Open File Explorer, click on the View tab and then select Preview pane. Click on a file you wish to view, such as a Word document, Excel sheet, PowerPoint presentation, PDF, or image.

To restore the preview pane in File Explorer, open the application and select the View tab. In the upper menu, locate the Panes section and click on the Preview Pane button.

Given how limited the preview pane already feels in Windows 10, even adding just two more file types feels like a huge improvement.

There are plenty of File Explorer alternatives for Windows 11, but really, you don't need them. And with PowerToys, you can make it even better.

The Preview Pane lets you quickly preview documents, images, and text files without opening them. This is especially useful when sorting through different types of files with similar names.

But in my tests, setting Adobe Reader as the default program robbed PDF Preview of the ability to show thumbnails, although it could still use Windows Explorer’s preview pane.

Normally, when I view an Explorer folder, I have the PDF files on “view large icons” (as it then gives me a preview of what the first page of the file looks like). But Windows 8 wiped all of that.

The Windows Explorer file management application in Windows 7 includes a preview pane that you can use to view the contents image files and other files on your hard drive.

To use it, open File Explorer and head to the file you wish to view, such as a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, PDF, or image. If no preview pane appears, click the View ...

To use it, open File Explorer and head to the file you wish to view, such as a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, PDF, or image. If no preview pane appears, click the View ...