Preview Handlers

Example of preview handlers

Selecting a file in ChromaFiler opens a preview window to the right. Normally this is a static thumbnail image, but you can install preview handlers to expand this functionality and preview other types of content without opening a separate application.

Preview Handlers are a type of Windows extension that come included with some software. Examples:

Microsoft Office comes with preview handlers for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio.
Windows Media Player allows you to preview audio and video files (see below)
Microsoft PowerToys includes a collection of preview handlers of varying quality. The SVG and Markdown previewers are recommended, the PDF and Source Code previewers are not. (Windows 11 already comes with a built-in PDF previewer, and ChromaFiler has a built-in text editor).
Windows itself comes preinstalled with preview handlers for many types of files including plain text, RTF, fonts, and HTML.

Change preview handler associations

Using the Preview Handler Association Editor utility (archived download), you can choose which preview handler is associated with each file type. For example, audio/video previews will typically only appear for files that are set to open with Windows Media Player, but you can use the Editor to associate any file type with the "Windows Media Player Rich Preview Handler", allowing you to play audio/video directly in ChromaFiler.

ChromaFiler will show the text editor for any file that is associated with the "Windows TXT Previewer" (or set to open with ChromaText). This can also be configured using the editor.