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.
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32 Comments on "Can't open or preview .PDF attachment in Outlook"
None of this works for me:
Windows 10 64 bit
Acrobat Std XI
Office 2016
all reg hacks etc applied...
oh, and did you reboot?
are you using 32- or 64-bit office?
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.
Did you reinstall or repair the nitro install? It sounds like removing the older version removed the files that are used for preview.
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.
Reinstall or repair the v.10 installation.
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!
Did you try repairing the nitro installation?
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.
Firefox.
But a great solution, I am complimenting you :-)
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.
It should download as a reg, but some browsers save it with the text extension.
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.
Do you get any error messages? The usual cause is corrupt files, often caused by an antivirus scanner.
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.
Perfect!
This worked perfectly! Thank you!