Windows Explorer Preview has quit working

If you want, there's more suggestions here as well:
Top 8 Fixes for Preview Pane Not Working in Windows 10
(there's a few duplicate ideas from the other site, but I think there's more suggestions here too. Try them out.)

- needs to fix SFC failing issue first... so let's see how things are after the in-place upgrade repair install.

There's nothing in that article that will help- remember, this is NOT a problem of the whole pane not working - it does for some file types.

That picture is of a 3rd party app that I think may be ...showing you... what is interfering.

I think your computer is trying to use Foxit PDF Viewer, yet File Explorer is having problems with it. Do you use Foxit?

You can try uninstalling Foxit (not Preview Handler Association Editor), restarting the computer, then allowing Microsoft to use its built in PDF viewer instead. It would probably fix the text file previews too.

Then try re-installing the latest version of Foxit, and see if this bug has been fixed with their latest version....


Edit (4:33 PM local time):
foxit pdf preview handler - Search

Yes, I think that's what it is. There's a bug with that specific dll file that's not letting your preview show.
Thanks so much for posting that picture above. That, I think, helped me reach the most possible conclusion to what's going on.



(I never knew 3rd party apps can take over the File Explorer Previewer... so much new stuff, I can't even catch up to what's going on anymore.)



Another edit (5:10 PM):
I highly believe this is also a solution:
Security check

Good. Certainly reinstall Foxit so the details for its preview handler (if any) are rewritten. Not all 3rd party programs supply preview handlers. For example, free Office suites don't (docx, xlsx etc).

After the in-place upgrade repair you may find pdf's are associated with Edge.
What you show is exactly what I see on another PC where Foxit is installed, but pdf's are associated with another program.


Try this too:

(I never knew 3rd party apps can take over the File Explorer Previewer.

It's not that they 'take it over' but that they can add a new preview handler- the old one is still there and can be selected using the programs above.

For interest: making Windows Media Player the default => a preview pane thus:



** Now you've done the in-place upgrade repair .. start a new routine of regular 3rd party disk imaging
Many files have changed so start with a new bas disk image, and create a new backup job when you do that for use when creating your next (differential) image.

E.g. Macrium Relfect (free/paid) + large enough external disk for image file sets.
Endlessly recommended here.

I do plan to run Macrium Reflect once I have the system setup the way I want it.

I'd start now.. create your new image and definition file now... before something falls apart.
Of course, an optimist would wait, believing nothing could posisbly go wrong..
You can then create a differential image later... etc...

Do you not have a pdf preview in the pane now?
If not, use the tools I provided to check how it's set.

N.B. you can use the editor to change the handler- I've just changed mine from Edge to Sumatra:

And which program is actually associated with pdfs?

Let me show you how to use this tool to register a program as a preview handler for a file type it can handle

Now, uncheck the box - here I've used Edge (Microsoft's) as I don't have Foxit- you will use Foxit:


Now scroll down to pdf


Now click the box next to pdf- probably twice, slowly - make sure it's checked.

Close and open file explorer.
See if pdf preview works.

Foxit may have an option to set this itself.

I've just run thru a range of media types WMPlayer can handle while I think of this and set
ogg, flac, mp3, mp4, avi, ac3, mkv, flac, gif etc so WMPlayer can preview all these in addition to those it was set to.