A Frequently Asked Question


Why can’t XYplorer preview my Office files?

Technically the preview of complex file types like DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX is done using so-called "preview handlers". Preview handlers are Windows shell extensions that enable other applications to show a preview for complex files. It depends on your system which preview handlers are available. In the web you can find preview handlers for almost anything.


NirSoft’s ShellExView (http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html) can tell you which preview handlers are installed for which file types on your system.

Download ShellExView for x64.
In ShellExView make sure to tick Options / Show 32-bit Shell Extensions.
Filter the list by selecting "Preview Handler" in Options / Filter By Extension Type.

Also XYplorer itself can tell you which preview handler is assigned to a particular extension by running this script line through the XYplorer address bar: 

text get("previewhandler", "xlsx"); //example for XLSX files


Note that XYplorer needs the 32-bit versions of preview handlers installed. Recent versions of Microsoft Office apparently always install only the 64-bit preview handlers when installed on a 64-bit Windows so that won’t work with XYplorer.
Note that XYplorer’s User-Defined Preview Handlers feature allows you to assign a specific preview handler (referred to by its CLSID or GUID) to the preview of a specific file type (referred to by its extension). More details here.