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Table Of Contents
Digital Forensics Cookbook
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When a user views files in File Explorer, they may choose to present those files as small icons or thumbnails, which provide a preview of the file content. These thumbnails are stored on the system within thumbcache databases.

Figure 4.37 – Thumbnail icons presented in Microsoft Windows 11
The system saves a thumbnail representation of file content so previews can be quickly loaded the next time the user views their saved media content.
Windows thumbcache databases are stored for each individual account, making it easy to determine which user viewed the files. Moreover, thumbnails are retained for files that were viewed from an external source, such as an external storage drive, and they persist even if the original file is moved or deleted, making these databases a rich source of information to help determine what media files may have been stored or viewed by a user.
In this recipe, we will examine thumbcache artifacts to identify previously viewed images and determine...