Thumbnail Expert

Thumbnail Export is a narrowly focused digital forensics and emergency recovery tool. It scans preview databases generated by a wide range of graphics applications, analyzes their internal structures, and extracts embedded thumbnails along with associated metadata. In cases where the original graphic file is permanently lost, overwritten, or corrupted, the program can recover its reduced-size copy from the thumbnail cache.

Current status: full rewrite from scratch — a reborn version is in development.

List of supported applications

Thumbnail Export extracts embedded previews from the cache structures of the 81 programs listed below. Default paths are shown below — custom database locations can be specified manually within the program.

	3D Photo Browser/3DBrowser (c) Mootools %PROGRAMDATA%\Mootools\3DBrowser\Catalogs: *.obv %PROGRAMDATA%\Mootools\3DBrowser\CD-ROM catalogs: *.obv %LOCALAPPDATA%\Mootools\3DBrowser\Albums: *.obv %IMAGEFOLDER%: contents.obv
	ACDSee (c) ACD Systems International Inc. %APPDATA%\ACD Systems\ACDSee: image_db.aid / ImageDB.aid / ImageDB.ddf + ImageDB.dtf %APPDATA%\ACD Systems\Catalogs\%VERSION%\Default: Asset.(dbf/fpt) + Thumb1.(dbf/fpt) + Thumb2.(dbf/fpt) %LOCALAPPDATA%\ACD Systems\Catalogs\%VERSION%\Default: Asset.(dbf/fpt) + Thumb1.(dbf/fpt) + Thumb2.(dbf/fpt) + Thumb3.(dbf/fpt) + FaceThumbnail.(dbf/fpt) + PersonThumbnail.(dbf/fpt)
	Adobe Lightroom (c) Adobe Systems Inc. %NAME%.lrcat + thumbnail-cache.db + *.lr-preview.noindex %NAME%.lrcat + previews.db + root-pixels.db + *.lrprev + *.lrmprev + *.lrfprev %NAME%.lrcat + previews.db + root-pixels.db + *_NNN + *.lrmprev + *.lrfprev
	Adobe Photoshop Album/Elements (c) Adobe Systems Inc. %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Photoshop Album\Catalog Folders\%CAT_NAME%: tn.4.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Catalog Folders\%CAT_NAME%: tn.5.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Catalog Folders\%CAT_NAME%: thumb.5.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\%VERSION%: ThumbDatabase.db3 %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.psedb + thumb.5.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse7db + thumb.5.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse8db + thumb.5.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse9db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse10db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse11db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse12db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse13db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse14db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse15db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse16db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse17db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse18db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse19db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse20db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse21db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse24db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache %PROGRAMDATA%\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\%CAT_NAME%: catalog.pse25db + thumb.5.cache + face.thumb.9.cache
	Adobe Photoshop/Bridge (c) Adobe Systems Inc. %APPDATA%\Adobe\FileBrowser\Photoshop7: index.dat + data files %APPDATA%\Adobe\FileBrowser\PhotoshopCSME: index.dat + data files %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge\Cache\Thumbnails: index.dat + data files %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CS3\Cache\data\bridgestore: filesystem_nodes.MYD %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CS4\Cache: *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CS5\Cache: *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CS5.1\Cache: *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CS6\Cache: store + *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CC\Cache: store + *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CC 2015\Cache: store + *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CC 2017\Cache: store + *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge CC 2018\Cache: store + *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge\Cache\v36: store + *.jpg %APPDATA%\Adobe\Bridge\SharedCache\v36: store + *.jpg %IMAGEFOLDER%: AdobeP8T.tb0 + AdobeP8P.tb0 + AdobeP8M.md0 %IMAGEFOLDER%: Adobe Bridge Cache.bc + Adobe Bridge Cache.bct %IMAGEFOLDER%: .BridgeCache + .BridgeCacheT %IMAGEFOLDER%\.BridgeSharedCache: store + *.jpg
	AhaView (c) Aha-Soft %APPDATA%\Aha-Soft\AhaView: thumb.idx + thumb.dat
	AraView (c) ara-hwang %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.araview.viewer\cache-v2\thumbs: %HASH%.jpg
	Ashampoo Photo Commander (c) Ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG %APPDATA%\Ashampoo Photo Commander %VERSION%\Cache: *.dbc + *.dbt %APPDATA%\Ashampoo\Ashampoo Photo Commander %VERSION%\Cache: APC.DBC + APC.DBT
	Ashampoo Photo Organizer (c) Ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG %LOCALAPPDATA%\Ashampoo Photo Organizer Pro 26: photos.db + thumbnails\GUID.jpg
	Canon My Image Garden (c) CANON INC %APPDATA%\Canon\My Image Garden\Common: Database\imgdata + Fthumb\*.jpcache
	Capture NX (c) Nikon Corporation %APPDATA%\Nikon\Capture NX: imagedb.dat %LOCALAPPDATA%\Nikon\Capture NX\ThumbnailCache: %MD5% %LOCALAPPDATA%\Nikon\CaptureNX-D\Cache: %MD5%.spi
	CyberLink PhotoDirector (c) CyberLink Corp. %PROJECT_NAME%.phd + %PROJECT_NAME%_cache\*_original + %PROJECT_NAME%_cache\*_thumbnail + %PROJECT_NAME%_cache\thumbnail.db + %PROJECT_NAME%_faces\DaVinci.fdb + %PROJECT_NAME%_faces\fm_thumbnail.db %PROJECT_NAME%.phd + %PROJECT_NAME%_cache\*_original + %PROJECT_NAME%_cache\*_thumbnail + %PROJECT_NAME%_cache\thumbnail.db + %PROJECT_NAME%_faceme\DaVinci_FaceMeSDK.db + %PROJECT_NAME%_faceme\fm_thumbnail.db
	Diffractor (c) Diffractor - Zac Walker %LOCALAPPDATA%\Diffractor: diffractor-cache.db
	Digital Photo Professional (c) Canon Inc. %APPDATA%\Canon_Inc_IC\DPP4\DppMWare\Cache\Thumbnail: master.bin + %GUID%.bin + %GUID%%GUID%.bin
	Directory Opus (c) Jonathan Potter & Greg Perry %LOCALAPPDATA%\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\Thumbnail Cache: *.db
	eezPix (c) teEezPix.com %APPDATA%\61soft\eezPix\iSeeCache\Folder: CacheList.txt + *.cache
	ExifPro (c) Michal Kowalski %PROGRAMDATA%\MiK\ExifPro: CacheDb.bin / CacheDb64.bin
	Fast RAW Viewer (c) LibRaw LLC %LOCALAPPDATA%\LibRaw LLC\FastRawViewer: FRVThumbs.db
	FastStone Image Viewer (c) FastStone Corporation %APPDATA%\FastStone\FSIV: FSViewer.db %LOCALAPPDATA%\FastStone\FSIV: FSIV.db
	FerrumPix (c) Bitpainter75 %LOCALAPPDATA%\FerrumPix: library.db + ThumbnailCache\%SHA1%\%SHA1%.jpg
	FileCenter (c) Lucion Technologies, LLC %PROGRAMDATA%\FileCenter\Thumbnails: AlbumList.txt + *.album %PROGRAMDATA%\FileCenter\ThumbsDB: FileCenterThumbs.db + Files\*.thumb
	FlyPhotos (c) RYF Tools %LOCALAPPDATA%\FlyPhotos: FlyPhotosCache_sqlite_2.db
	FocusOn Image Viewer (c) Pintosoft %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pintosoft\FocusOn Image Viewer: Images.fds
	Fragment (c) Mihail Naydenov %LOCALAPPDATA%\Fragment Image Viewer: FragFiles.db + thumbs\xN\*.jpg
	FreePictureViewer (c) Free Picture Solutions %APPDATA%\Free_Picture_Viewer\Free Picture Viewer\1.0.0.0: %HASH%\*.jpg
	Gaze (c) ThreeAurora %APPDATA%\Gaze: thumbnails.db
	Glanvu (c) Glanvu %LOCALAPPDATA%\glanvu\thumbs: *.jpg
	GuoheView (c) GuoheView %APPDATA%\GuoheView: collections.jsonl + collect-thumbs\*.png
	HP Photosmart Essential/HP Image Zone (c) Hewlett-Packard Development Co. L.P. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Image Zone Express: asset.yos + thumbnail.db + assets.yos + thumbnailSel.db %LOCALAPPDATA%\HP\Digital Imaging: db2\*.(dbf/fpt) + cache2\*.(DAT/DB)
	ImageFan Reloaded (c) Mihnea Rădulescu %APPDATA%\ImageFanReloaded: ImageFanReloaded.cache.db
	ImageGlass (c) Duong Dieu Phap %LOCALAPPDATA%\ImageGlass\ThumbnailsCache: %MD5% %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\DuongDieuPhap.ImageGlass_*\LocalCache\Local\ImageGlass\_cache\_thumbnails: %MD5%_140.webp
	ImageRanger (c) XtSense GmbH %TEMP%: imageranger_fs\%HASH%.fxz %LOCALAPPDATA%\ImageRanger: persons\%GUID%\pos\%GUID%.png %LOCALAPPDATA%\ImageRanger: imageranger_fs\%HASH%.fxz + persons\people.db + persons\%GUID%\pos\%GUID%.png
	Imagic (c) STOIK Imaging Ltd. %TEMP%\STIMGBRWS*: FLD*.tmp
	Imagine (c) Sejin Chun %APPDATA%\Imagine\Cache: Thumbs.db
	ImgLook (c) iMacTools.com %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.imactools.imglook: media.db %APPDATA%\com.imactools.imglook: thumbcache.db
	Impart (c) Arastryx %APPDATA%\impart\app: db.sqlite + thumbnails\%GUID%.(jpg|png)
	MComix (c) The MComix Team %APPDATA%\MComix\.thumbnails: *.png
	MVP Image Viewer (c) L1xiaolong %LOCALAPPDATA%\ISPView\MVP Image Viewer\cache\thumbnails-v2: *.jpg
	NeeView (c) Ito Mitsuhiro (nee) %LOCALAPPDATA%\NeeLaboratory\NeeView: Cache.db
	Nikon View (c) Nikon Corporation %APPDATA%\Nikon\Nikon View\Thumbnail Cache: NTCSIMAGE.TBL + NTCSENTRY.TBL + NTCSINFO.TBL
	NivisViewer (c) 14matsu-ai index.sqlite3 + files\%HASH%.webp
	Oculante (c) Johann Woelper %LOCALAPPDATA%\oculante\thumbnails: %HASH%_%SIZE%.png
	OLYMPUS Master 2 (c) OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. %LOCALAPPDATA%\OLYMPUS\OLYMPUS Data: datebase\File.xml + datebase\Album.xml + cache\*.dat + albumcash\*.dat
	OLYMPUS Viewer 2 (c) Olympus Corporation %LOCALAPPDATA%\OLYMPUS\OLYMPUS Viewer2 Data\datebase: FileDB.db + FileCacheDB.db
	OLYMPUS Viewer 3 (c) Olympus Corporation %LOCALAPPDATA%\OLYMPUS\OLYMPUS Viewer3 DB0100\database: FileBasic.db + thumb_Ns\00000000.db + albm_Ns\00000000.db + grf_Ns\00000000.db + psnf_Ns\00000000.db + psni_Ns\00000000.db
	OM Workspace (c) OM Digital Solutions Corporation %LOCALAPPDATA%\OMDS\OM Workspace\DB0100\database: FileBasic.db + thumb_Ns\00000000.db
	PhotoLife (c) Lunarship Software %LOCALAPPDATA%\PhotoLife: UserData3\db.db + Thumbs\Generic\*.jpg + Thumbs\People\*.jpg + Thumbs\Faces\*.jpg
	PhotoQt (c) Lukas Spies %LOCALAPPDATA%\cache\thumbnails: *.png
	Phototheca (c) Lunarship Software %LOCALAPPDATA%\Phototheca: UserData\files.db + UserData2\Thum.db %LOCALAPPDATA%\Phototheca: UserData2\files.db + UserData2\Thum.db + People\*.jpg
	Pictkura (c) Harusame64 %APPDATA%\dev.harusame.pictkura: pictkura.db + thumbs\NN\*.(jpg|webp)
	Picture Information Extractor (c) Picmeta Systems %LOCALAPPDATA%\Picmeta\Thumbs: AlbumList.txt + *.album
	Picture Motion Browser (c) Sony Corporation %APPDATA%\Sony Corporation\Sony Picture Utility: fhdb.sd3 + facedb.sd3 %APPDATA%\Sony Corporation\PMB: fhdb.sd3 + facedb.sd3 %TEMP%: .Sony_PMBrowser1000_BrowserDiskCache / .Sony_PMBrowser2000_BrowserDiskCache / .Sony_PMBrowser3000_BrowserDiskCache
	PictureManager (c) Martin Holý PictureManagerCache: *.jpg
	PixiShot (c) Aignesberger Software GmbH %APPDATA%\aignes\PixiShot\config: pixishot.db
	PlayMemories Home (c) Sony Corporation %APPDATA%\Sony Corporation\PMB: fhdb.sd3 %TEMP%: .Sony_PMBrowser3000_BrowserDiskCache
	qimgv (c) easymodo %PROGRAMFILES%\qimgv\thumbnails: %HASH%.png
	RapidRAW (c) Timon Käch %LOCALAPPDATA%\io.github.CyberTimon.RapidRAW\thumbnails: %HASH%.jpg
	RAWviewer (c) markyip %USERPROFILE%\.rawviewer_cache: semantic_index.db + exif_cache.db + grid_cache.db + grid\*.jpg + preview_cache.db + previews\*.jpg + thumbnail_cache.db + thumbnails\*.jpg
	RefShelf (c) RenderStuff %LOCALAPPDATA%\refshelf\App Data: cards\*.json + thumbs\*.jpg
	Sib Image Viewer (c) SibCode %APPDATA%\SibCode\ImageViewer: thumb.idx + thumb.dat
	Smart Pix Manager/MegaView (c) Xequte Software %LOCALAPPDATA%\Xequte\Common\Cache: ~x*
	Sony Photo Go (c) Sony Creative Software Inc. %APPDATA%\Sony\Photo Go\1.0: PhotoGo.db
	SortPix XL (c) N MEDIA KG %APPDATA%\IN-MEDIAKG-TI\FotoSortierer\Thumbnails: AlbumList.txt + *.album
	Tacent View (c) Tristan Grimmer *.bin
	Tiefsee (c) hbl917070 %TEMP%\Tiefsee\ImgZoom: %HASH%.jpg
	Total Commander (c) Christian Ghisler %LOCALAPPDATA%\GHISLER: tcthumbs.db + tcthumbs.idb
	TweakNow Gallery (c) TweakNow Software %LOCALAPPDATA%\WinSecretPlus: thumbnail.db
	UltraExplorer (c) Magenta Systems Ltd %APPDATA%\UltraExplorer: AlbumList.txt + *.album
	Vallen JPegger (c) Vallen Systeme GmbH. %IMAGEFOLDER%: jpeggeri.dat
	ViewNX (c) Nikon Corporation %APPDATA%\Nikon\ViewNX\Cache: NkCacheFolder.nki + NkCacheFolder.nkd + NkCacheLarge.nki + NkCacheLarge.nkd + NkCacheNormal.nki + NkCacheNormal.nkd + NkCacheSmall.nki + NkCacheSmall.nkd
	ViewNX 2 (c) Nikon Corporation %LOCALAPPDATA%\Nikon\ViewNX 2\Cache: NkCacheFolder.nki + NkCacheFolder.nkd + NkCacheLarge.nki + NkCacheLarge.nkd + NkCacheNormal.nki + NkCacheNormal.nkd + NkCacheSmall.nki + NkCacheSmall.nkd
	ViewNX-i (c) Nikon Corporation %LOCALAPPDATA%\Nikon\ViewNX-i\Cache: NkCacheLarge.nki + NkCacheLarge.nkd + NkCacheNormal.nki + NkCacheNormal.nkd + NkCacheSmall.nki + NkCacheSmall.nkd
	WidsMob Viewer (c) WidsMob %LOCALAPPDATA%\WidsMob Viewer\cache\thumbnails: %HASH%.png
	WildBit Viewer (c) WildBit Software %LOCALAPPDATA%\WildBit Viewer\Cache: AlbumList.txt + *.album
	Windows Explorer (c) Microsort %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer: thumbcache_*.db / iconcache_*.db %IMAGEFOLDER%: Thumbs.db
	Xlideit (c) picorover3 Xlideit.idx + Xlideit.idc
	XnView (c) Pierre-Emmanuel Gougelet %APPDATA%\XnView: XnView.db
	XnView MP (c) Pierre-Emmanuel Gougelet %APPDATA%\XnViewMP: XnView.db + Thumb.db
	Zoner Studio (c) ZONER Inc %APPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 7: ZPS7Cache.dat %APPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 8: ZPS8Cache.dat %APPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 9: ZPS9Cache.dat %APPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 10: ZPSCache.dat %APPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 11: ZPSCache.dat %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 12\ZPSCache.dat: data.zoner-index-cache + data.zoner-rawdata-cache %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 13\ZPSCache.dat: data.zoner-index-cache.US + data.zoner-rawdata-cache %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 14\ZPSCache.dat: data.US.zoner-index-cache + data.zoner-rawdata-cache %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 15\ZPSCache.dat: data.US.zoner-index-cache + data.zoner-rawdata-cache %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 16\ZPSCache.dat: data.US.zoner-index-cache + data.zoner-rawdata-cache %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 17\ZPSCache.dat: data.US.zoner-index-cache + NNN\*.(ldng|lpreview|preview|metadata) %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 18\ZPSCache.dat: data.zoner-index-cache + NNN\*.(ldng|lpreview|preview|metadata) %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS 19\ZPSCache.dat: index.catalogue-zps + GUID\NNN\*.(ldng|lpreview|preview|metadata) %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zoner\ZPS X\ZPSCatalog: index.catalogue-zps + GUID\NNN\*.(ldng|lpreview|preview|metadata)
	ZoomBrowser EX (c) Canon Inc. %IMAGEFOLDER%: ZbThumbnail.info
	μPhotos (c) Vadim Lapiner %LOCALAPPDATA%\uPhotos: index.bin + large.bin + tiny.bin

Thumbnail Expert (c) Denis Anisimov 2026