"error in the Microsoft Word previewer"

Anonymous
2010-08-06T03:09:22+00:00

Is there a fix for this problem?

I have Office 2010 operating on Windows 7 64 bit

When I select File >> Open and click on a Word file (new format or 2003 format) the preview pane has a message as follows

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

Even if I create a new document and save it, trying to see it in the File Open dialog box gives the same message

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-01-20T22:10:35+00:00

Take a look at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983097 for workarounds.

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2012-01-16T07:57:00+00:00

    I tried all of the work-around methods and none of them work for previewing Word files. I can preview Excel files in Excel but I can't preview Word docs in either Windows Explorer nor in Word nor in Excel, nor any Office product. So I guess there is no solution or work-around for me. Would be nice if this got fixed since it wasn't an issue in previous versions of Word. 

    Are you using the All Files (*.*) option in Excel?

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-01-16T05:50:46+00:00

    I tried all of the work-around methods and none of them work for previewing Word files. I can preview Excel files in Excel but I can't preview Word docs in either Windows Explorer nor in Word nor in Excel, nor any Office product. So I guess there is no solution or work-around for me. Would be nice if this got fixed since it wasn't an issue in previous versions of Word.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-01-03T19:36:56+00:00

    Actually, if you're using Word 2010--and the original query was about Word 2010--you'll be happy to know that AutoComplete tips for AutoText was restored in Word 2010, although the implementation is different from Word 2003 and earlier. Note that AutoText expansion using the F3 key continued to be present in Word 2007 (and in Word 2010), but AutoComplete suggestions were gone in Word 2007. That's the aspect that was restored in Word 2010.

    So... if you're not seeing them in Word 2010:

    First, go to File - Options - Advanced, and under Editing Options, enable Show AutoComplete suggestions.

    Next... because of a very longstanding bug in Word, AutoComplete suggestions do not appear if the document window is displaying the horizontal scroll bar. So, you'd either need to increase the window size or reduce the zoom such that the horizontal scroll bar goes away.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-01-03T19:22:49+00:00

    I agree!  The top of this thread says '15 people have this problem."  But I'm sure it's a lot  more than that!  And the autotext has been removed from the program!  I used to use that constantly!

    Thank you.

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