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Thumbnails are missing or outdated

Symptoms

Some files show a generic placeholder instead of a preview image; or a thumbnail shows an old version of a file you have since edited.

What this usually means

A missing thumbnail is usually honest, not broken:

  • The format needs an optional tool that is not installed. Audio waveforms, spectrograms, and video frame thumbnails need ffmpeg; SVG previews need librsvg (macOS) / rsvg-convert (Windows). Without them, ArchiveMind lists those previews as unavailable rather than faking them.
  • The format does not support thumbnails — many file types have no visual preview at all.
  • Enrichment has not reached that file yet — on a large collection, preview generation continues in the background after the basic scan.
  • The file's drive is offline and the thumbnail was never generated while it was connected.
  • Outdated thumbnail: the file changed after the last scan; the preview reflects the indexed version until a rescan refreshes it.

Safe steps to try

  1. Check the enrichment/progress panel — if preview work is still in progress, waiting is the fix.
  2. Install the optional tools if the missing previews are audio, video, or SVG — see Audio and video — then quit and reopen ArchiveMind.
  3. For outdated thumbnails, rescan the repository.
  4. For files on an offline drive, reconnect the drive and rescan.

What not to delete or change

  • Do not delete the cache or application-data folder to "force" regeneration — work through the steps above first.
  • Do not delete the catalogue database.

Information to collect for support

  • Which file types are affected (photos? videos? SVG?).
  • Whether ffmpeg / rsvg-convert are installed, if the affected types need them.
  • Whether the drive was connected while enrichment ran.
  • A screenshot of the placeholder shown.