When trying to preview attachments in Microsoft Outlook, you may receive a message that says “This file cannot be previewed because there is no previewer installed for it.” Here’s how you can fix this in most cases.
Fix 1 – Ensure Application is Installed
Ensure that the application used to open the file is installed. Excel for spreadsheets, Word for documents, and Adobe Reader for PDF files.
Fix 2 – Check Attachment Handling Settings
- In Outlook, go to “File” > “Options” > “Trust Center” > “Trust Center Settings…” > “Attachment Handling“.
- Ensure that “Turn off Attachment Preview” is NOT checked.
- Select the “Attachment and Document Previewers…” button.
- Make sure that the previewer you wish to use is checked, then select “OK” three times.
Fix 3 – Windows Registry Settings
There is commonly a problem where Windows is not configured to let Outlook preview Microsoft Office files such as Word, Excel, Visio, and PowerPoint files. Follow these steps to fix it.
- Download PreviewFix.zip.
- Open the file and double-click “PreviewFix.reg“.
- When prompted, select “Yes” to import the file into the registry.
Try to preview an Office file from Outlook now.
Fix 4 – Enable Windows Firewall
This is a strange one. But some user have reported that enabling the Windows Firewall fixes their issue. Follow these steps to ensure it’s on.
- Select the “Start” button, then select “Settings“.
- Navigate to “Update & Security” > “Windows Security” > “Firewall & network protection“.
- Choose a network profile, and then under “Windows Defender Firewall“, turn the setting to “On“.
Fix 5 – PDF Registry Fix
This fix is for users of 64 bit versions of Windows experiencing problems with previewing PDF files in Outlook.
- Select the “Start” button, then type “regedit“.
- Select and open the Registry Editor.
- Navigate to the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Wow6432Node \ Classes \ CLSID \ {DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193} - Open “AppID“.
- Change the “Value Data” to the following, then select “OK“:
{534A1E02-D58F-44f0-B58B-36CBED287C7C}
Do you have any tricks for fixing the “This file cannot be previewed because there is no previewer installed for it.” message? Share them in the comments section.
PEDRO DIAZ-COLON says
Excellent blog! Can I suggest that for Fix #3 (Registry Solution) you also include the Key, DWORD, etc. Someone might be a little skeptical about downloading a registry file to run and showing the process might also teach someone about Windows. Like:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers]
“{00020827-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}”=”Microsoft Excel previewer”
“{21E17C2F-AD3A-4b89-841F-09CFE02D16B7}”=”Microsoft Visio previewer”
“{65235197-874B-4A07-BDC5-E65EA825B718}”=”Microsoft PowerPoint previewer”
“{84F66100-FF7C-4fb4-B0C0-02CD7FB668FE}”=”Microsoft Word previewer”
kanji says
Sean Tailby’s method worked for me
Sean Tailby says
I opened Acrobat and clicked HELP>REPAIR
Worked for me.
Shanika Perera says
Thanks Jodi, your suggesion worked for me.!!!
Haviv says
None of these worked – the modify option via setting or control panel did it
Daniel says
none worked for me, every time i tried to view the excel or word on outlook. it mentioned : This file cannot be previewed because the following previewer has been disabled
If i klick enable previewer nothing happened even it result i cannot open the excel program anymore. in fact i have to restart the laptop. what an annoying issue….
somebody pls help to solve this
Alan Montes says
I tried the suggestion from Siraj, and works like a charm!
Add or remove programas>adobe reader>modify..then repair
Thanks
Jodi says
Hi, I’ve just tried all the fixes above – none of them worked.
This one did:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/outlook-attachment-preview-failure-88020c8e-43ae-4582-9554-511fbaf0d138
Open the application that handles the file you are attempting to preview. For example, if you are trying to preview a .doc file open Word, use the following steps.
Look under File>Options>General for the section User Interface options.
Select the option to Optimize for compatibility.
******
Mine already was ticked. So I ticked the other option – and it now works. Could be from a combination of all the above, or from this simple fix.
siraj says
went to add or remove programs > adobe reader > modify.
Working fine now.
Steve R says
Had a client with this error, just for Excel previewer… all others worked. Did everything above, none of it worked. Went through the options and under Advanced, disabled Hardware Acceleration, and restarted outlook. That fixed it, after hours of uninstall, repair, registry keys, safe mode, firewall, and protected mode settings.
ColinR says
Hi – I had this issue on a new 2016 build with iVanti Workspace Control, Office 2016 etc. Had some other odd issues in a document management system that prevented file attachments opening, and Office docs marked as protected being unusable.
After engaging Microsoft – who suggested stripping back all the apps and iVanti – I came across this page, and option 4 (Windows Firewall ) fixed both the preview issues, and the other issues. This was confirmed in two environments – and then a fix deployed across the 2016 server estate by starting service in Group Policy.
Seems remarkable that Microsoft support do not have a list of key services that may affect preview in this way, take logs and still suggest its the 3rd part environment management tools causing the issue. Stripping back apps and settings could have taken weeks.
Rena Schneider says
I tried all of the above fixes as well and it is still not working. any other suggestions?
Andrew Lawlor says
My company is being hit hard with this issue.
I discovered that it was an out-dated component of WebEx ptools that was causing the problem.
If you launch Outlook in safe mode (outlook.exe /safe) and you preview files again, look through your list of add-ons.
I worked down the list in normal mode, disabling all of them and then slowly enabling them until I hit on the Webex conflict.
After removing all webex components from appwiz.cpl, i was able to reinstall the updated client and everything worked fine again.
Kitty Parker says
I had this problem – the previewer just stopped working.. Tried all of the above but it just refused to work. Then a few days later, it started working again. Weird.
The other day, it stopped working again. I double checked everything and all was good.
Out of frustration when looking at the default apps, I right clicked on Adobe. It offered to Modify or Uninstall.
What the heck, I choose Modify.
My previewer is working again.
Really????? That simple????
Shaun says
try all methods you mentioned. still not working.
is there a SW bug?
Guo-Jiao says
I’ve also tried all the methods but still cannot fix the issue… Seems just after recent Microsoft office update.
Teresa says
I tried all the fixes and I still cannot preview attachments in Outlook?
Sesar says
Thanks, Terima kasih from Indonesia solved Enable Windows Firewall
Irfan Ahmad says
this file cannot be previewed because there is no previewer installed for it
How to solve ?
Amanda says
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. All fixed :)
George Karabache says
Open Adobe Reader, Click Edit and then go to preferences. Click on general.
Tick the tickbox – Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows explorer. then click OK down the bottom.
Now fixed.
Noel says
Thank you!! Fix 3 worked for me
David says
Thanks. Fix 3 worked a dream.
Malath Razooq says
thank you, works like charm Fix 4 – Enable Windows Firewall
Rosa says
Thank you so much for giving some clues to fix this terrible thing, but I’m afraid I have a different Windows and 3 years behind? But I’ll ask about my problem anyway and hope to get some help from someone:
Yesterday all day I couldn’t open an attachment because of that error message. Then I wasn’t able to open ANY links at all but I could still type. I shut off the laptop. Following morning the above error message appeared EVERYWHERE I tried to type in Microsoft Outlook. And now, I cannot type anything anywhere in MS Outlook! When I click on “Inbox” to start a message, it shows only the above error message in the entire Inbox!
I’m able to send/receive in my Gmail account although the bulk of my emails are in MS Outlook. And i can open any other websites so my Internet is ok. How to fix it so a “previewer” will work all the time??? Please….
Thanks ever so much for nay help! :) Adela