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Christina5EC7
Participant
August 25, 2020
Answered

PDF preview not working in Explorer

  • August 25, 2020
  • 11 replies
  • 59322 views

My PDF Viewer in Explorer stopped working a few weeks ago.  I have tried the following troubleshooting steps & they have not worked 1) Preview pane in Explorer turned on/off 2) Adobe reader "Enable PDF thumbnails previews" unchecked & re-checked.  3) uninstall/re-install  Adobe reader. 4) went to Adobe program file setting & selected run in "compatibility mode" forWindow 8.  5) prayed...

 

Nothing has worked - Anyone have any other suggestions?

    Correct answer WesWooHoo

    If you're in Windows 10 with this (I've been frustrated for months with this), if previews work INSIDE Acrobat but not in Explorer.
    There was a Microsoft thread about this and the solution was to load Microsoft PowerToys.  There is an option under File Explorer Add-ons to enable PDF previews!  It actually worked for me.  Apologies to Adobe for all of my angry rants (on this issue).  Good Luck everyone

    11 replies

    S
    SubizNerd
    Participant
    October 30, 2025

     

    I was stumbling on this issue for ages,  solved it by switching to preview pane rather than detail pane. Still can't view pdf's downloaded from the internet because of MS' Windows security updates.

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    WesWooHooCorrect answer
    Participant
    February 22, 2025

    If you're in Windows 10 with this (I've been frustrated for months with this), if previews work INSIDE Acrobat but not in Explorer.
    There was a Microsoft thread about this and the solution was to load Microsoft PowerToys.  There is an option under File Explorer Add-ons to enable PDF previews!  It actually worked for me.  Apologies to Adobe for all of my angry rants (on this issue).  Good Luck everyone

    I get paid to read other people's user manuals
      E
      Emily298016541bfm
      Participant
      June 5, 2025

      This worked for me (I've tried EVERYTHING ELSE, but THIS worked). Thank you!!!

      J
      Julian30864463noub
      Participant
      December 14, 2023

      Uninstalling Acrobat through system OS then reinstalling with CC worked for me.

      Creative Cloud wouldn't let me uninstall Acrobat but it uninstalled all the other Adobe apps fine. So I quit CC and uninstalled Acrobat through windows, opened CC, reinstalled Acrobat and now I get my PDF previews in the Windows explorer preview pane. 

      I hope this helps someone else!

      V
      Vance26308425cvu8
      Participant
      September 27, 2022

      I'm using Acrobat Pro DC and this fixed it for me: 

      Open Acrobat and select Help.

      Click on 'Repair Installation' in dropdown menu.

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        Will28335024aq79
        Participant
        February 9, 2023

        This worked for me. I couldnt view previews of any files except Excel files.

        Run Repair Installation under 'Help'

        Restart Adobe

        Go to Preferences > General > Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer

        Let the installer run then open up file explorer and voila 

          S
          Sergeant36212124627o
          Participant
          March 20, 2024

          Just "Repair Installation" fixed it for me.

          I was still unable to tick "Enable PDF thumbnail..." after running it (greyed out).

          But after running the repair, PDFs preview fine in Explorer (Windows 11 on Mac Parallels desktop)

            A
            anknez
            Participating Frequently
            August 26, 2022

            We're facing the same issue right now. Has anyone found a solution yet?
            Windows Enterprise 21H2
            Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 2022.002.20191 64-Bit

            R
            Rene.Hun
            Participant
            February 17, 2022

            This site had a solution that worked for us.. 

             

            Office 365 Apps for Enterprise with Adobe DC pro

            Disabled:  Show preview handlers in preview pane

            Reference Link:  https://www.guidingtech.com/fix-preview-pane-not-working-in-windows-10/#:~:text=1%201.%20Enable%20Preview%20Pane.%20You%20might%20have,Explorer.%20...%207%208.%20Use%20Third-Party%20App.%20

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              WeCo-Pack
              Participant
              September 22, 2020

              We have the same problem. They say this is not suported in Windows10 64bit.....Wenn is Adobe fixing this?

              T
              TheDragonBytes
              Participant
              September 17, 2020

              Perhaps I shouldn't have posted here, but my problem is with Acrobat Pro DC and not Reader.  However, the preview issues just started with the latest Adobe update that was installed about a two weeks ago.  Thumbnails display fine in File Explorer, but in the preview pane I get the following error message: "This file can't be previewed."  BTW, I have the thumbnail setting selected in Acrobat preferences.

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                Chad22623541qp9v
                Participant
                January 12, 2022

                Same issue here. Did you end up getting it resolved? I believe I've tried every fix out there that I can find and still no luck.

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                Catanda
                Participant
                January 13, 2022

                I ended up changing my workflow to accomodate the problem, Ive just checked and it now works again in both Windows 10 Pro and Windows 11 "by default" ie Ive not ticked the box in Adobe Windows Explorer simply now gives me the preview on its own.

                 

                I do have Adobe Pro and Reader installed on Windows 11, but only Reader installed on Windows 10 Pro if that info helps. Good luck.

                pmunbodh
                pmunbodh
                Participant
                September 17, 2020

                I also have the same problem. Started about a week ago.

                C
                Catanda
                Participant
                September 15, 2020

                I too have the same problem and have tried all the above with no sucess, has anyone solved this?

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