Windows 11 File Explorer Preview Pane for PDF files not working consistently

Anonymous
2022-11-24T17:18:38+00:00

I am running Windows 11 version 21H2 patched up to date and have noticed this problem recently, although I am not sure exactly when it started in relation to recent patches.
When I open a folder the preview pane shows "Select a file to preview".
Selecting a .jpg file shows the preview.
Selecting a .doc file shows "No preview available" - expected as I do not have Microsoft Office.
Selecting a .pdf file causes the preview pane to go blank.

My solution is to untick the Show Preview Pane option, close explorer, open explorer, tick the Show Preview Pane option.
Selecting a .pdf file now shows the preview. (This does not work without closing explorer and reopening it.)
Has anyone else experienced this, and more to the point, does anyone know of a fix?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-02-11T16:35:41+00:00

    Apologies for my error.

    Right-click does give me a run option, but from there the result is exactly the same as before.

    I suspect you do not have Admin privileges on this PC.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-01-20T18:37:35+00:00

    I installed the PowerToys and it worked like a charm.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-01-20T13:14:56+00:00

    Yes, it's weird isn't it. These machines have minds of their own.

    I have just discovered that I can view all file types perfectly well if they are in a folder on this PC. Previously I was accessing them via my LAN, as they were in the onedrive folder on my other PC.

    Anyway, problem solved for now, as I have just made a copy of all the relevant files onto this PC.

    Good luck!

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-20T11:51:10+00:00

    I don't think I can help you much other than to say that it works fine on my system and I have Paint Shop Pro 7 as my default viewer for jpg files.

    I don't think that this has anything to do with your problem as the preview of jpg files worked before I changed the default viewer.

    My pdf problem seems to have mainly gone away. There is still one quirk in that the first pdf I preview after system boot does not allow me to scroll down the preview to see the whole file. If I switch to another pdf I can scroll down this pdf and when I switch back to the first one that scrolls OK as well.

    Good luck.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-01-20T11:02:15+00:00

    I have a similar, but different problem.

    My preview pane shows PDF, docx, xlsx all no problem. But it doesn't show jpg files.

    I'm in win11 and I have set Photos as the default app to open jpgs, which it does correctly.

    I'd be grateful for any insights to help me correct this.

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