In a previous post, I wrote about why Windows 7 may not be showing taskbar thumbnail previews by default, but instead show just a text list.
However, if you do have thumbnail previews enabled in Windows, you will see actual screenshots of the programs or windows that are open when you hover your mouse over the icon.
Unfortunately, not everyone likes this! If you’re used to just a plain ole list, this is going to be very annoying. Some users are more visual and some are not. In this article, I will tell you the different ways you can turn off thumbnail previews in the taskbar.
Method 1 – Group Policy
If you are running Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise editions, you can disable taskbar previews in group policy. If you have Windows 7 Starter or Home Premium, move on to the next method.
Click on Start and type in gpedit.msc and then navigate to the following setting:
User Configuration – Administrative Templates – Start Menu and Taskbar
In the right-hand pane, double-click on Turn off taskbar thumbnails and choose the Enabled radio button.
Now just restart your computer and taskbar thumbnails should be turned off! Pretty easy!
Method 2 – Turn Off Aero in Windows 7
The second way to turn off taskbar previews is to simply turn off Aero. Note that you will lose out on all the fancy Aero stuff once you do this like Aero Peek and Aero Shake.
To disable Aero in Windows 7, right-click on the Desktop and choose Personalize.
Now scroll down and choose a theme. That’s all you have to do to turn off Aero!
Method 3 – Use 7 Taskbar Tweaker
The last method involves download a small app that you can use to turn off taskbar previews. The only thing about this program is that it disables everything!
What I mean is that when you hover over the icons in the taskbar, absolutely nothing shows up, not even a text listing of the windows!
The program is called 7 Taskbar Tweaker and it comes in a 32-bit and 64-bit version, so make sure you download the right one.
Simply check the Disable box at the bottom right under Thumbnail preview.
Apparently, lots of people have written about ways to disable thumbnail previews using the registry, but I have not been able to get any of them to work, so I won’t even mention them here!
If you have found a way, post a comment here and let everyone know! Enjoy!
Unfortunately the only method which works for me is disabling Aero, and I actually like it, compared to the XP visual style which I would disable the first thing I did.
I find the thumbnails time consuming and frustrating – while they made the taskbar so much more organized with Windows 7, especially the ability to pin software, they sure didn't think the thumbnail part through.
Taskbar Thumbnail Tweaker 1.1
This worked for me on Win7 Ultimate. Only 88kb.