XL5: "No Preview Is Available for This File" in Find File

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Find File command in Microsoft Excel or on the Microsoft Office menu to view a preview of a Microsoft Excel workbook, the preview window may display the message, "No preview is available for this file."

CAUSE

The Microsoft Excel Help information for the Find File Command states that the Preview option will display a picture of the active sheet in a workbook. This information in Help is incorrect: the preview will display a picture of the first sheet in a workbook only if all of the following conditions are true:

• The file you are viewing is a Microsoft Excel version 5.0 workbook

      -and-
  

• The first sheet in the workbook is a worksheet, chart sheet, or Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheet.

      -and-
  

• The file was saved with summary information

Created in Microsoft Excel Versions Earlier Than 5.0

When you save a file in Microsoft Excel Workbook format, a preview of the upper-left corner of the active sheet is saved with it. This preview, also known as a thumbnail, is what is displayed when you use the preview feature of the Find File command. You will not be able to preview files created in versions of Microsoft Excel earlier than version 5.0, because there is no thumbnail contained with these files. Instead, the preview window will display the message, "No preview is available for this file."

Module Sheet or Dialog Sheet

The Find File command in Microsoft Excel version 5.0 will not display a preview of a workbook if the first sheet in the workbook is either a Visual Basic module or a dialog sheet. A preview of a workbook, also known as a thumbnail, is only available if the first sheet in the workbook is a worksheet, chart, or MS Excel 4.0 macro sheet.

Summary Information

You cannot display a preview for a Microsoft Excel workbook if the Prompt For Summary Info check box (on the General tab in the Options dialog box) is not selected when you save the workbook. A workbook file must be saved with summary information in order to view a preview of this file in Find File.

Note that you can view a preview of a Microsoft Excel workbook in Microsoft Word version 6.0 using the Find File command even if the conditions described above are not true.

WORKAROUNDS

To view a preview of a Microsoft Excel workbook in Find File, do the following:

1. If the file was created in a version of Microsoft Excel earlier than version 5.0, save the file in the Microsoft Excel version 5.0 format by using the following steps:

       a. Open the file in Microsoft Excel, version 5.0.
   

       b. On the File menu, click Save As. In the Save File As Type list,
          select Microsoft Excel Workbook.
   

2. Make sure that the first sheet in the workbook is a worksheet, chart sheet, or Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheet.

3. To save your file with summary information, do the following:

       a. On the File menu, click Summary Info.
   

       b. Enter any information you want for the file, and then click OK.
   

   To save all files with summary information by default, do the following:

       a. On the Tools menu, click Options.
   

       b. Select the General tab. Select the Prompt for Summary Info check
          box, and click OK.