When you attempt to view a PDF file in the reading pane and receive the following error message
This file cannot be previewed because of an error with the following previewer
PDF Preview Handler
It means a value in your registry is missing or corrupt. You can fix it by editing the registry.
- Press Windows key + R to open the Run command
- Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor
- Browse to the following registry key and add the AppID value {534A1E02-D58F-44f0-B58B-36CBED287C7C}
Note: if AppID string value does not exist, you need to create it.
Alternately, you can copy and paste the registry values below into Notepad, save the file with a .reg extension then double click to run it.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}]
"AppID"="{534A1E02-D58F-44f0-B58B-36CBED287C7C}"
Do It For Me
Don't want to edit the registry yourself? Download the following registry file and double click to run it. It works with all 64-bit versions of Windows.
nsk says
hi
its working excellent now. wonderful guide! thank you
F ABAZA says
worked fin
thanks
Gary Skipper says
Hi Diane,
I'm perplexed. I can't pinpoint when it started but the Outlook 2010 pdf preview handler is not working. It has always worked before now.
Windows 10 Home, 64-bit
Office 2010 Pro Plus, 32-bit
Acrobat Reader DC latest version (uninstalled and reinstalled)(even switched to Edge and no success)
applied reg edit fix even though AppID hex data agreed with fix data. (Had to try it for thoroughness)
rebooted PC, restarted Outlook after regedit fix (tested pdf preview, no joy)
deleted temp files (i.e., %temp%)
Outlook File Preview Options- PDF Preview Handler-checked
Word, Excel, etc previewers are all working (just PDF preview not working)
Windows default file association .pdf set to Acrobat Reader DC
I'm lost for additional measures to fix this less re-installing Office. Any thoughts/suggestions?
Thanks,
Gary
Gary Skipper says
It works NOW! I did not work on issue since my last post. On 2/13 My computer automatically installed the latest MS Office 2010 updates and now the pdf viewer is working. This has me suspicious that the previous update may have been the offending culprit. WHO KNOWS!!! All is good again... :)
Eric says
Hi Diane,
Thanks so much for your solution. The pdf-preview.reg file worked like a charm!
Cheers,
Eric
Ivica Cuk says
Hi Diane
Windows 7 professional 32 bit,
Outlook 2013,
Acrobat reader DC ver.8
I have problem when I scan document on HP device with default name “Untitled”. Pdf and send it to mail. On this comp (spec above) it can’t open it, all other PDF with other name I can open, if I forward this mail to colleague he also can open it so it was not damaged.
Diane Poremsky says
sorry i missed this... i'm wondering if there are 99 untitled in the temp cache and that is preventing outlook from opening it. (It's an old, long standing problem - each file is added to the cache in name(nn).ext format and the limit is 99.)
Christian Muehter says
None of this works for me:
Windows 10 64 bit
Acrobat Std XI
Office 2016
all reg hacks etc applied...
Diane Poremsky says
are you using 32- or 64-bit office?
Diane Poremsky says
oh, and did you reboot?
dmkg says
I use Nitro pdf and the preview was working fine, even after I installed the newer version of Nitro along side the old one. But after I uninstalled the old version I can no longer see the preview.
Registry entries are exactly as you suggest, so clearly something else is preventing the preview from working.
Diane Poremsky says
Did you reinstall or repair the nitro install? It sounds like removing the older version removed the files that are used for preview.
dmkg says
I installed version 10 so had both versions 9 & 10 for a short time during which preview was ok but not after I removed version 9.
Diane Poremsky says
Reinstall or repair the v.10 installation.
Dinesh says
The registry entry on my machine is exactly as you suggest but the previewer won't work. I use Nitro pdf and it was working fine. Then I installed the newer version of Nitro along side the old version and it still worked ok. Today I removed the old version and after that preview handler won't work!
Diane Poremsky says
Did you try repairing the nitro installation?
Charles says
Can't believe that after all these years, this issue still comes up. I have win 8.1, adobe acrobat dc, office 2016 (all up to date) and can't view the pdf inside outlook. Tried everything in the article and in comments > nope, no fix.
John Cane says
Firefox.
But a great solution, I am complimenting you :-)
John Cane says
Worked for me, thanks.
Additional info that should be helpful.
Remember to rename the download as pdf-preview.reg, remove the .txt. PC needs restarted before it will work.
Diane Poremsky says
It should download as a reg, but some browsers save it with the text extension.
choccysar says
Tried all of the above and still doesn't work. It's only some pdf's (2 suppliers out of about 50 I guess) won't open. Very frustrating as can't view or print invoices from some suppliers but can from most. Any other ideas - have also tried uninstalling/reinstalling and nothing works for these two suppliers - is there a way of checking block list in case it's something like that? Doesn't let me save them either. Thanks in advance.
Diane Poremsky says
Do you get any error messages? The usual cause is corrupt files, often caused by an antivirus scanner.
M says
Outlook gives the following message when I single click on a pdf file: this file cannot be previewed because of an error with the following preview - PDF. I had previously upgraded to Adobe Reader XI and that is when it started. I was previously using Adobe Acrobat (full version). Solved this problem by doing the following:
1. Open Adoboe Reader XI.
2. Select Edit, Preferences.
3. Select General in the Categories list.
4. Click on Select Default PDF Handler.
5. Adobe Reader XI (11.0.10) should already be selected, but if not select it.
6. Click Apply
7. Follow the prompts.
8. Click OK.
Then go back to MS Outlook and single click a pdf. It should now be visible in the preview pane.
miraflor says
This worked perfectly! Thank you!
ng says
Perfect!
TechNotch says
I have a PDF Complete on outlook 2010, this registry edit fixed it! thanks!
Gianluca says
I upgraded to Acrobat reader 11 and started having this issue. I uninstalled 11 and installed 9 (all available here https://www.oldapps.com/adobe_reader.php but also on other sites if you search on google). Then I installed this https://www.pretentiousname.com/adobe_pdf_x64_fix/index.html and all works fine
Hope this helps. I had this issue in the past, always tempted to upgrade AR but in the end all version works fine to read a pdf
Gianluca
minos8 says
Hi, here my .reg file who solved my same problem.
----
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeClassesCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}]
"AppID"="{534A1E02-D58F-44f0-B58B-36CBED287C7C}"
"DisplayName"="@C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\pdfprevhndlr.dll,-101"
@="Adobe PDF Preview Handler for Vista"
"DisableLowILProcessIsolation"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeClassesCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}InprocServer32]
@="C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\pdfprevhndlr.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeClassesCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}ProgID]
@="PDFPrevHndlr.PDFPreviewHandler.1"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeClassesCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}TypeLib]
@="{0F6D3808-7974-4B1A-94C2-3200767EACE8}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeClassesCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}VersionIndependentProgID]
@="PDFPrevHndlr.PDFPreviewHandler"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTWow6432NodeCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}]
"AppID"="{534A1E02-D58F-44f0-B58B-36CBED287C7C}"
"DisplayName"="@C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\pdfprevhndlr.dll,-101"
@="Adobe PDF Preview Handler for Vista"
"DisableLowILProcessIsolation"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTWow6432NodeCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}InprocServer32]
@="C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\pdfprevhndlr.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTWow6432NodeCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}ProgID]
@="PDFPrevHndlr.PDFPreviewHandler.1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTWow6432NodeCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}TypeLib]
@="{0F6D3808-7974-4B1A-94C2-3200767EACE8}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTWow6432NodeCLSID{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}VersionIndependentProgID]
@="PDFPrevHndlr.PDFPreviewHandler"
Isaac Savion says
I'm using Adobe Reader XI \Reader 11.0. running on Win8/64bit.
Thank you,
Isaac
Diane Poremsky says
That *should* work. I'll see what i can find out.
José Ayres says
More than 1 year later... and havung the same issue. Everywhere I go the same solution, but... it doesn't work :( Any other ideas? Office 2013 and Adobe Reader XI/Win7/64Bit
Thanks in advance...
Diane Poremsky says
No, no ideas. It *should* work - you have the latest Reader. Is preview enabled in File, Options, Trust center, attachment handling?
Isaac Savion says
Hi Diane, I have the same issue; the file extension is already there ("AppID"="{534A1E02-D58F-44f0-B58B-36CBED287C7C}"). any other trick that might help?
Thank you,
Isaac.
Diane Poremsky says
Which PDf reader or application do you have installed? You need a current version of Adobe Reader.
TJ Liston says
Ok, that file extension is already there. I used to be able to open PDF files in outlook, I can save them and then open them but for some reason now I can't open them directly from outlook. Nothing happens when I click on it, no other program pops up to try either. If I go to start menu and go to default programs Adobe is not listed there. Any other help options?
thanks
TJ
Diane Poremsky says
What version of Windows and Outlook?
Right click on a PDF file in Windows and choose Open with > Choose Default application and select something else, then repeat and choose Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
TJ Liston says
the "do-it for me" file is not an executable file, it opens and has the cut and paste option.
Is it meant to be an automatic download and install or just the cut and paste version of the info.thanks
Diane Poremsky says
It depends on which browser you are using. If it won't download as a reg file on click, right click and choose Save Target as or Save link as. Internet Explorer & Chrome will save it as a reg file but if using Firefox, you'll need to change the extension to reg after downloading then double click to run it.
Simon says
Nice one Diane - this worked perfectly on my system