diff --git a/src/kitemviews/kfileitemmodelrolesupdater.cpp b/src/kitemviews/kfileitemmodelrolesupdater.cpp
--- a/src/kitemviews/kfileitemmodelrolesupdater.cpp
+++ b/src/kitemviews/kfileitemmodelrolesupdater.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #include <QElapsedTimer>
 #include <QTimer>
 
+#include <algorithm>
 
 // #define KFILEITEMMODELROLESUPDATER_DEBUG
 
@@ -901,6 +902,12 @@
         } while (!m_pendingPreviewItems.isEmpty() && timer.elapsed() < MaxBlockTimeout);
     }
 
+    // Generate file previews first as folder thumbnails typically take a lot longer
+    // as it may traverse subdirs and they're also a lot smaller and less prominent
+    std::stable_partition(itemSubSet.begin(), itemSubSet.end(), [](const KFileItem &item) {
+        return !item.isDir();
+    });
+
     KIO::PreviewJob* job = new KIO::PreviewJob(itemSubSet, cacheSize, &m_enabledPlugins);
 
     job->setIgnoreMaximumSize(itemSubSet.first().isLocalFile());