they're local files and folders on my PC, but they're inside my Synology Drive, which syncs up and down to my NAS. If i move an icon thumbnail webp out of the Drive folders and into a OneDrive or local folder, for instance, the image thumbnail renders. when i move it back, it doesn't again. i know that Synology doesn't show webp thumbnails ON the NAS and i'm fine with that because i work on the local files and folders, but how it's reaching down into my Windows file system and saying, in effect, "well i don't support this so you can't either," i don't know. but it's the only realistic explanation, and the only explanation left.

talking to Synology Support about this is pointless because they'll neither confirm or deny that a fix is in the works, and they wouldn't give a date for future fixes anyway, but since this is an Affinity forum, think i should apologise, because it's not an Affinity issue. If you have any suggestions or genius hacks, i'm open the hearing them. Mapping the network drive works, actually, but it's a clunky webDAV solution, and if you don't know it, Synology Drive is an excellent piece of software, so i would really like it to work. 

[firstdefence]

4 minutes ago, wheeleran said:

thanks for the suggestion, but no, i haven't, and i wont; it defeats the purpose. thanks for the lead though, i'll have a look at it!

Just another way to test, obviously whatever you are doing isn't working for whatever reason and if an alternative explorer will show thumbnail previews maybe it has installed a codec that windows explorer can also use, I'm not looking at it as defeat, merely a means to an end and a possible option to find a solution.

[wheeleran]

good point, i hadn't though of it like that, and i have to think that there is a solution....

[v_kyr]

9 minutes ago, wheeleran said:

... because the file system i'm using is within my Synology Drive Client. Yes they're local files and folders on my PC, but they're inside my Synology Drive, which syncs up and down to my NAS.

Well initially in your above postings, you sadly omited this important information!

[wheeleran]

11 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Well initially in your above postings, you sadly omited this important information!

And i apologised. i was navigating in and out of agnostic local folder trees on my C drive. i didn't forget that these were sync folders, but because i couldn't see how Synology could be affecting local files on local folders on a windows PC, i set it - mistakenly - aside and concentrated on the evident problem; why are these files on my PC not showing thumbnails when they should? there is no setting in the Synology Drive Client that says "f*** my system up."

[v_kyr]

13 minutes ago, wheeleran said:

And i apologised. ...

AFAI can see Synology has still a bunch of problems with certain missing file type thumbnails for Explorer (... also for video files)!