Sitecore media library missing PDF icons

When uploading PDF (or Word/Excel/…) documents to the Sitecore media library, the PDF icon is not shown:

PDF icon Missing

In this case it is only my test server that is not showing the icons. My local development machine (my own laptop) displays the icons perfectly:

PDF icon Shown on my laptop

The reason is that Siteore use the associated icon from the OS. Acrobat Reader is installed on my laptop, not on my test server. So the test server displays a default icon instead.

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION THEN?

You can specify which static file to use for which extension in the web.config. To add the PDF icon, do the following:

Download a .pdf icon from the Adobe Website (due to licensing restrictions, Sitecore is not shipped with an Acrobat Reader icon). Place the icon wherever you wish.

Go to the web.config and find the <mediaType name=”PDF file” extensions=”pdf”> section.

Add the following:

<mediaType name="PDF file" extensions="pdf">
  <mimeType>application/pdf</mimeType>
  <forceDownload>false</forceDownload>
  <sharedTemplate>system/media/unversioned/pdf</sharedTemplate>
  <versionedTemplate>system/media/versioned/pdf</versionedTemplate>
  <!-- New section -->
  <thumbnails>
    <generator type="Sitecore.Resources.Media.MediaThumbnailGenerator, Sitecore.Kernel">
      <extension>png</extension>
    </generator>
    <staticFile>File location. For example /sitecore/shell/Themes/pdficon_large.png</staticFile>
  </thumbnails>
  <!-- end:New section -->
</mediaType>

Clear the following folders:

• /temp/ folder (at least all files named “fileIcon”)
• The Sitecore media cache (default located at /app_data/mediacache/)

Clear your browser cache.

Restart the website.

That’s it. You now have PDF icons in Sitecore.

MORE READING:

• Adding custom icons for the media library
• Sitecore forum post on missing PDF icons