Pdf preview shows Index of C:\Users path

[Xiaoling23660665ws1p]

Pdf preview shows Index of C:\Users\ , which is the folder path. I can't see the actural preview of files

Have IT reinstalled once, this strange preview comes back.

[try67]

What do you mean by "PDF preview", exactly?

[Xiaoling23660665ws1p]

At File Explorer "Preview Pane"

Instead of seeing previewed pdf, but I only see the file path "Index of C:\Users\MY NAME"

[ls_rbls]

I think you are not describing thoroughly your issue.

Based on the very vague description of your issue, I will assume that the problem is not related whatsoever to Adobe Acrobat.

From the way you've phrased your issue it seems like it is happening with any type of file that you try to preview in your File Explorer.

This looks to me more like if a setting of File Explorer was affected by a Group Policy setting  or  something else did happen if someone was manually messing around with the File Explorer.

I will also assume that this is happening in a windows 10 box.

If my guess would be correct, open your File Explorer.

Below the Title Bar, there is the File Menu tool bar, and there are four tabs in this tool bar:

• File
• Home
• Share
• View.

Click on "View" once to select that tab.

You'll notice that when you click on the View tab another ribbon tool bar will appear below.

And from left to right in that ribbon tool bar you'll see the following items grouped in four sections:

• Panes
• Layout
• Current View
• Show/Hide

In the "Pane" group of items you have:

• Navigation Pane
• Preview Pane
• Details Pane

Problem Scenario #1:

• If when you open File Explorer and clicking on the View tab doesn't show the "Preview Pane" at all, click once on "Preview Pane" to enable it.

Problem Scenario #2:

If you already have the Preview Pane enabled but a message "No preview available" is displayed in the Preview Pane, try the following:

• Go to "Options" to the far right end of that ribbon tool bar, which is grouped in the "Show/Hide" section
• Click on "Options" and click on the context menu that will open up right below with the only option to choose from: "Change Folder and search options"
• A new window dialogue box will open up and it is tittled "Folder Options"; click on the "View" tab
• Then you may Click  the "Reset Folders" button
• then click the "OK" button to commit changes immediately and  exit that dialogue window.
• Close and reopen File Explorer and see if the problem persists.

Problem Scenario #3:

If for some unknown reason that didn't work, repeat the steps above for Scenario #2, but this time try this instead:

• See the additional section below  the "Folder views" section that is tittled "Advanced settings"
• Each item that is listed in there has a checkbox.
• Scroll down through  the list of items and verify if the checkbox for the item "Show preview handlers in preview pane" is not ticked.
• If it is not ticked go ahead and tick that checkbox, or you may also click on the "Restore Defaults" button.
• Then click on the "OK" button to commit these changes immediately and exit the Folder Options dialogue window
• Close the File Explorer and open it again.
• See if you can see now the preview of the PDF files

[Jim Shoot · Accepted solution]

I have had this same problem for weeks, and it is absolutely unique to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC on my PC and to no other file type or program. I can preview PDF files correctly in Windows Explorer for a few days, but then it reverts to showing the list of file folders described in the original post in this thread. I have discovered a temporary fix that works for a few days. I have not discovered what event might cause the problem to reappear. The fix is this:

Windows Settings/Apps

Click Adobe Acrobat DC (64-bit)

Click Modify

Click Next >

Select Repair and click Next >

Click Update

You will see the following notice:

Setup Completed.

Setup has successfully installed Adobe Acrobat DC. Click Finish to exit the wizard.

Click Finish as instructed.

If you are lucky, the preview of PDF files in Windows Explorer will work properly again, but probably for only a few days. I have memorized this procedure and have done it a number of times in the past two or three months. I would love to know what causes the preview to break again.

[Jim Shoot]

It's very frustrating that no solution to this problem seems to exist. I have become very efficient at repairing the installation of Acrobat Reader DC, because that eliminates the problem for a few days or maybe even a week. The problem exists only with PDF files and Acrobat Reader. I have no other problem with the preview of any other file type in Windows Explorer.

[Xiaoling23660665ws1p]

Problem solved!

It is a pdf file previw of Onedrive files (also viewed in File Exploerer" too)

The folder that I have starts with "#".  Removed the "#" sign from the folder.  Then worked! 🙂

[kent0911]

I have this problem for a long time, but when I removed the '#' sign in the folder names. It worked like magic! Thanks!

[Adele25723518lb3j]

Oh wow, THANK YOU! I have been struggling with this issue for a while and couldn't understand why PDF files in certain folders had this issue and others didn't - now I know from your reply that it is because I had a # in the folder name! THANK YOU!!! YOu helped a lot!!!

[Ram24360258pvws]

PDF Preview Shows Directory Index or ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND

[Jim Shoot]

Many thanks for providing this fix, assuming it works for me. I have switched to the Adobe Reader DC previewer module using the provided REG command and also hopefully prevented the Edge Updater (Setup.exe) from modifying the setting using the two REG commands. Now I will wait for a while to see if the problem comes back.

[Jim Shoot]

Well, seven days went by with the PDF preview working correctly. Alas, today the index appeared again, and I've had to repair the Acrobat Reader installation to get it working again.

[ls_rbls]

Did you have an older version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in that computer?

If yes, did you uninstalled that older version completely before installing a newer version of Adobe Acrobat Reader?

And how was Adobe Acrobat Reader installed ? Was it manually downloaded from Adobe website or using the Adobe Creative Cloud app?

Also, do you have both Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and Acrobat Reader DC installed in the same computer?

If no, did you ever had the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC trial version installed before?

In any case, see if using this tool helps remove old traces of any Acrobat you had installed before and try a fresh installation of Adobe Acrobat Reader:

• https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/uninstall-reinstall-acrobat.html

• https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/cleaner.html

[Ram24360258pvws]

Hi,

Today I updated to Edge version 101.0.1210.47 and the setup process didn't change the PDF Preview Handler. Have you checked if the "EnablePreviewHandler" registry value exists in both locations?

Either way, the other method of restricting write permissions for the ".pdf\shellex" registry key should work.

[Ram24360258pvws]

Important Note: The EnablePreviewHandler registry value must be a DWORD (not REG_SZ). There was a minor glitch in the earlier command-line which created a REG_SZ value instead of DWORD. Please re-run the updated command-line now.

[BSD24584889qms6]

I have the same issue with several of my users.  The problem started when I upgraded them to Acrobat DC Pro (subscription).  The problem only exists for folders that have "#" as the first character in the folder name.  There may be other characters that cause this but I know that "#" will trigger the folder list in the preview pane.

I solved the issue by uninstalling the 32 bit Acrobat DC Pro that was automatically installed from the Creative Cloud account and installing the Acrobat DC Pro 64 bit version instead.  After that, the preview pane correctly displays the preview of the PDF selected when viewing PDF files in a "#" folder path.