How to Show Thumbnail View of Documents in SharePoint Online

Last Updated on December 14, 2023

Do you want a thumbnail preview for your documents?

In this short guide, you will learn how to add document thumbnails in SharePoint Online, and if it’s possible to change the thumbnail previews.

Let’s get started.

Adding the thumbnail column

There is actually a hidden thumbnail function in SharePoint, and it works with multiple files in the document library.

Note: The previews are the same images you see when you switch to the tile view of the document library.

The steps here are quite straightforward:

Step #1: Add a new image column

When adding a new column, select the image option:

Step #2: Name the column “Thumbnail”

After clicking the option, a right panel will slide in.

Make sure to write “Thumbnail” in the name:

Step #3: Wait for the column to auto-populate

That’s right, this column will auto-populate on its own.

Specifically, it will capture a screenshot of the first page of the documents in the library.

Here are the thumbnails on the demo library I used:

Can you manually add a thumbnail image?

Unfortunately, no.

I tried uploading a sample image as a thumbnail for one of the documents.

But when I close the grid view edit, and go back to the main view, the thumbnail preview is still the first page of the document.

So the answer is no — you won’t be able to manually add a thumbnail image.

Can you change the thumbnail image?

The same answer to the question above — no.

Although you can upload an image, as I explained earlier, it won’t replace the thumbnail preview generated.

Is everything clear with the steps? How about changing the thumbnail images? For questions, leave a comment.

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