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Users who were upgraded to Office 2016 have discovered they can’t preview Excel files in Outlook’s reading pane. When they select an Excel attachment, they receive the following error message:
This file cannot be previewed because there is no previewer installed for it.
This is due to an incorrect registry entry for the preview handler. While this will be fixed in a future update, you can fix it now by adding the following values to the registry.
The correct registry keys for a click to run installation (which covers most users) are:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers
REG_SZ: {21E17C2F-AD3A-4b89-841F-09CFE02D16B7}
Value: Microsoft Visio previewer
REG_SZ: {65235197-874B-4A07-BDC5-E65EA825B718}
Value: Microsoft PowerPoint previewer
REG_SZ: {84F66100-FF7C-4fb4-B0C0-02CD7FB668FE}
Value: Microsoft Word previewer
REG_SZ: {00020827-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Value: Microsoft Excel Previewer
Or, just run this registry file to add the values to your registry.
Volume license / MSI
If you are using the volume license "MSI" or installed Office using the version supplied in an MSDN subscription, the keys you need to change are as follows.
If you use 64bit Windows & 32bit Office, the key isHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers
If your Windows and Office are both 32 or both 64bit, use this key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers
The string values remain the same for both.
REG_SZ: {21E17C2F-AD3A-4b89-841F-09CFE02D16B7}
Value: Microsoft Visio previewer
REG_SZ: {65235197-874B-4A07-BDC5-E65EA825B718}
Value: Microsoft PowerPoint previewer
REG_SZ: {84F66100-FF7C-4fb4-B0C0-02CD7FB668FE}
Value: Microsoft Word previewer
REG_SZ: {00020827-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Value: Microsoft Excel Previewer
Published September 30, 2015. Last updated on June 5, 2017.
I went ahead and re-upgraded to Office 2016, triple checked ALL of the "Preview Handlers" settings (all three places shown above) and ALL WERE AS REQUIRED, but still no luck. The PDF preview handler works but none of the others. Please, can anyone suggest a possible fix?
PDF is installed by the pdf application you use, not office. Check the path to outlook.exe then try the fix again.
I can't get the previewers to work at all. Windows 10 pro, Office 2013 (went back to this when 2016 wouldn't work) 32 Bit. I corrected the "Volume License/MSI" vakyes because I obtained a 5 copy license for Office from school, so I thought I might have a volume license copy, but no help there. When I try to run the "Run this registry file" link, it simply responds with a web page showing the details of the fix. When I tried to apply the fix manually I got stopped at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOffice", because there's no "click to run" (and there… Read more »
Best way to know which version you have is to check the path to outlook.exe - if its in the root path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office
15\root\Office15, its Click to run. The traditional path is the MSI version C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office 15\Office15
>> When I try to run the "Run this registry file" link, it simply responds with a web page showing the details of the fix.
Which browser are you using? Try right clicking on the file and choosing Save as or the equilivent. It might save with a txt file extension, if so you'll need to change it to .reg.
Working perfectly fine after run the .reg. Thank you.
I am trying to fix for a client, to no avail. Office 365 Click-to-run on Windows 10. Registry settings are correct - but no matter what I try I cannot get preview to work. Reinstalled Office. Help!
They have the subscription with all updates installed? It definitely should be working correctly in the latest updates.
Make sure the type is REG_SZ on the key. I am currently running Windows 10 with Office 2016 (MSI) and the original key type was REG_EXPAND_SZ which did not work. I deleted it and re-entered the correct key.
Has anyone found a fix for this yet? It's drivvvviiiinnnng me cARAZZZY. Ive done everything that every post has sug and nothing works....
I have windows 10 outlook 2016 and office 2007.
I can preview everywhere else except outlook 2016
Did you check the registry keys? That should fix it. You could also try repairing the office installation.
Yes, I've checked the reg files and reinstalled them, Nothing works for me. I can preview all files including Excel everywhere except Outlook 2016. Dose it matter that I'm using 2007 office suite on windows 10? I had to remove the office 2016 stuff from my computer to accurately download 2007. That all worked fine and the previewer for excel works fine everywhere else just not in Outlook. And I've tried every fix offered......
Yes, having the old build could affect it but having older versions of pdf software can affect it too.
I had a similar issue and the problem was that there was another key already in the registry for Excel with the same value, I removed this and created a new key for excel (as above) and hey presto
Unfortunately none of this works above. After making the additions to the registry i still can't view an excel file in outlook or in explorer. Over a year and no fix from MS!!!
What version (suite) of Office and what happens when you try? Any error messages?
Office 2007, I've done all the reg stuff, all updates, and repaired the suite and outlook. Still same result Error code Says "Cant view doc because of an error in excel previewer" it does not say that its not installed but that it has an error. But I can preview the files in Explorer?? Just doesn't make any sense.
Which pdf program do you use and do you have the most recent Build of it?