Windows Explorer: How to make it remember PDF file prewies/thumbnails?

Question

I'm using windows 7. when ever i go to the place my PDF are stored they are always displayed with the "adobe reader icon" instead of the first page of the file. is there anyway to ALWAYS display the thumbnail instead?.

Answer 1

The following will set up Windows 7 to display PDF docs as thumbnails for any folder designated as for type 'Documents'.

1. Open your PDF folder, right-click an empty space and select 'Customize this folder...'
2. Select 'Documents' from the 'Optimize this folder for' drop-down (and select 'Also apply this template to all subfolders' if appropriate) and then 'OK'.
3. Select 'Medium' or 'Large icons' from the view drop-down so that you see the PDF previews.
4. Then select 'Folder and search options' from the 'Organize' menu, then the 'View' tab and the 'Apply to Folders' button.

To apply to other folders, repeat steps 1 & 2 above.
This also works for other document types such as MS Word, Excel etc.

Alternatively, you can simply define your PDF folders as optimized for 'Pictures' (using steps 1 & 2) where the default view is large icons (though not semantically correct :¬)