Office 2013 Windows Explorer preview pane isn't working

1. Right click a Word file
2. Select Open With from the pop-up menu
3. Click Choose default Program.
4. Select Word in the Programs box
5. Check Always use the selected program to open this kind of file
6. Click OK.

I've tried setting Word as the default program. It did not work.

Since the problem is specifically with *.docx files, did you remember to use the Open With command with a Word file in that format?

You should also try repairing Office from Control Panel, which should restore file associations.

Yes, as you can see in the images above the file that properly shows text is a "Word 97-2003" document and the one that does not properly display is a "Word" document. I made sure to use a "Word" document when changing the file association and also went to my default programs in the control panel to check there. Changing that does not affect the display of docx files.

I have also tried to repair and reinstall multiple times. It has not changed the settings. For whatever reason, Office does not completely uninstall from my computer. This means that whatever is causing the problem may never be removed during installation. Could it be some registry file left over from old Office versions? I don't know, but it would be nice if Office actually completely removed itself when I uninstall it. Why would Microsoft do such a thing.

I should also mention that using a different user account solved an issue I had with not being able to view help files, but it did not solve the problem with docx files in the preview pane.

Since the problem occurs specifically with *.docx files, did you remember to use the Open With command with a Word file in that format?

Also try repairing Office from Control Panel, which should restore file associations.

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Hello,

Let's create a new Windows user account by following the steps from the link below and check if it resolves the issue.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7

Hope the above information is helpful. Let us know if you need any further assistance and I will be glad to help you.

Thank you.

Hello,

I understand how it makes you feel if Office applications do not work as expected. Let me help you with the issue.

You may follow the steps below in order to set the file association for Word and check if it helps.

1. Right click a Word file
2. Select Open With from the pop-up menu
3. Click Choose default Program.
4. Select Word in the Programs box
5. Check Always use the selected program to open this kind of file
6. Click OK.

I hope the above information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance and I will be glad to help you.

Thank you.