# Show thumbnail when fast forwarding or skipping

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/show-thumbnail-when-fast-forwarding-or-skipping/863024>\
**Category:** Feature Suggestions\
**Tags:** server-windows, roku\
**Created:** [December 16, 2023, 6:35am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/show-thumbnail-when-fast-forwarding-or-skipping/863024 "2023-12-16T06:35:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![woodfold](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/woodfold/32/314917_2.png) [@woodfold](https://forums.plex.tv/u/woodfold)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 6:35am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/show-thumbnail-when-fast-forwarding-or-skipping/863024/1 "2023-12-16T06:35:33Z")

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When skipping- or fast-forwarding, a thumbnail of the current frame is shown so you have an idea where you are relative to what/where you want to begin playback. I am running the latest Windows 10 server and viewing on a Roku Ultra with everything current.

This feature is on many other streaming services such as Hulu, YouTube, etc.

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**Author:** ![BigWheel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bigwheel/32/78783_2.png) [@BigWheel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BigWheel)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 7:28am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/show-thumbnail-when-fast-forwarding-or-skipping/863024/2 "2023-12-16T07:28:35Z")

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That is what Preview thumbs are for.

[https://support.plex.tv/articles/202197528-video-preview-thumbnails/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/202197528-video-preview-thumbnails/)

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**Author:** ![woodfold](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/woodfold/32/314917_2.png) [@woodfold](https://forums.plex.tv/u/woodfold)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/show-thumbnail-when-fast-forwarding-or-skipping/863024/3 "2023-12-16T15:18:46Z")

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Thanks for your comment. I don’t have that option set, because of the large space requirements. I hoped Plex could do it on the fly, as when fast forwarding. My thoughts were that when doing that the server is just calculating positions (video frames?) in the file and could just show a thumbnail of that location. Isn’t that less work than the actual showing of the video when streaming?

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**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 9:07am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/show-thumbnail-when-fast-forwarding-or-skipping/863024/4 "2024-01-01T09:07:46Z")

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2024 clean-up: implemented (feature is already available, but not as on-the-fly option due to resource impact)
