How to Preview a File Without Opening it in Windows 10

In this tutorial, we are going to see how to preview a file without opening it in Windows 10. Usually, to access the content of a text or other document, you have to double-click on it to open it in its original program (Word, Excel, PDF reader, etc.). Now, imagine that you are looking for information, but you don’t know in which document it is located. In this case, you have to open all your documents one by one until you find what you are looking for… You have to admit that this process can quickly become long and tiring.

Fortunately, Microsoft has been thinking about its customers and has introduced a new option within the Windows 10 File Explorer. Let’s find out without further how to preview a file without opening it in Windows 10.
 

How to Preview a File Without Opening it in Windows 10

With Windows 10, you can now view the contents of your files without opening them, and even copy the data they contain.

Indeed, Microsoft has introduced the preview pane within the File Explorer. This allows you to directly display the contents of your files in a preview area on the right side of the window. This allows you to browse the document, flip through the pages, and in some cases even copy the data contained in it to paste it wherever you want.
 

 
For images or photos, the preview pane allows you to have a much larger preview than the small thumbnail displayed in the Explorer.

To enable this famous option, open File Explorer and select the View ribbon at the top of the window. Then click on Preview Pane on the left side of the ribbon. You should see the Preview Pane on the right side of the Explorer window.
 

 
You can of course adjust the size of the pane by placing the mouse pointer on its left border, then press the button and drag.