Tip 239 – Preview a file without opening it

If you need to sort through many documents in a folder, turn on the Windows File Preview Pane and Windows will show you the contents of the file when you select it, without the need to fully open the file.

To set this up, open a folder in Windows, and then click on the View Tab. Click on the “Preview Pane” button to turn this feature on. To preview a file, simply click on it once and the preview will show on the right hand side of the folder.