PDF Previewer Error in Explorer

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
October 14, 2025
1 reply
426 views

Old laptop running Windows 11 and no issues whatsover with PDF previewer in Explorer. Two new laptops, same brand, running Windows 11, and both have the same issue. In Adobe settings, the option to "Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer" is grayed out and cannot be selected. I've read a lot of discussions, but none exactly like this.

PLEASE HELP! I used this feature all day everyday.

Amal.

Community Manager

Hi there

Hope you are doing well and thanks for reaching out.

The option "Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer" may be greyed out if your computer is managed by your IT team. They might have installed a custom version of Acrobat and disabled this setting so you can’t change it.

If that’s not the case, please make sure Acrobat is up to date. To check for updates, open Acrobat > Help > Check for Updates.

~Amal

J

joyce_8956Author

Participant

Thank you for your response. My computer is not managed by any IT team, and Adobe was installed by Geek Squad. I have also uninstalled and reinstalled previously. Acrobat is up to date. On the laptop I purchased a month ago, this same problem occurred and Adobe support tech installed Power Toys. That app caused more issues than it fixed, and Geek Squad could not get that laptop functioning properly. I returned it and purchased a new one, and yet the same issue. On the original laptop that I was replacing, I had zero issues with Adobe preview.

Any other suggestions for a solution?

Amal.

Community Manager

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing these details.

Since your system isn’t managed by IT and Acrobat is already up to date, the issue with the “Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer” option being greyed out could be related to how the application is registered on your device.

Here are a few steps you can try:

Repair Acrobat installation (Win Only) – Open Acrobat > Help > Repair Installation. This will restore missing or broken components that might affect preview functionality.
Reinstall the application – Sometimes, reinstalling Acrobat usually fixes it. The Acrobat cleaner tool https://adobe.ly/4oemvzI , reboot the computer and reinstall the application using the direct link https://adobe.ly/3KIWMRI

~Amal

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded