Windows thumbnail preview not working

I spent weeks trying to resolve this frustrating problem. I have tried all the common fixes frequently referenced on several websites to no avail. I almost gave up until luckily I found this tool. This is the only thing that worked for me so I decided to share it.

Codec adjustment tool:
http://www.codecguide.com/download_other.htm#codectweaktool

Note:
1] You will probably have some codecs grayed out in the tool's thumbnail settings. This is not necessary, but if you want to generate thumbnails for each of them you will need to download the K-Lite codec pack found here: https://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm
The standard pack is the recommended variant.
https://codecguide.com/download_k-lite_codec_pack_standard.htm

2] If that unfortunately didn't work and you've tried common fixes, another solution I would recommend trying is to create a new folder and *copy* the files to that folder and see if the thumbnails are repopulating. Moving files will keep only the icon displayed.

3] You will notice that the preview thumbnails may be different from the previous ones because they use a different thumbnail generator that generates thumbnails using a different point in the video files than Microsoft's. To return to default, open the tool, then tiles/options and check all the boxes that say "use Microsoft tile/", apply and close. Refresh the folder with your files. If that doesn't change, reopen the tool. , thumbnails/options and clear thumbnail cache.
You can also change a few things about thumbnail display here, like removing the overlay of the video reel and file type icons.

Yeah, that's pretty much it…

Please take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.