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Embedded Album art not showing up in Windows Explorer RRS feed

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    I am using windows8

    I am trying to embed album art in my music files.  So that when I look in a folder directory with windows explorer I can see which files have the embedded art and which do not.

     

    There is no problem embedding the art for mp3 files, however m4a / mpeg4 files do not show up when I embed the art, leaving me with the default windows (baloon,,film music note icon)  which means I need to load the file in iTunes or winamp in order to check to see if the art is there or is associated correctly.

     

     

    My questions:

     

    Should the embedded art be showing up in Windows Explorer for m4a files at all?

    if yes,  what am I doing wrong and How can I do to ensure that it shows properly?

    Is it possible for me to confirm that the art has embedded correctly from windows explorer without opening another program?

    I was reading in another thread that this can be easily fixed by editing the registry mp3 key extenions and changing it to M4A.  I have no experience messing with the registry at all so Im hesitant to do this without some guidance.

    thank you

     

     

    Just to clarify, I am not referring to the folder icon or the thumbnail image that displays on it.  I am talking about the art embedded into the music file itself.

    • Moved by Sheng Jiang 蒋晟 Saturday, September 1, 2018 4:53 PM not dev related, use answers.microsoft.com instead
    Monday, January 14, 2013 2:18 AM

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    There is no proper way to create thumbnail support for individual files. Windows shell depends on thumbnail handlers for certain file type to generate thumbnails, so if there isn't a thumbnail handler for m4a, or the thumbnail handler for m4a read the file in a different way, then you are out of luck.

    You can write a thumbnail handler for m4a, but keep in mind the user may install another one over yours.

    Visual C++ MVP

    • Marked as answer by Damon Zheng Thursday, January 31, 2013 1:44 PM
    Monday, January 14, 2013 4:35 AM

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    There is no proper way to create thumbnail support for individual files. Windows shell depends on thumbnail handlers for certain file type to generate thumbnails, so if there isn't a thumbnail handler for m4a, or the thumbnail handler for m4a read the file in a different way, then you are out of luck.

    You can write a thumbnail handler for m4a, but keep in mind the user may install another one over yours.

    Visual C++ MVP

    • Marked as answer by Damon Zheng Thursday, January 31, 2013 1:44 PM
    Monday, January 14, 2013 4:35 AM
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    I must not be understanding you.  Because W.Explorer has full support for displaying thumbnails of the embedded art in Mp3 files and does so no problem on thumbnail view.  Do you mean that this function is 3rd party dependent?

    Also I found this post in another thread...

    "I fixed the problem as it was mainly due to corrupted registry for some strange reason.i imported the .mp3 file extension key from registry and opened it using notepad and replaced all .mp3 extension with .m4a and saved it as .m4a.reg and run it and had to do a system restart after that thumbnails again started showing up in windows explorer as normal.such as in the below screenshot""

    Would it be possible to edit the registry in the way the above poster suggests? and would that make explorer display the m4a files the same way it does Mp3s?  Seems almost like too simple a fix

    Tuesday, January 15, 2013 12:24 PM
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    Windows Explorer has built-in thumbnail for MP3 as album art is part of ID3 standard. M4a is based on QuickTime, so you are probably looking at Apple to write a thumbnail provider for such things first.

    Visual C++ MVP

    Tuesday, January 15, 2013 4:15 PM
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    I have still the same problem - (now we have September 2018!!!)

    What I found out is: mp3 embedded album art does not show in file explorer, only when the files are located in a OneDrive synchronized directory. When I copy such a directory onto a place on disk what is outside of OneDrive synchronized storage, then album arts do show up!!! ( I tell you I really do only copy, nothing else!)

    The only way to go around  this problem as far as I could find out is, to convert all those mp3 files in m4a files, then I can enjoy album art pics asso in file explorer.

    Strange. And an incredible shame for Microsoft.

    Saturday, September 1, 2018 10:44 AM
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    you have the reverse problem, not the same one. And since nobody in this thread want to write a thumbnail handler I am gonna move this to off-topic.

    You should thank the European Commission for killing Windows Media Player, which is the default thumbnail provider for media files in Windows. You are now at the mercy of third party developers.  

    Visual C++ MVP

    Saturday, September 1, 2018 4:53 PM