Why is Thunar not creating and showing thumbnails of images?

Thunar is my main file manager. Normally it automatically creates thumbnail images of all images in the directory being viewed. After experimenting with other Linux distros then installing Arch Linux once and for all, Thunar is not showing thumbs. Image files all get the same generic image icon.

Googling turned up some information:

• Something called gvfs needs to be installed. I have it. Still no go. (Apparently this isn't actually needed anyway.)
• Someone had this problem and fixed it by running some mime-related command (I didn't save any notes) I did this same command but no go.
• Checking the obvious: in Thunar's Edit/Preferences, yes, the [x] Show thumbnails is turned on.

When I view one image in GIMP or EOG, the generic icon in Thunar is replaced by a thumbnail. But only for that one file I opened.

Solution 1:

A package called tumbler is needed for thunar to automatically generate thumbnails.

Solution 2:

Even if you installed thumblerd you may not see thumbnails for remote storage, including MTP (new Android devices). Check your file manager's settings, e.g. for Thunar one have to set "Show thumbnails: always" (not "Only local files").