Previews in Win 10

[KayPeaBee]

I've just started using OpenOffice 4.1.8 on a new Windows 10 Home PC (64 bit) and I don't see any previews of files. I don't think it's a Windows issue, as other files are working OK. I have attachments showing a working PDF file and a non-working ODS document. Any ideas?

Working files

Non-working file

[Hagar Delest]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Can't provide a screenshot (because of confidentiality) but it works fine on my Windows 10 system with LibreOffice 7.2.1 portable. Tested with .odt and .ods.

See also: [Issue] Windows 10 Explorer no preview in preview pane

[KayPeaBee]

Thanks Hagar. I haven't heard of LibreOffice. I'll give it a try

[KayPeaBee]

Just tried LibreOffice and I have the same problem. I chose version 7.1.6.2 (64) as it said it was more stable. Is it worth me trying the newer version? I'm inclined to think this isn't the answer but happy to take advice.

[RoryOF]

As we are no longer limited to 8:3 filenames, I find it easiest to give a longer, meaningful, filename to a file.

[KayPeaBee]

Well, it's not a filename issue. I want to be able to quickly see the contents of files without opening them, like I used to do. I could also extract a piece of information under preview and copy it to an open file without opening the second one, which was really helpful. (This was when I used Excel).

[Hagar Delest]

Just tried LibreOffice and I have the same problem. I chose version 7.1.6.2 (64) as it said it was more stable. Is it worth me trying the newer version?

No need to try another version. I tested with documents I made with 7.0 and they do display in the preview pane.

The preview pane in the Windows Explorer shows the content of the file, not just a thumbnail of the first page so it's not a problem with AOO/LO in the end. I had never really investigated since I don't use the Windows Explorer at all.
Thus, it is very likely to be a problem with the Windows settings.

...Well, have you checked the link I provided above??? I just checked the bug report carefully and it seems that if you don't have any MS Office installed, then the Explorer doesn't know ODF above 1.1. See last comments of the bug report.

[KayPeaBee]

Hagar, Yes I read that report and got totally confused! I don't have MS Office so I'll see if I can get a 1.1 version of something. Thanks for your help on this.

[Hagar Delest]

I think that if you don't have MS Office then there is no way at all.
Fiddling with the 1.1 meta tag at each save would be too much a hassle I think.

[Bill]

The software that displays previews in the File Explorer preview pane for a specific file type is called a "preview handler". Neither AOO or LO has a preview handler for OpenDocument files, so there can not be a preview unless a preview handler from another source (possibly MS Office) has been installed on the computer. Upgrading AOO or LO will not change anything until one of them does install a compatible preview handler. It isn't a problem with settings, it's just that there is no software installed that can display the previews.

[KayPeaBee]

Thanks Bill, that's really helpful. I'm trying to do something that's no longer possible. However, if I don't have MS Office, is there any other free, or very cheap, equivalent that WOULD have a preview handler that would kick in for OpenOffice docs?

[Bill]

You can use Google to look for any potential preview handlers. I don't use Windows any more, so I have no way to test any that may exist.