No file preview in Windows File Explorer preview pane

[Brian_J]

Previews for all Affinity app files (V1 and V2 files) recently stopped being displayed in the Windows File Explorer preview pane. File previews used to display. When File Explorer view mode is set to icons, the file thumbnails do display, but still nothing in the preview pane. Anybody have an idea what the issue may be?

I have 'Save thumbnails with documents' enabled in Affinity settings.

The only recent changes on my computer: updated to Affinity 2.0.4 and deleted the V1 apps. I think the issue stated happening after the update and deletion of the V1 apps, but I'm not positive.

Affinity 2.0.4
Windows 10 22H2

[debraspicher]

\Desktop folder iirc is synced to Onedrive and if "Files on Demand" is turned on, that will cause no thumbnails... even if the files are stored locally.

[Brian_J]

15 hours ago, debraspicher said:

\Desktop folder iirc is synced to Onedrive and if "Files on Demand" is turned on, that will cause no thumbnails... even if the files are stored locally.

The issue effects Affinity files in all folders on my computer, and Affinity files are the only ones with the issue… other image formats display in the preview pane.

[debraspicher]

Just now, Brian_J said:

The issue effects Affinity files in all folders on my computer, and Affinity files are the only ones with the issue… other image formats display in the preview pane.

No idea then. Strange behavior.

[walt.farrell]

Do you get them back if you reinstall one of the V1 apps?

[Brian_J]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Do you get them back if you reinstall one of the V1 apps?

Good thinking Walt. Yep, I installed Affinity Photo V1 and the issue is resolved — previews for all 3 Affinity apps now display in the File Explorer preview pane.

After installing Photo V1, I uninstalled it and the preview pane issue came back. I have installed Photo V1 again so resolve the issue, but I'd like to keep V1 uninstalled.

Any ideas?

[walt.farrell]

Other than keeping V1 installed for now, no ideas. Sorry.

This might indicate that there's some function that's not working in V2.

[walt.farrell]

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

Perhaps the sandboxed MSIX version cannot connect to the system to generate thumbs.

Just for clarity: It's not a problem with thumbnails, but with Previewing the file content.

[Brian_J]

1 hour ago, N.P.M. said:

MSIX or exe version?

I have the MSIX versions installed.

[walt.farrell]

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

Isn't the built in image used for both the thumbnail and the preview?

I don't know. 

But the OP said the thumbnails show; it's only the Previews that don't.

[walt.farrell]

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

For the sake of argument I uninstalled V1 photo>rebooted

Thanks. I hadn't gotten to the point of doing that yet.

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

The preview didn't show initially but only after closing the program.

Interesting. Something about that seems familiar.

Question: If you start the program again, do you still get previews in File Explorer?

[carl123]

30 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Interesting. Something about that seems familiar.

Create a new affinity document and save it and you will get no icon thumbnail or preview in File Explorer

You have to close that affinity document (or the app) and only then does the icon thumbnail and preview show up in File Explorer

It's always been like that for me

[walt.farrell]

5 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Create a new affinity document and save it and you will get no icon thumbnail or preview in File Explorer

You have to close that affinity document (or the app) and only then does the icon thumbnail and preview shows up in File Explorer

It's always been like that for me

That may be what I was remembering reading before. I haven't noticed that behavior, personally.

[Brian_J]

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

There must be something new in v2 that makes the program or document to be closed first.

I've noticed the same behavior — after creating and saving a V2 file, the file must be closed in order for the thumbnail and preview to display in File Explorer. But before I reinstalled Affinity Photo V1, the preview of V2 files never displayed, even after closing the file.

[Dan C]

Hi @Brian_J,

Thanks for your report!

I can confirm that I was able to replicate this behaviour after uninstalling V1 - however I then restarted my PC and following this thumbnails were displayed in Explorer for both previously saved V2 files and newly crated ones, without V1 installed.

If you restart  after uninstalling V1 (this performs slightly different actions than a shut down) do your thumbnails now display as expected please?

[Dan C]

Apologies, yes I also see this behaviour and as I understand it this is expected in V2, the document needs to be closed from within the app in order for the thumbnail to be displayed

[Brian_J]

On 3/2/2023 at 3:30 AM, Dan C said:

If you restart  after uninstalling V1 (this performs slightly different actions than a shut down) do your thumbnails now display as expected please?

Unfortunately not. I uninstalled Affinity Photo V1 (the only remaining V1 app installed on my computer), restarted my computer (Start menu > Power > Restart), and now Affinity files do not display in the File Explorer preview pane.

Just to make sure we're on the same page, I'm referring to the File Explorer preview pane, not the thumbnails in the main area of File Explorer.

Not sure if it makes a difference, but I have the Universal License and installed the apps using the MSIX installers.

Let me know if you need any additional information. Appreciate your help.

[killzen]

I am having same problem, no thumbnails visible. I have installed the Beta and Version 1, rebooted computer and issue did not resolve. I have cleared the thumbnail cache, rebooted, and issue is still there. thumbnails for all other applications show but no thumbnails for aphoto files. Is this a known issue> ? Any workarounds?

 I recall the same issue happened with Version 1.0 but  was eventually resolved. thank you

 

laz

 

[Dan C]

On 3/3/2023 at 10:48 PM, Brian_J said:

Just to make sure we're on the same page, I'm referring to the File Explorer preview pane, not the thumbnails in the main area of File Explorer.

Apologies, thanks for verifying that for me! I can confirm I'm able to replicate this issue and it does appear to be due to the .MSIX version of the apps - as after uninstalling V1 and replicating this issue, I uninstalled the MSIX and installed the EXE v2 Affinity apps and these previews have now returned.

I'll be logging this as a bug with our developers, but in the meantime you may want to uninstall the MSIX versions and install the EXE versions from the below links, selecting Also Available : EXE -

Photo - https://store.serif.com/update/windows/photo/2/
Designer - https://store.serif.com/update/windows/designer/2/
Publisher - https://store.serif.com/update/windows/publisher/2/

__________________________________________

Thanks for your report @killzen, the issue reported in this thread is different from the issue you're seeing, but I do note a few oddities with the files in your screenshot - as a few of these have '.afphoto' in the file name twice.

Firstly, please ensure the files have been saved & closed from within the Affinity app, as the thumbnails will not shown whilst the document is still open in the app.

Secondly an you please try renaming these files so that '.afphoto' only appears once in the file name?

Thirdly, I can see these files are saved to a different drive (possibly external?) If you copy the file to a different location, such as your desktop - do the thumbnails appear as expected?

[killzen]

12 hours ago, Dan C said:

Apologies, thanks for verifying that for me! I can confirm I'm able to replicate this issue and it does appear to be due to the .MSIX version of the apps - as after uninstalling V1 and replicating this issue, I uninstalled the MSIX and installed the EXE v2 Affinity apps and these previews have now returned.

I'll be logging this as a bug with our developers, but in the meantime you may want to uninstall the MSIX versions and install the EXE versions from the below links, selecting Also Available : EXE -

Photo - https://store.serif.com/update/windows/photo/2/
Designer - https://store.serif.com/update/windows/designer/2/
Publisher - https://store.serif.com/update/windows/publisher/2/

__________________________________________

Thanks for your report @killzen, the issue reported in this thread is different from the issue you're seeing, but I do note a few oddities with the files in your screenshot - as a few of these have '.afphoto' in the file name twice.

Firstly, please ensure the files have been saved & closed from within the Affinity app, as the thumbnails will not shown whilst the document is still open in the app.

Secondly an you please try renaming these files so that '.afphoto' only appears once in the file name?

Thirdly, I can see these files are saved to a different drive (possibly external?) If you copy the file to a different location, such as your desktop - do the thumbnails appear as expected?

Problem has been solved by uninstalling all versions USING THE WINDOWS UNINSTALLER and then reinstalling Version 2 (MSIX) . Do note that the installation requires updated Microsoft Visual C++ files (image included). If you are still having issues download and install the MSIX Trouble shooter and follow the instructions. It will analyze the MSIX, will determine dependencies (how I found I  did not have the  required C++ files installed) and will make the process simple and easy

Note the version of the MICROSOFT VISUAL C++ files required for the MSIX Affinity software to install properly.

to recap:

Uninstall all versions but use the Windows 10 uninstall.

run the MSIX trouble shooter with Administrator rights and follow the instructions. It will determine if you need any dependencies isntalled.

Install the Microsoft Visual C++ packages if needed.

reboot

run MSIX troubleshooter again and let it install the Affinity V2 MSIX file

This  should solve any problems and restore viewing the thumbnails (do not forget to set that in Affinity preferences (save thumbnail with  file MUST be checked)

Make sure your Folder View also allows use of the thumbnails

 

 

 

[killzen]

By the way, all files,no matter on which  drive they are located, now display the proper thumbnails. I have not tested this across the network but Im sure if I log into this desktop from another machine and browse the files, they will display the thumbnails.

https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-troubleshooter.html

Above is the site where you can download the MSIX Trouble shooter and instructions

[Dan C]

Thanks for letting me know - I'm certainly glad to hear this has been resolved

[Dan C]

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

Would you care to explain why this was changed in the v2 versions?

I'm not personally 100% certain so I have asked our devs for further clarification here and will be sure to update in due course

[Dan C]

This appears to be a consequence of file handling changes we made on Windows in regards to holding open locked file handles - I'm logging it with our developers for further investigation but it's unclear if this can be resolved at this time.

As I understand it the aforementioned changes prevent/fix larger issues from occurring when moving/deleting files that were still open in the app.

I hope this clears things up!

[fernand0n]

This issue hasn't been solved yet, has it?