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How to Turn On the Preview Pane in File Explorer

Tap each step to see how to turn on the preview pane in File Explorer.

  1. Open File Explorer

    Click the folder icon on the taskbar, or press Windows + E to open File Explorer.

  2. Click the View tab

    In the ribbon at the top of File Explorer, click the View tab.

  3. Click the Preview Pane icon

    In the Panes group, click Preview Pane to open a preview area on the right side.

  4. Click a file to preview its contents

    Clicking an image, PDF, or text file shows its content in the pane on the right without opening it in a separate program.

  5. Why it helps

    When you're hunting through several similarly named files, the preview pane lets you check contents with a single click instead of opening each one, saving a lot of time.

Tired of opening files one by one to find the right one?

When several files have similar names, opening each one in its own program to check the contents is slow. Turning on the preview pane lets you click through files and see their contents instantly, so you can find the one you need much faster.

Also worth checking: showing file extensions in Windows

Pairing the preview pane with visible file extensions makes it even easier to tell files apart at a glance, since you can see both the file type and a quick look at its contents together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the preview pane support every file type?

Most common formats β€” images, PDFs, text files, and office documents β€” are supported out of the box, but some specialized file types may need a separate preview handler installed.

How is this different from the Details pane?

The Details pane only shows metadata like file size and modified date, while the Preview pane actually displays the file's content on screen.