{"id":6431,"date":"2018-08-06T18:16:53","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T12:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=6431"},"modified":"2023-08-08T19:53:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T14:23:11","slug":"eml-file-preview-pane-explorer-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/eml-file-preview-pane-explorer-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Enable Preview of .eml (Email Message) Files in Explorer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many users of Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail (part of Windows Live Essentials<\/a>) used to backup individual emails and save them as .EML files. Since Windows Live Mail has been discontinued,<\/a>\u00a0users are forced to use third-party mailers or even buy Microsoft’s own produce, Microsoft Outlook. However, the preview pane in File Explorer shows “No preview available<\/strong>” when a .EML<\/code> file is selected.<\/p>\n

\".eml<\/p>\n

This article tells you how to preview .EML files in File Explorer Preview pane, in Windows 7 through Windows 10.<\/p>\n

Option 1: Enable .EML Preview Using Preview Handler Association Editor<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Download Preview Handler Association Editor<\/a> by Stephen Toub<\/a> of Microsoft.<\/li>\n
  2. Unzip and run the program PreviewHandlerEditor.exe<\/code>.\n
    File name:<\/strong> PreviewHandlerEditor.exe\r\n[SHA1]<\/strong> 217e64b9a4d143ecd36216ab4a86be5235b24fd1\r\n[SHA256]<\/strong> 5008F954130454CC143272E4C527243B25E782168ED4F4C9AFB656B59055915B<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  3. In the drop-down box, select “Microsoft Windows Mail Mime Preview Handler<\/strong>“. Note that there are two of those entries there. You can select either of them.
    \n\"preview<\/li>\n
  4. Uncheck the Only show classes associated with this handler<\/strong>\u00a0setting.<\/li>\n
  5. Scroll down and locate .eml<\/code> file type entry from the list.
    \n\"preview<\/li>\n
  6. Enable the checkbox for .eml<\/code> file type.<\/li>\n
  7. Close Preview Handler Association Editor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Option 2: Enable .EML Preview Using the Registry Editor<\/h2>\n
    Using Preview Handler Association Editor<\/a> (More info)<\/a>\u00a0or PreviewConfig<\/a> (which I wrote during Windows Vista days) can be the easiest option for most users. However, if you don’t want to use 3rd party tools, and need to deploy the setting across your network, here is the direct registry setting<\/strong>:<\/p>\n
      \n
    1. Right-click Start, click Run.<\/li>\n
    2. Type regedit.exe<\/code> and click OK. This starts Registry Editor.<\/li>\n
    3. Go to the following registry branch:\n
      HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\.eml<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
    4. With the .eml<\/code> key selected, create a subkey named shellex<\/code><\/li>\n
    5. Under shellex<\/code>, create another subkey named {8895b1c6-b41f-4c1c-a562-0d564250836f}<\/code><\/li>\n
    6. With the newly created subkey selected, double-click the (default)<\/code> value on the right pane and set its data to:\n
      {92dbad9f-5025-49b0-9078-2d78f935e341}<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
    7. After completing the above steps, make sure that the registry settings looks like this.
      \n\".eml<\/li>\n
    8. Exit the Registry Editor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      That’s it! You’ve now added a preview handler for .EML files and will be able to preview the .EML file contents in Explorer.<\/p>\n
      \".eml<\/p>\n
      Note:<\/strong> To enable the preview pane (if not already enabled) in File Explorer, press Alt<\/kbd> + P<\/kbd>. The switch acts as a toggle.<\/em><\/p>\n
      Hope the instructions in this article helped you get back .EML<\/code> preview capability in File Explorer. Also, check out my other post on how to enable File Explorer preview for .PS1 PowerShell script<\/a> files.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      Many users of Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail (part of Windows Live Essentials) used to backup individual emails and save them as .EML files. Since Windows Live Mail has been discontinued,\u00a0users are forced to use third-party mailers or even buy Microsoft’s own produce, Microsoft Outlook. However, the preview pane in File Explorer shows “No … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[441],"class_list":["post-6431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-utilities","category-windows","tag-registry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":80266,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/enable-preview-of-log-files-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":6431,"position":0},"title":"How to Enable Preview of .LOG Files in File Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"By default, the preview capability exists for most text-based files in File Explorer. However, for some file types, such as .log or .py, a preview may not be generated by default and you see the message \"No preview available\" in the preview pane in File Explorer. You can enable preview\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2484,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/enable-ps1-preview-pane-ps1-powershell-file-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":6431,"position":1},"title":"How to Enable PowerShell (.PS1) Script Text Previews in Explorer Preview Pane?","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By default File Explorer Preview pane displays text previews for .reg, .bat and .cmd file types, but not for .ps1 (PowerShell scripts). Here is a registry edit that enables text preview for .ps1 file type in File Explorer Preview pane.Download ps1_preview.zip, unzip and run the enclosed registry file.Note: Make sure\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/ps1_preview.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/ps1_preview.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/ps1_preview.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":309,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/enable-or-disable-thumbnail-preview-for-pdf-files\/","url_meta":{"origin":6431,"position":2},"title":"[Fix] PDF Thumbnail and Preview Not Showing Up in File Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In your Windows computer, File Explorer may not display PDF thumbnails, and instead, show only the default icon assigned for PDF files. This might happen even if you have the option Always show icons, never thumbnails unchecked in the View tab of the Folder Options dialog. Also, in Microsoft Outlook\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Microsoft Edge"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft Edge","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/edge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Edge PDF Preview Handler - Microsoft PDF Previewer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/edge-preview-handler.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/edge-preview-handler.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/edge-preview-handler.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/edge-preview-handler.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-thumbnail-preview-for-pictures-w7-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":6431,"position":3},"title":"Fix: Thumbnails Not Showing up in File Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Are your image files showing up with a generic mountain and lake scene instead of the miniature or thumbnail display in File Explorer? And video files may show up with a generic icon\/thumbnail. This article tells you how to enable thumbnails in File Explorer on Windows 10\/11 and earlier. RELATED:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"thumbnails blank -- fix the IconServiceLib registry setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":296,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/previewconfig-tool-registers-file-types-for-the-preview-pane-in-windows-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":6431,"position":4},"title":"PreviewConfig tool registers file types for the Preview Pane in Windows 7\/Vista","author":"Ramesh","date":"December 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Windows Vista introduces the Preview pane in Explorer, which shows the contents of the currently chosen file. 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