Windows 10: Restoring broken file previews preview handlers in Explorer Preview pane on Windows 10 x64

Recently I've found a solution to a long-running problem, as a result of which no previews were generated in Explorer Preview pane for every file, except images and videos. It turned out that I had 64-bit Preview Handler Surrogate Host prevhost.exe registry key missing in HKCR\AppID section as well as in other "synonym" places like HKLM and WOW6432Node, but did have 32-bit version. So I recreated 64-bit version similarly to 32-bit key. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\{6d2b5079-2f0b-48dd-ab7f-97cec514d30b} @="Preview Handler Surrogate Host" "DllSurrogate"REG_EXPAND_SZ="C:\Windows\System32\prevhos

:)

 

Win10 Explorer Preview Pane not working, preview handler Windows TXT Previewer might be broken

Hey guys,

My File Explorer will not the preview any .txt files in the preview pane. I also set up to open .md, .reg and .js files with notepad - they do open, but the preview is also broken, which leads me to believe the Windows TXT Previewer {1531d583-8375-4d3f-b5fb-d23bbd169f22}
might be broken in the system.

Most tutorials online seem to be about a different issue, as people talk about a "no preview available" error. Mine is different, as nothing shows up, it's just a blank space, with nothing written. Is there something I'm missing?

Here's a couple of things I tried:

- Restarted Explorer dozens of times.
- Cleaned the disk, registry, junk files, temp files, thumbnails, etc.
- Booting in safe mode (but it still doesn't work).
- Rebooting multiple times.
-"Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced", ShowPreviewHandlers is already set to 1.
-"Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers" has Windows TXT Previewer listed correctly.

Weirdly enough, other types of files are loading just fine in the preview pane (.jpg, .mp4. .mov, etc...)
I've also tried using Windows TXT Previewer, but as you can see, it's already set up correctly.

My OS: Windows 10 Version 20H2 OS Build 19024.450

 

preview/details pane in explorer

Hi,

Setting the Preview pane to show or hide in File Explorer will apply to all folders. If you wish to hide the Preview pane in File Explorer, we suggest that you follow the steps below:

• Open File Explorer.
• Tap on View tab.
• Click Preview Pane to view/hide it.

We would appreciate it if you could get back to us and provide us your feedback.

 

Preview pane doesn't work in Windows 10

Hi RuthZekowski,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Community.

1. Are you facing issue with all your files or any particular files?
   
2. Which version of Windows you are using?
   
3. Since when are you facing this issue?
   

The Preview pane shows the contents of certain files selected in File Explorer. For images, it is a thumbnail preview.

If you are unable to preview in File explorer, I suggest you to try the below steps.

1. Open a new File Explorer window and click the View tab from the ribbon toolbar.
   
2. Click Options, and then click Change folder and search options to open Folder Options dialog.
   
3. Check the Show preview handlers in preview pane box, and click/tap on OK.​
   
   
   

Please reply for all the required information to help you further.



Hope it helps.