Enable thumbnail preview of PDFs in Windows Explorer

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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.

For Acrobat XI and Reader XI, the thumbnails of PDFs are automatically shown in Windows Explorer on Windows 32-bit systems. However, the same is not supported on Windows 64-bit systems.

Steps

Open Acrobat or Acrobat Reader. On the Edit menu, choose 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.

If you don’t see the Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer checkbox, update your Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC 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.

Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews in Windows 10 File Explorer

In Windows 10, the File Explorer shows us tiny previews for videos and images that are stored on our system’s hard disk. Most of us are accustomed to browsing through our collection by looking at the thumbnail previews.

This is because these thumbnails give us a quick walk through the contents of the file explorer, and we do not need to open every single file that may have confusing file names. Thumbnail previews make the navigation process notably fast, but it comes with its own set of troubles that may encourage you to disable this feature on your Windows 10 system.

Building on this, understand how to enable and disable thumbnails previews in Windows 10.

Disable Thumbnail Previews in Explorer

Thumbnail previews can be a very useful feature as they let you view Windows files without opening them. The content of the File Explorer can be set to extra-large icons, large icons, medium icons, and details/tiles view, it is great for those who like to be organized. But as I said it brings its own set troubles. The creation of thumbnails for quick navigation/previewing of files slows down the other file operations, affects system performance, and causes UI clutter. In such a case, disabling the feature is a good idea.

If your images or other files are displaying a generic Windows icon like mountain and lake scene for images or media player icon for video files, probably the Thumbnail Previews feature is disabled. On the other hand, if you can view a small snapshot of the content of the file the feature is enabled.

Here are different processes to enable and disable the thumbnail display feature:

1. Via File Explorer Options
2. Using Control Panel
3. Using the Registry Editor
4. Via Performance options
5. Using the Group Policy Editor.

These processes are described in more detail below.

1] Enable or disable thumbnail previews via File Explorer Options

To disable follow these steps:

1. Go the ‘File Explorer’ and click on the ‘File’
2. In the ‘File Menu’ options, click on ‘Change folder and Search options’
3. The above action will open the ‘Folder Options’ dialog box, here hit the ‘View’ tab.
4. Now check the ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’ option appearing under ‘Advanced Settings’.
5. Click ‘Ok’ and ‘Apply’ settings.

To enable, follow the same aforementioned process until step ‘3’, and then uncheck the ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’ option.

2] Show Thumbnail previews via Control Panel

To enable follow these steps:

1. From the ‘Start Menu’ go to the ‘Control Panel’
2. Click on ‘System and Security’ and hit ‘System’.
3. Select ‘Advance System Settings’ appearing on the left-side panel.
4. In the ‘System Properties’ window, click ‘Settings’ under the ‘Performance’ heading.
5. Now in the ‘Performance Options’ dialog, click the ‘Visual Effects’ tab
6. Check the ‘Show thumbnails instead of icons’ under the ‘Custom:’ heading.
7. Press ‘OK’ and ‘Apply’ to save changes.

To disable thumbnail previews via Control Panel, uncheck the ‘Show thumbnails instead of icons’ under the ‘Custom:’ heading.

3] Using Registry Editor

1] Press the ‘Windows key + R’ to open the ‘Run’ dialog.

2] Type ‘regedit’ and press ‘Enter’.

3] Navigate to the below path:

4] On the right side of the Window, search for ‘IconsOnly’ and double-click on it.

5] Change values to Enable/Disable:

• ‘0’ to show thumbnails
• ‘1’ to hide thumbnails

6] Click ‘Ok’ to save changes.

4] Via Performance options

Follow these steps:

1. Press the ‘Windows Key + R’ to open the ‘Run’ dialog.
2. Type ‘SystemPropertiesPerformance.exe’ and press ‘Enter’.
3. Now, check or uncheck the ‘Show thumbnails instead of icons’ options to enable or disable thumbnail previews in Windows 10.

5] Using Group Policy Editor

You can use the Group Policy Editor to enable/disable this feature. Follow these steps:

1] Press ‘Win + R’ keys to open the ‘Run’ dialog.

2] Now, type ‘gpedit.msc’ and press ‘Enter’.

3] When the window opens the browser to the following path:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer

4] Now, on the right-hand side of the window, double click on ‘Turn off the display of thumbnails and only display icons’

5] Click on ‘Enabled’ or ‘Disabled’ to turn the feature on/off.

You should now be able to enable the thumbnail previews easily.

Thumbnails still not showing in File Explorer

The thumbnail preview on Windows normally uses thumbnail cache. Hence, if the thumbnail cache gets corrupted this issue may occur, and clearing the thumbnail cache becomes imperative. This post will show what to do if the Thumbnail Previews not showing in Windows File Explorer.

Do let us know if it was a smooth experience.

pdf preview in Windows 10 file explorer

I have been using «preview pane» in file explorer forever. However, for some unknown reason, the preview pane for pdf files have become very small, to the point where the pdf file preview pane is too small and unreadable. preview pane for all other files appears to be ok (large enough as before). this is only affecting pdf files.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe reader.

I am looking for suggestions to get back to where the preview pane of pdf files is as large as before

Replies (20) 

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Hi Stephen. I’m Greg, an installation specialist and 8 year Windows MVP, here to help you.

Right click Start button to open Task Manager, show More Details, then choose Processes tab, scroll down to Windows Processes, then further down to Windows Explorer. Right click to Restart, click OK. Restart PC.

If this doesn’t help then try changing temporarily from Adobe Reader to Edge as the default .pdf reader at Settings > Apps > Default Apps. If that fixes it then the issue is with Adobe Reader.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it’s resolved.

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Over 100,000 helped in forums for 11 years. I don’t quit for those who are polite and cooperative.

Windows MVP 2010-21

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Open Acrobat Reader. On the Edit menu, choose 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.
Enable PDF thumbnail previews

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

Restart then check again.

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thanks for suggestion. i tried both, but neither worked. even with using Edge as pdf reader, and resetting and restarting, pdf previews in explorer, regardless of which default pdf viewer used, resulted in very small window in preview pane.

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1) Please work through this Checklist to make sure the install is set up correctly, optimized for best performance, and any needed repairs are done: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki.

2) If any steps cannot be performed then try whichever method works to enter Safe Mode with Networking which may work better to perform the steps: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2984712/windows/.

3) If no Safe Mode, from the Advanced Startup Options use the Command Prompt at boot to run the Repair Commands in the Checklist: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2294-advanc.

3) If nothing else works then you can reinstall Windows while keeping your files, programs and most settings by running a Repair Upgrade. Install the Media Creation Tool from this link, choose Upgrade Now, follow the prompts: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m. . If this doesn’t help, do it over and choose to Save Nothing, which comes close to a Clean Install but doesn’t clear the hard drive to get it cleanest.

The Repair Upgrade in Step 3 will also update you to the latest Fall Creators Version 1709 (which you need anyway) f you don’t yet have it, and by the most stable method.

4) Or you can create the bootable media to do the gold standard Clean Install in this link, which compiles the best possible install of Windows 10 that will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki.

5) There is also an automated Refresh which reinstalls Windows while leaving out the factory bloatware that throttles Windows and causes endless issues, lets you save your files. https://www.howtogeek.com/265054/how-to-easily-.

Feel free to ask back any questions and let me know how it goes. I’ll keep working with you until it’s resolved.

Over 100,000 helped in forums for 11 years. I don’t quit for those who are polite and cooperative.

How to make Windows Explorer preview panel to show LibreOffice files preview?

On my work, Windows Explorer can show preview of Microsoft Office documents using Windows Explorer’s preview panel (View > Press «preview panel» icon and select a Microsoft Office file). That computer has Microsoft Office 2010 and Windows 10, 10240 update.

But on my computer I have Windows 10, 10586.63 update with LibreOffice 4.4.5.2, and I cannot preview .DOC or .XLS files, nor .ODT or .ODS files on Windows Explorer’s preview panel.

3 Answers 3

I’m afraid, it isn’t possible at the moment, because there is no extension developed yet. You can keep track of the development here: https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=107602 (and vote on the issue, to receive more attention)

However, there is a possibility, that may seams a little odd. It is, in my eyes, an overkill, but could be worth a shot, if you really want it. As it turns out, Microsoft Office has a preview handler for .odt files, so you could install MS Office (to preview the files) and still use Libre Office to open/edit them. You could download the test version from here: https://products.office.com/en-us/try (adjust the en-us stuff to your own locale, if you like), install it and I think it should work that way. Unfortunately I don’t have a Win 10 machine to test it and I’m not sure, what happens after the testing period. My guess would be, that you can’t open Word any more, but the preview handler shouldn’t be affected by this.

The Preview in Windows Explorer is handled by add-ons, which are little programs that declare themselves to Explorer so it knows to load them when encountering a matching file-type.

Unfortunately, Microsoft supplies add-ons for only a few most-used file-types, leaving the work for other file-types to the companies that invented them.

LibreOffice has not (maybe just yet) supplied such an add-on. One must then depend on third-party software for furnishing them.

The only product I know of that does the Preview for LibreOffice is Quick View Plus Standard Edition, which unfortunately is commercial software, $49 with a 30-day trial version. It is advertised as compatible with Windows 10 and integrating with Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 (probably forgot to add 11), Microsoft Outlook (Express), Firefox and more. It cannot integrate with Edge, since at the moment Edge doesn’t have add-ons. (I have no experience with this product.)