# Thumbnails > Turn the thumbnails of the file list on or off for the whole site, choose how long unused thumbnails are kept, and see how many there are on your server. Source: https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/settings/thumbnails --- ## Overview In the file list, images and videos show a small preview instead of their icon. See [Browse and search](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/files/browse-and-search#thumbnails). DooFiles keeps each thumbnail in its private folder, inside `wp-content`, which is closed to the web, and never next to your files. A thumbnail is only sent to an administrator who can open the file it belongs to. Go to **DooFiles › Settings** and open **Thumbnails**. Change what you need and click **Save changes**. Saving asks for your password. ## The settings | Setting | What it does | Default | |---|---|---| | **Make thumbnails** | Images and videos in the file list show a small preview instead of their icon | On | | **Video thumbnails** | Videos show a frame instead of their icon | On | | **Thumbnails in private folders** | Files in [private folders](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/security/private-folders) also get thumbnails | On | | **Days to keep unused thumbnails** | A thumbnail nobody has seen for this long is deleted, and made again when needed. From 1 to 90 days | 30 | | **Thumbnails on the server** | How many thumbnail files there are now, and how much space they take. **Delete all** deletes them | — | The space thumbnails take also counts in the [Space](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/views/space) view, in **DooFiles data**. ## Turn thumbnails off A thumbnail is a small copy of an image, or a frame of a video. If your site keeps sensitive images, such as documents or photos of people, you may prefer that DooFiles makes no copies of them at all. When you turn off **Make thumbnails** and save: - DooFiles deletes the thumbnails it already made, right away. - The file list shows the icon of each file again, for every administrator. - DooFiles stops making new thumbnails, and stops taking frames of videos. Turn it on again whenever you want: DooFiles makes each thumbnail again the next time its row appears on screen. ## Video thumbnails The thumbnail of a video is a frame taken by the browser of whoever opens its folder, because your server cannot read videos. For a video that was already on your server, the browser reads part of it once to take the frame, and that shows in the [Activity](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/views/activity) log as **Thumbnail**. On a site with many large videos, or for administrators on slow connections, you can turn off **Video thumbnails** and keep the thumbnails of images. Videos then show their icon. ## Private folders Only the administrators on the list of a [private folder](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/security/private-folders) can see the thumbnails of its files. Still, each thumbnail is a small copy, kept in the DooFiles folder. If you prefer that no copy of what is in your private folders exists, turn off **Thumbnails in private folders**: images and videos in private folders then keep their icon. - **When you turn it off**, DooFiles deletes the thumbnails of every private folder, right away. - **When a folder becomes private** while this setting is off, DooFiles deletes the thumbnails its files already had. ## Delete all thumbnails now Click **Delete all**, next to **Thumbnails on the server**, to delete every thumbnail without turning them off: for example, to free files on your hosting at once. DooFiles asks for your password, and the action shows in the Activity log as **Deleted thumbnails**. While thumbnails are on, DooFiles makes each one again the next time its row appears on screen. ## Keep them fewer days Each thumbnail is a file on your server, of a few KB. Some hosting plans limit the number of files an account can have (the inode limit), so a site with many images may want fewer of them. Every time a thumbnail is shown, DooFiles notes the day. Once a day, it deletes the thumbnails nobody has seen for the number of days in **Days to keep unused thumbnails**. Thumbnails of files that were deleted, moved or changed are never shown again, so they go away too. A lower number means fewer files on your server, and a few more thumbnails made again when someone opens an old folder. When you save a lower number, DooFiles applies it right away. DooFiles also keeps all thumbnails under 100 MB: past that, it deletes the least used first. ## Only in your browser Each administrator can also hide thumbnails only in their own browser, with **Thumbnails** in the [Preferences](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/files/preferences) of the file manager (the preferences icon next to **File manager**). That changes nothing on the server. When thumbnails are off for the whole site, that row shows *Turned off for the whole site.* ## Settings set by a developer If a row shows *Set by the … filter in the site's code.*, a developer fixed that value in the code of your site, and it cannot be changed here. See [Filters and constants](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/developers/filters-and-constants). To turn thumbnails off from `wp-config.php`, for example on every site you manage, add this line: ```php define( 'DOOFILES_THUMBS', false ); ``` **Make thumbnails** then shows *Set by DOOFILES_THUMBS in wp-config.php.*, and the thumbnails already made are deleted in the next daily cleanup. See [Rules in wp-config.php](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/guides/wp-config-rules). ## Troubleshooting | Problem | What to do | |---|---| | The file list shows icons instead of thumbnails | Check **Make thumbnails** here, and **Thumbnails** in [Preferences](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/files/preferences). Some files never have a thumbnail: see [Browse and search](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/files/browse-and-search#thumbnails) | | **Make thumbnails** cannot be turned on | It shows who turned it off: a line in `wp-config.php` or a filter in the code of your site | | My hosting warns about too many files | Lower **Days to keep unused thumbnails**, or turn thumbnails off. The trash and the backups of DooFiles also use files: see [Trash, backups and activity](https://doothemes.com/docs/doofiles/settings/retention) | Need more help? [Open a support ticket](https://doothemes.com/account/tickets/new).