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why cant I preview eml files in windows explorer

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Zenos

gilesman
gilesman
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I have several PCs in my office, all running Windows 7 and Thunderbird. In windows explorer on some of them I can preview eml files (which are associated with Thunderbird) but on others it just says "Preview not available".

This might seem minor but when trying to find a certain email, being able to run through a folder using the preview pane is invaluable.

Can anyone suggest why this might happen?

All the PCs also have Microsoft office installed, but Thunderbird is the default mail client.

Many thanks,

I have several PCs in my office, all running Windows 7 and Thunderbird. In windows explorer on some of them I can preview eml files (which are associated with Thunderbird) but on others it just says "Preview not available". This might seem minor but when trying to find a certain email, being able to run through a folder using the preview pane is invaluable. Can anyone suggest why this might happen? All the PCs also have Microsoft office installed, but Thunderbird is the default mail client. Many thanks,

All Replies (1)

Zenos
Zenos
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Most of us use our email client to manage our email. Exporting individual message to .eml format seems somewhat unproductive to me.

Some of the messages may be encoded, using, for instance, base-64 or MIME encoding. These may render them unsuitable for a simple preview feature. e.g.

T24gMDgvMTEvMjAxNSAxMDo0NSBBTSwgdHJhYWIxNjhAZ21haWwuY29 tIHdyb3RlOgo+IFRCIDM5LjAuMyBvbiBXaW5kb3dzIDcgUHJvIFBDLiAgSW4g dGhlIGxlZnQgaGFuZCBGb2xkZXJzIFdpbmRvdywgaG93IGRvIEkgYWRkIHRo ZSBjb3VudCBvZiBuZXcgbWVzc2FnZXMgaW4gZWFjaCBmb2xkZXIgKGFuZC BzdWJmb2xkZXIpIGFuZCBhbHNvIHRoZSBzaXplIG9mIHRoYXQgZm9sZGVy Pwo+Cj4gVG9t

Even HTML might be rather challenging to render using a quick and simple viewer.

Modified by Zenos