File Previewers not working in Explorer

Anonymous
2009-11-12T16:07:39+00:00

I can't seem to "preview" document files in Explorer, most types anyway.

Image viewers still seem to work.

If I open the Preview pane, then select any .TXT, .DOC, or .XLS files, the Preview pane says:

"This file can't be previewed because of an error in the Windows TXT previewer."

"This file can't be previewed because of an error in the Microsoft Office Word previewer."

"This file can't be previewed because of an error in the Microsoft Office Excel previewer."

Any ideas as to what might be causing this?

(Running Windows 7 Professional)

J_Mack

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2009-11-22T23:20:32+00:00

I found a solution that seems to have worked for me.  In Microsoft Word I went to:

Office Button -> Word Options -> Resources, and clicked on "Run Microsoft Office Diagnostics."  It took a while.  It found one installation issue as the very last test of 40 tests.  I closed Word and re-opened, and the previews are now working again.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-30T00:27:37+00:00

    Didn't work for me.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-24T19:30:38+00:00

    I had different non-Microsoft Add-ins in the COM-Add-ins section of Excel 2013.  Removing them fixed the problem for me for Excel preview in both Windows Explorer (Win7) and from within Excel (2013/O365).

    With any workbook open, go to FILE > Options > Add-Ins > Manage: COM Add-ins.. Go > and here I removed a Text-to-Speech Add-in and two Adobe Add-Ins.  That's all it took.  Didn't even need to restart.  Worked right away (though I did have to restart Windows file explorer for it to detect the change).

    Hope this works for you!

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-05-07T13:42:36+00:00

    I have found the solution !

    Please click

    "start button"

    "control panel"

    "programs --> uninstall a program"

    "microsoft office" (whichever version you have installed)

    "change"

    "repair"

    Takes up to 3 minutes.

    Worked like a charm for me...

    Windows 7 and MS Office 2013

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-01-02T19:13:25+00:00

    DOESNT WORK FOR 2013... NOT THE SAME OPTIONS

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