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Grafik Barton
Participant
Jun 6, 2025 7:15 AM UTC
Question

Windows Explorer does not display PDF previews.

For about a month now, PDF previews in the preview pane of Windows 11 Explorer haven’t been working. PNG and JPG files display fine. Even previews of AI, IDML, and similar files show up. I heard it might be due to Acrobat settings, so I enabled the option to allow previews/thumbnails there. I also reinstalled Acrobat. I’ve asked AI, but I still have no idea what’s going on. I don’t have any other PDF viewer installed, just the full version of Acrobat. What should I do? Is anyone else experiencing the same issue? (My drives are half-empty, cache is cleared, I have a Ryzen 9, 64 GB RAM, 4060 GPU… so it’s definitely not a hardware issue.) 

Could the problem be on Adobe's side?

    34 replies

    tina_5081
    Participant
    Oct 2, 2026 4:01 AM UTC

    this did not solve the problem for me.

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    Meenakshi Negi
    Community Manager
    Meenakshi NegiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    Oct 2, 2026 12:32 PM UTC

    Hi tina_5081,


    Thank you for reaching out, and sorry for the trouble caused.

    To help us investigate this behavior further, please provide the following information:

    • More details about which features are not working for you.

    • A short video demonstrating the steps you are taking.

    • The complete version number of Acrobat you are using.

    • The operating system on your machine.

    • Please let us know if the issue occurs with a specific PDF or with all files.

    Once we have this information, we can further assess the problem.

    We look forward to your response.


    Thanks,

    Meenakshi

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    Antonio70
    Participant
    Aug 24, 2026 5:55 PM UTC
    Hay que tomar en cuenta que si trabajas en dominio todas estas soluciones no funcionan el usuario no tiene permisos no puede ejecutar PowerShell por seguridad el soporte no puede mover grandes características por estar en dominio sino esta implementado por defecto en Windows nada funcionara.

     

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    Antonio70
    Participant
    Aug 24, 2026 5:43 PM UTC

    Cuando Trabajas en Dominio el usuario no puede mover ejecutar nada y desbloquear 100000 un archivo que descarga es impisible, debe hacer una solución mejor y automática.

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    bulwynkl
    bulwynkl
    Participant
    May 26, 2026 5:46 AM UTC

    Powershell version of unblock so you can do multiple pdf’s rather than just one at a time.

    In powershell (Admin) 

    for one file:

    Get-ChildItem <filename>.pdf | Unblock-File

    for all pdf’s in the current folder:

    Get-ChildItem *.pdf | Unblock-File

    Same as above but also for all subdirectories.
    Get-ChildItem -Recurse *.pdf | Unblock-File
     

    Also, don’t cut and paste random strings from the internet without checking out the components:

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/get-childitem?view=powershell-7.6

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/unblock-file?view=powershell-7.6

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    fantastic_Rainbow0D4D
    fantastic_Rainbow0D4D
    Participant
    Feb 17, 2026 8:37 AM UTC

    Today I changed the standard pdf software to LightPDF and the preview in explorer worked finally. 
    So this is definitely a Adobe problem. not the first time. 

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    quintz
    quintz
    Participant
    Feb 5, 2026 6:35 AM UTC

    For anyone landing here :

    Install Microsoft PowerToys and enable in the settings pdf preview in Explorer:

    https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/windows/powertoys/

    Y    ou’re welcome

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    DrSunnyD
    Participating Frequently
    Feb 26, 2026 10:24 PM UTC

    I am not understanding how “power-toys” fixes this. Reviewing the page, there is not a pdf viewer tool. Perhaps you can be specific where this recommendation applies.

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    TLfromVA
    TLfromVA
    Participant
    Feb 27, 2026 2:10 AM UTC

    See my comment below. It worked on my Windows 11 laptop that stopped previewing PDFs recently.

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    van_6461
    Participant
    Oct 27, 2025 10:45 PM UTC

    Same issue, nothing of the solutions shared have worked. Do we have a permanent fix yet?

     

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      Chrismargspa
      Participant
      Oct 31, 2025 7:07 AM UTC

      Like everyone else, I have experienced the same problem and tried all the suggested solutions without success.  It would appear that either MS or Adobe have applied increased security measures.  However, I have discovered this work-around: 

      In Windows Explorer, right click on the PDF file and select Properties > General, down at the bottom: Security – by checking Unblock, clicking Apply > OK – it allows the file to display in the Preview Pane!!!   Unfortunately, at present, you have to do this for each individual file.   If the file or files don't display immediately, refresh/restart Windows Explorer. 
      The problem is that I have over a hundred PDF files – is there anyway to do a collective unblock???  

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        theresa_2000
        Participant
        Nov 4, 2025 9:10 PM UTC

        I have thousands of file a week to look at in my legal job. Especially when doing file auditis. We all need a workaround fast! 

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          Amal.
          Amal.
          Legend
          Jun 9, 2025 9:09 AM UTC

          Hi there 

           

          Hope you are doing well and thanks for reaching out. We are sorry for the trouble you are experiencing.

           

          The PDF Shell component in Acrobat and Acrobat Reader allows you to see the thumbnails of PDF documents in Windows explorer, on both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows. By default, this feature is OFF. You can enable it using a specific setting available in the preferences.

           

           

          • Open Acrobat or Acrobat Reader. Select the hamburger menu   > Preferences.

          • In the Preferences dialog box, choose General in the Categories list, and then select the Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer check box.

             

          • Click OK.

             

          • Wait for a few seconds while Acrobat is configured to show thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer.

             

            Note:

            If you don't see the Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer checkbox, update your Acrobat or Acrobat Reader to the latest version. To automatically update from the product, choose Help > Check for updates and then follow the steps in the Updater window to download and install the latest updates.

             

            For more information please check the help page https://adobe.ly/4kV0eFr 

             

           

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            simon_5083
            Participant
            Jun 11, 2025 10:39 AM UTC

            I have spent hours and hours trying to resolve this problem using all the fixes out there on the web (Adobe, Windows, others). I have a Windows 11 OS on a Windows Surface ARM laptop 7th Edition.  I have the latest Adobe Acrobat free reader (have uninstalled and installed twice). The message that appears in Windows Explorer Preview pane is 'This file can't be previewed'.  Can you please recommend a solution?

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              Souvik Sadhu
              Souvik Sadhu
              Legend
              Jul 11, 2025 5:16 PM UTC

              Hi @simon_5083,

               

              Hope you are doing well. Sorry for your experience with preview files on Windows Explorer using Acrobat.

               

              This is a known limitation with Acrobat on ARM devices, as Acrobat runs on Emulation mode for ARM devices.

              More info about it here: https://adobe.ly/3GG7JBE

               

              Hope this clarifies the question.


              Regards,
              Souvik.

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              kglad
              Community Expert
              kgladCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              Jun 6, 2025 12:06 PM UTC

              in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

              p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.



              <"moved from using the community bugs">
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