Top 8 Fixes for Preview Pane Not Working in Windows 10

Microsoft’s Windows Explorer lets you browse for a file with the Preview Pane. This way you get a preview of the contents of the file without actually opening it. Explorer offers previews for images, text, PDF files, videos and documents related to Microsoft Office. However, some Windows 10 users cannot preview their files in Explorer. For them, the Preview pane option is either grayed out or does not show a preview for certain files.

If the Preview pane is not working in Explorer on your Windows PC, try the solutions below. Let’s start.

1. Enable Preview Pane

You may have accidentally closed the Preview pane in File Explorer. You need to check and enable it. To do this, open File Explorer using the Windows key + E keyboard shortcut and maximize it to full screen.

Click the Top View tab. Check if the Preview Pane option appears highlighted to make sure it’s enabled. If not, click the Preview pane option to enable it. As soon as you open it, you should see the Preview pane on the right side of File Explorer.

To make sure the preview pane is working properly, use Windows Explorer in maximized mode or make sure it’s wide enough to see the options in the View ribbon at the top.

2. Enable Show Preview Handlers

For the preview pane to work properly, you need to enable the ‘Show preview handlers in the preview pane’ setting from the Folder Options. For this, follow these steps:

Stage 1: Open File Explorer and click the View tab. Click Options.

Step 2: The folder options window will open. Go to the View tab.

Stage 3: Under Advanced settings, check the box next to ‘Show preview handlers in preview pane’.

Step 4: Click Apply and then OK.

Step 5: Restart File Explorer. The preview pane should show you a preview of the relevant files.

3. Disable the Always Show Icons Setting

In Folder Options you will find the ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’ setting. If this is enabled, the Preview pane will not show anything. For the preview pane to show the content, you must disable it. Here’s how to do this:

Stage 1: Open File Explorer. Click the View tab at the top and then click the Options icon at the end of the ribbon. Alternatively, search for File Explorer options in Windows search.

Step 2: When Folder Options opens, click on the View tab.

Stage 3: Uncheck the box next to ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’.

Step 4: Click Apply to save the changes. Restart File Explorer.

The problem should now be resolved.

4. Change File Explorer Startup Mode

One of the solutions on the Microsoft Forum suggests that opening File Explorer to This PC instead of Quick Access fixes the Preview pane issues.

For this, open the File Explorer Options window either from File Explorer or using the search as we did above. When the Folder Options window opens, click the dropdown box next to ‘Open File Explorer’ under the General tab.

Select This PC. Click Apply to save the changes.

5. Change Performance Mode

Another solution that helps users is to change the Performance mode from ‘Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer’ to ‘Adjust for best looks’. Here are the steps to achieve this:

Stage 1: Open Windows Search on your PC. You can use the Windows key + S keyboard shortcut to open the search.

Step 2: Medicine View advanced system settings. Click on it.

Fly: You can open advanced system settings from Settings > System > About. Under Related settings, click Advanced system settings.

Stage 3: Under the Advanced tab, click Settings next to Performance.

Step 4: Select ‘Adjust for best view’.

Step 5: Click Apply.

6. Run SFC Scan

Sometimes, problems can occur in Windows 10 if the system files are corrupted. You can easily fix them by running an SFC scan. Here are the same steps:

Stage 1: Open Command Prompt on your computer. Write for it CMD or command prompt in windows search. Right-click the Command Prompt icon and select Run as administrator.

Step 2: Medicine sfc /scannow In the Command Prompt window and press Enter. Windows will now scan your computer and fix corrupted files.

Note: The scan may take at least 15 minutes to complete. Please be patient and do not close the window.

Stage 3: Restart the computer after the scan is finished.

7. Reset File Explorer

If nothing helps, you should try resetting File Explorer settings to default. Here’s how to do this:

Stage 1: Open File Explorer Options as shown above.

Step 2: Click the Restore Defaults button under the General tab.

Stage 3: Go to the View tab and click Restore defaults.

Step 4: Press apply to save the changes.

Fly: Resetting File Explorer is also useful if File Explorer is loading slowly.

8. Use Third Party App

If resetting File Explorer also doesn’t come to the rescue, you can use QuickLook for the same purpose. It is a third-party application that shows a preview of the file when you press the spacebar. Interestingly, it supports more file formats compared to the Preview feature in Windows 10.

Download QuickLook from Microsoft Store

Previews Can Help

Some files take a little longer to appear in the Preview pane. Especially if you are using an old PC, you should wait a few seconds before punching a hole in the Preview pane.