Windows 10: Windows 10 explorer preview prevents PDF delete. Is this being fixed?

I ran into the problem where I'm unable to delete a PDF in Explorer if it previews. This does not affect any other files. Is MS working on this? I understand this problem has been around since Win 8. (I went from Win 7 to Win10) This is really an absurd bug.

:)

 

Can't delete .PDF's in Windows 10

The inability to delete a PDF file was also a problem in Windows 8 and continues in Windows 10. The problem is associated with use of the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer. There are 2 workarounds:

• In Windows Explorer, turn off the Preview Pane.
  
  (Alt+P, or click"Preview Pane" in the Windows Explorer tool bar.)
• If that doesn't work, use SHIFT+DELETE to permanently delete the file. (Caution: You won't be able to un-delete).

This bug only affects PDF files. Other file formats delete without issues in Windows Explorer.

 

Deleting PDF files in Windows 10 File Explorer

I've seen this issues once before on Windows 10. The problem was the preview in the file explorer. To show the preview for PDF file an external program is needed. In this case this should be Soda 8.

To display the preview, the program has to run a service. As long as the service is showing the preview, Windows will interrupt the delete proces, because the file is still opened.

So to delete the files you'll need to turn off the PDF-preview.

 

Could you please tell error massage you get while deleting PDF..
In windows 10 .. MsEDGE would be set as default PDF Viewer.. (Annoying Huh)
Installed Adobe reader (free).
Change it from Control Panel >> Default Programms and Set Adobe reader as default.

 

I'm unclear on what you mean by "if it previews".

Do you mean that you cannot delete it while you have a tab open with that PDF open in it? If so, that's unlikely to change.

Or do you mean that once you have opened a tab and viewed the PDF, you can't delete it even after you have closed the tab? If so, that's not something I have encountered, so it sounds like something that is a problem with your system.

Or do you have some other meaning of "preview"?

Also, you say Explorer. Are you talking about Internet Explorer, Edge, File Explorer? IE doesn't have built-in PDF viewing, so is it a plug-in you're using?

 

If I have File explorer (to give it its 'proper' current name) = explorer.exe open, and its preview pane displaying a pdf, I can delete the pdf.

If you're saying you can't delete it but I can, this tends to suggest it may not be a Windows bug, or if it is, it only affects some people.

Perhaps you could zip the pdf (if it's compressible) and post it as an attachment?

Note: my default pdf viewer is Sumatra. Perhaps which default viewer one uses makes a difference??

I think this is the bug referred to - see #4
Cannot move or delete a pdf file in Windows 10 |Adobe Community

Note- that's about Adobe. Maybe the problem relates to using Adobe. Suggest as an experiment you try Sumatra (free) as your default reader.
Adobe again:
Windows 8 Tip: How To Delete PDFs Without Throwing Your Computer Out The Window | Bruceb News

Try searching for
unable to delete a PDF in Explorer preview pane
my guess is every occurrence is related to Adobe Reader

- sorry, don't know- this is a volunteer-run forum where we try to help each other.
You could try posting on technet (MS site).

 

Yes, that is the problem. Doing a search brings up multiple discussions about it beginning in Win8 and continuing to Win 10. I have this on 3 Windows 10 machines. It is not the individual PDF file that is the problem. It occurs with ALL PDFs. Disabling the file preview pane in explorer (Alt+P) rectifies the problem. Many discussions on the subject recommend not using Explorer as the problem does not manifest in other file browsers. Therefore it is a bug. It does not happen in Windows 7 with the same software and the same files. I was just inquiring as to whether MS was addressing it.

Thanks for pointing me to the MS site, I'll see if they have an update.

 

Actually my point was that all the reports I've found were about people using Adobe Reader.

That is, my suggestion is if you don't use Adobe Reader, but try a different reader, you may make progress.So (e.g.) download and install Sumatra pdf reader (free); set that as your default, and see if your problem vanishes.
You are making an assumption it's an MS problem. You can't conclude that without proving it's not Adobe Reader.

I don't have that problem, and I don't use Adobe Reader.

 

I need and use Adobe Acrobat Professional for my work to make large PDF docs. (Not just a reader) I should not need to abandon my purchased license of one of the most ubiquitous business software packages because there is an incompatibility with a new OS. An incompatibility that was not there in the previous OS version. It is another of the Win 10 frustrations.

 

One way to report it to Microsoft is with the Feedback app.

You can take a screenshot showing the error, and also 'upvote' if someone else has already reported it.

 

Thanks. Will look for it there.

 

I use Acrobat Professional XI but hardly ever use Preview but I can see where that may be useful in a folder with a large number of pdf's. For those who don't understand the problem, the attached error message appears when you try to delete in Preview pane View. If anyone knows what's locking it, maybe they can chime in.





My solution in your case is that to delete a pdf, just close the Preview pane by clicking it in the ribbon and just drag the item to a Recycle Bin shortcut on your desktop, Done ! Or; if you want to bypass the Recycle Bin, click 'shift + del' (NO option to restore, if you change your mind though !) Renaming can be done with Preview pane open, the pdf will momentarily disappear and reappear after rename.

 

Adobe have the problem and they need to fix it. No, you shouldn't need to abandon your purchased license. You should be complaining to Adobe, who have apparently dropped the ball for years.

 

I tried to replicate in a couple of machines.

On the one with Adobe Reader 11.0.17, I can replicate get the problem as described (in File Explorer, select Alt-P to show previews, select a PDF (with Preview visible) and attempt to delete it, and it gives an error)

However on the machine with Adobe Reader DC (version 2015.017.20050), I seem to be able to delete similar files.

In Adobe Reader, the Preview Handler DLL file is
Code: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\PDFPrevHndlr.dll[/quote] and the file version is 11.0.3.37, dated 05/09/2013

In Adobe Reader DC, the file is
Code: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\PDFPrevHndlr.dll[/quote] And the File version is 15.7.20033.2203, dated 17/03/2015

So I would suggest that Adobe have done something to address the issue in their latest Reader product.

What I don't know is whether it's possible to update Adobe Acrobat in the same way, or whether it would be possible for Adobe Reader DC (and in particular its "Preview Handler") to coexist with the version of Acrobat Professional being used by the OP.

 

"So I would suggest that Adobe have done something to address the issue in their latest Reader product.

What I don't know is whether it's possible to update Adobe Acrobat in the same way, or whether it would be possible for Adobe Reader DC (and in particular its "Preview Handler") to coexist with the version of Acrobat Professional being used by the OP."

DavidY; thanks for taking the time to examine the differences. I went a little further. I had Acrobat Pro XI 11.0.15. I saw that 11.0.17 is the latest and the release notes for .16 included the preview/delete issue for Windows 8 and 10, so I was hopeful the updating latest quarterly update from July (which rarely changes much so I don't check very often) would fix.

I updated and, alas, same problem. I downloaded Reader DC and, exactly the same PDFPrevHndlr.dll that you found, did indeed fix the problem the OP and I have. I was able to delete from Preview view w/o the error message.

I then renamed the PDFPrevHndlr.dll in Acrobrat Pro to PDFPrevHndlr.old and copied the PDFPrevHndlr.dll from Reader to Acrobat Pro. It also worked ! So, indeed Acrobat Pro XI and Reader DC can live side by side.

However, when I uninstalled Reader DC, the problem re-emerged so it's not possible to just copy over the PDFPrevHndlr.dll from Reader to Pro. Seems only current solution is to have both programs on the machine. *cry Thanks for your time and effort.