why are image thumbnails not displaying in finder since updating to sequoia on my m1 MacBook pro

The issue of missing icon previews began in Ventura, but there was a plist workaround, which offered a temporary fix. However, this workaround was removed in Sonoma, and it appears they have doubled-down in Sequoia. This change significantly impacts my workflow as a long-time Mac designer. They must really want to get rid of us. If any Mac engineers are reading this, unless you want a mass-exodus... DO BETTER!

I've been having a similar issue. Asked this community, but no answers (Trouble with Preview and Quick Look).

Similarly to Alenem, if I move the files in question to a new folder, the downloads folder, the desktop, or even the trash, image thumbnails and QuickLook work as expected.

I've had this issue since 2 updates prior to Sequoia. I was hopeful that Sequoia would have fixed it, but it didn't.

There is a confirmed problem in Sequoia (15.1) when creating thumbnails for specific image formats (e.g. specific RAW formats from Canon R series cameras). The thumbnail generation process will fail and start consuming excessive CPU. This has been reported to Apple Support and hopefully will be fixed with a future maintenance update.

- Pie Lover

I have the same problem after the Sequoia update. It happened to me only with some PNG files from external drive. If someone doesn't understand what I'm talking about, here's my screenshot, all files should display miniature image preview, but part shows only the standard PNG icon. Already tried copy files, move files, boot in safe mode and nothing helps.

Apple has blocked third-party QuickLook, which is very bad, as there were some for quick viewing of 3D files, the same for other formats, some will have updates from the apps, but for many it will be impossible. Apple takes another step back for professionals...

This is what's happening in Finder - instead of seeing image previews, we are seeing just an icon for the file type. I'm also experiencing the issue since upgrading to Sequoia and noticed it yesterday as I reviewed folders of photographs from an external hard drive. The attached image, however, is from the MacBook Pro hard drive in the downloads folder (on an M1 Pro 16" 2021). Hoping it's fixed soon!

I'm running 15.2 The problem persists.

I regularly move several hundred photos at a time from iPhone to Macbook Air using Airdrop, then transfer them from Downloads to a folder on the desktop. It’s been fine until the Sequoia update but now the thumbnails only display in Downloads. If I move the photos to a new folder (eg on the desktop) some thumbnails are visible, but appear but then disappear, and some only appear as blank boxes, although the photo appears if I double click on the empty thumbnail box and clicking get info shows the full photo size. So it’s just the thumbnail that seems to be an issue. Hoping Apple with fix this quickly.

I’ve got several thousand photos in the Photos app and the thumbnails there are fine.

I just updated to Sequoia also. Half of my thumbnails (PNG and JPEG) images are no longer showing. If I click one, it does show the image in the preview sidebar. Relaunching finder did not work either.

These files are not in an isolated location. They're everywhere from the downloads, documents, and other folders. They are NOT on my external drives. So it's definitely system based.

My fix: Open in Preview > Save file. Thumbnail shows up again.

Definitely needs a fix!

zootsuit711 wrote:

I’ve read most of these posts. Everyone is talking about the recent upgrade/update to Sequoia. My 2015 MacBook is running on Monterey 12.7.6, but in the last week or so, the thumbnail images disappeared. So, what would cause that when I haven’t had any updates? I’ve tried JPG, TIF, PSD, nothing works.

Likely a different problem versus Sequoia, so maybe best for you to open a new posting in the Monterey Discussion area. It could be a shared cause but seems unlikely.

I reported the issue to Apple at this link: Product Feedback - Apple - there's an option for macOS and I added a link to this discussion so they can see the screenshots, because there's no option to upload one on the feedback form.

It may help if everyone who has posted here reports the issue, too. It would be great to have this fixed sooner than later.

I’m having the same problem of appearing / disappearing icon previews for a folder of jpgs all taken on my iPhone. All of the files were saved to iCloud Drive via Share > Files from the iOS Photos app. I’m viewing them on my computer in the same iCloud folder where I saved them originally.

The image preview shows in Finder > Preview and Get Info regardless of whether it shows in the main Finder window. All of the image previews show when View Options > Icon Size is set to the smallest size and the biggest size. To experiment, I started at the smallest size (16x16) and increased the size by 1-2 increments. Between each increment change, I scrolled the full length of folder to verify if there were any missing previews. All previews showed up to 80x80. At 84x84, the original behavior started: previews show and disappear on different icons at seemingly random intervals.

The weirdest part IMO is that the behavior occurs in a 3rd party Finder supplement app called Path Finder.

There is no pattern that I can discern in terms of original file name vs. renamed files nor .jpg vs. .JPG vs. .jpeg.

In addition to the icon preview, Item Info also displays inconsistently and not on the same icons as the preview (see below).

Apple M1 Max

Sequoia 15.2

This also affects HEIC files. Like others, I have some files showing the thumbnail and some not. Also, selecting the ones that don't show a thumbnail and trying to export them in Preview is hit and miss. Sometimes it gives an error that it can't export all the selected files because they're a different type (they're not). I have to do a few at a time and it's just not worth the effort given this number of affected files. I have the same problem with iOS 18. when browsing iCloud Drive folders in the Files app. Some files show the preview and some don't. For clarity, this happens with both iCloud Drive and locally stored files. I think Sequoia and iOS 18 are using the same shared thumbnail renderer, which seems to be broken in the latest version.

I'm running 15.3.2 and the problem is still here. No psd image thumbnails. I drag them to the desktop and 99% of the times they show properly. When I drag them back to their folder they show ok as long as the folder in open. If I close and reopen the folder the preview is gone......

This appears to be fixed! Must have happened with the 15.2 update.