File preview not working when file is renamed

Anonymous

I often have to scan multiple documents and then rename them. I used to use the preview pane in explorer and then rename in explorer and not do that from Acrobat reader since it is faster to just do it in explorer.

Starting yesterday, 3/7/22, if I do it that way the preview pane will not display the file after renaming. It gives me a "File not found - It may have been moved, edited, or deleted. - ERR_FILE_NOT-FOUND" on any file that has been renamed.

I just tried renaming by save as from acrobat, and it still reports the same error. The error repeats on local drives, server drives, and sharepoint drives.

It seems to only by pdf files.

EDIT

I notice that preview (when working) looks different. Did the preview handler change from Adobe (Acrobat) to Microsoft (Edge)?

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

After trialling many different combinations, the answer is that a Microsoft Update actively changes the default to "Windows PDF Previewer" in Windows Explorer. - FIX at the bottom

These are the various error's you may see in relation to the # symbol and the default Windows Previewer.

No Hash in Folder or Filename, works as expected in Windows Explorer Previewer

1 - Starting a Folder or Filename in path with a # symbol, breaks PDF Preview

3 - Putting a # symbol in the middle of the filename OR foldername, results in "File not found" within Windows Previewer

After this, I tried changing the default PDF program handler to

Edge
Chrome
Adobe Reader
Firefox

This made no difference to the previewer. Even after closing and reopening Windows Explorer.

Adobe suggests changing the default previewer through its Preferences > General > Thumbnails

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/enable-pdf-thumbnail-preview-windows-explorer.html.

This also didn't work.

FIX

To customise the Windows Explorer previewer, you need to edit the registry directly to overwrite Windows using - I found this solution worked immediately. https://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-switch-pdf-preview-handler-when-one-stopped-working

Step 1 - In Regedit go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers

Step 2 - Copy the Value Name for the Previewer that you want to use.

I copied the Value Name that had a data value of "Adobe PDF Preview Handler"
You might use "Foxit PDF Previewer" or another

Step 3 - Go to

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.pdf\shellex{8895b1c6-b41f-4c1c-a562-0d564250836f}

Step 4 - Change the Default to the Value Name you copied in Step 2.

All Fixed!

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Anonymous

We have a user that noticed a similar issue in our organization, and I was able to replicate it on my machine. PDF files that would normally load in the preview pane are now showing the ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND message. I noticed that this only seems to affect PDF files with a # character in the file name. Once I removed the # character, the preview pane loaded correctly.

My laptop is using:

Windows 10 Pro

Version: 21H2

OS Build: 19044.5126

Experience: Windows Feature Pack 120.2212.4170.0

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Anonymous

This seems to be holding for me - Thank you to Ramesh for leading me to the answer. The issue is that the Microsoft Edge Adobe Preview Handler keeps trying to take control which is why the Adobe Repair only lasts a few days at most. The 2 Reg Adds about halfway down the page worked for me and has held for 7 days - fingers crossed.

Hope this helps!

https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/pdf-preview-directory-index-file-not-found/

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Anonymous

I made this a bit easier to run if you just like command line stuff. Just run the following for the same effect in administrator command prompt. You can add this to a batch script now as well!

reg add HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pdf\shellex\{8895b1c6-b41f-4c1c-a562-0d564250836f} /t REG_SZ /d {DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193} /f

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95 additional answers

Anonymous

2022-07-16T04:39:02+00:00

Yes, I would say the same if it was ANY single special character that was causing the problem, because none of them are strictly necessary in most applications. But I never said every company should do this, nor did I say Microsoft shouldn't fix it. My point is, if I'm responsible for solving IT issues for my company or a client, and I CAN fix a currently troublesome issue by changing a naming convention and executing that in a more timely manner, then I'm going to fix it myself and not wait weeks, months, or God knows how long for Microsoft to get around to addressing customer complaints about the problem they caused. I'm going to solve the problem for MY company or client as soon as possible if I can, because that's my JOB. Avoiding the use of one special character in naming new files is easy, so that's the first change I would implement. Going back and retroactively changing past file names is a much bigger job, and I would weigh the disruption caused by waiting for Microsoft vs the disruption caused by having to rename all those historical files, and do whichever was best in the foreseeable future for my company or client. That's what problem solvers are supposed to do.

I fully understand that it may not be a feasible or desirable solution for your particular client, but then it again, it may be. That's for your client to decide, but if you can offer them a viable option to solve the problem NOW, then that's what I would offer them and let them decide what is in their own best interest. That's what they are paying us to do - find solutions and offer options.

And as I told Drew From IT, even if this solution isn't feasible or desirable for a big company, there are small business owners and individual home users for whom it's a simple and perfectly doable solution. They come to this forum to find solutions to their computing problems too, not just to hear people complain about Microsoft's screw ups and the problems they cause for big businesses. So even if it's not meaningful to a big company or IT department, simple solutions like this one are meaningful to smaller users, and that alone is reason enough to offer those kinds of solutions here.
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