change preview handler with Preview Handler Association Editor

[jimspoon]

All of a sudden PDF files were no longer displaying properly for me in the Native preview pane. I fixed things with the Preview Handler Association Editor. Here are a few screenshots.

Shot below shows classes associated with "PDF-Xchange Preview Handler".



Shot below shows the classes associated with "PDF-XChange PDF Preview Provider". This is the handler that came with the PDF-Xchange Viewer program.



I unchecked the classes under the "PDF-Xchange Preview Handler" and then associated them with the "PDF-Xchange PDF Preview Provider."

Shot below shows the three classes associated with "PDF-XChange PDF Preview Provider".



Now the PDFs are displaying properly in the Native preview pane.

I'm not sure that I did the best possible fix here - I could have just tried associating the PDF extension with the desired handler.

More info on the association editor here - https://www.thewindowsclub.com/preview- ... e-explorer

The utility is old and a bit hard to find, I've uploaded it here - https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApvlyzaJFXSxy90nEPJ ... w?e=iHwOdm . I had no problems with it, but do your usual due diligence.

[nikos]

a similar tool (that just shows associations) is this one
www.zabkat.com/blog/chkshxt-shell-extension-dump.htm

[jimspoon]

Cool! Already tried it out, very useful. Thanks for the link!

[ptorrf]

Hi!

You can do it directly.

WARNING! Before doing anything within the Registry, do a Backup or a Restoration point, just in case.

1. Open Registry Editor and go to:

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers

Take note of the names related with "pdf" and write down their data, for instance:

Name: Microsoft PDF Previewer
Value: {3A84F9C2-6164-485C-A7D9-4B27F8AC009E}
Name: SumatraPDF Preview (*.pdf)
Value: {3D3B1846-CC43-42AE-BFF9-D914083C2BA3}
Name: Adobe PDF Preview Handler for Vista
Value: {DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}

2. Then, go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pdf\shellex\{8895b1c6-b41f-4c1c-a562-0d564250836f}

Open the "default" value and change its data from "{3A84F9C2-6164-485C-A7D9-4B27F8AC009E}" to the desired handler we previously saw.

I tried it with SumatraPDF and it works.

Source: https://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-sw ... ed-working

[jimspoon]

good info, thanks!