In your Windows PC, File Explorer may not show PDF thumbnails, and instead display only the default icon assigned for PDF files. This might appear even if you have the option “Always show icons, never thumbnails” unticked in the View tab of Folder Options window.
This tutorial will tell you how to disable or enable PDF Preview in File Explorer Preview pane.
In this tutorial, learn how to enable PDF thumbnails and how to fix Preview not showing up in File Explorer, assuming that you are using Adobe PDF Reader.
Read more: Download Adobe Acrobat Reader DC For Windows 10
How To Fix PDF Thumbnail and Preview Not Showing Up in File Explorer
Adobe Acrobat Reader includes a preview handler shell extension which generates PDF thumbnails as well as file preview in the Preview pane as well as the thumbnail extractor in File Explorer. PDF thumbnails can be disabled or enabled through Adobe Reader’s Preferences dialog.
1. Disable or Enable PDF Thumbnails in File Explorer via Adobe Preferences
Step 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Step 2. Click Edit > select Preferences… (or press CTRL+K) Go to “General”, check the option “Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer“.
Warning: If you’ve selected to disable PDF thumbnails, existing PDF files may still display thumbnail preview from the cache. You need to clear the thumbnail cache by using Disk Cleanup.
PDF Thumbnails and Previews after installing Adobe Reader DC.
2. Disable or Enable PDF Preview in File Explorer Preview pane
When you reinstall (or install) Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, the Preview handler as well as thumbnail extractor are registered automatically.
If you want to disable PDF file preview in File Explorer preview pane, follow these steps:
Step 1. Press Windows Key + R then type regedit in Run dialog box to open Registry Editor. Click OK.
Step 2. Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers
Step 3. Find and right-click the GUID for Adobe PDF Preview Handler which is usually {DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193} and select Delete.
Step 4. Close the Registry Editor and reboot to make changes effective.
In order to enable PDF Preview handler, add the value {DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193} back.
Automate Using REG Files:
To automate disabling or enabling PDF thumbnails as well as PDF previews in File Explorer, we would recommend you use these .REG files. Download pdf-preview-thumb.zip, unzip and extract the files to desktop. Run the appropriate REG file to disable or enable PDF thumbnails, disable or enable PDF preview in File Explorer Preview pane.
LINK DOWNLOAD: pdf-preview-thumb.zip
This Tutorial Helps to Fix Windows 11/10 Preview Pane Not Working For PDF Files. File Not Found Error In File Explorer:
Hope something helps you.
