Microsoft Disables File Explorer Preview for Downloaded Files by Default

Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

kirenida

13 points

12 comments

windowslatest.comTechstory

calmmixed

Debate

40/100

Windows 11File ExplorerSecurity

Key topics

Windows 11

File Explorer

Security

Microsoft has disabled the File Explorer preview for downloaded files by default in Windows 11 25H2, sparking discussion about the balance between security and user convenience.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

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Moderate engagement

First comment

46m

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Based on 12 loaded comments

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01Story posted
Oct 26, 2025 at 12:02 AM EDT
2 months ago
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02First comment
Oct 26, 2025 at 12:49 AM EDT
46m after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
6 comments in 0-6h
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04Latest activity
Oct 28, 2025 at 7:22 AM EDT
2 months ago
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Discussion (12 comments)

Showing 12 comments

sunaookami

2 months ago

1 reply

>For example, if you accidentally download a malicious file, and it contains links, File Explorer would try to preview it, and it’ll also follow links inside the file as part of the process.

Huh, is this true? Seems like a major risk and entirely unexpected (OTOH it's Microsoft so doing insecure stuff is unsurprising)

emi2k01

2 months ago

Maybe this is about doing GET requests to render images in documents or something similar? Not just arbitrarily requesting every link in a file

phito

2 months ago

1 reply

So they keep extra file metadata god-knows-where to flag internet downloaded files, to disable their preview because their preview sucks and is insecure? How about they make their preview, I don't know, just render local documents without following URLs?

What a shit OS. I can't believe there are still so many tech oriented people willing to put up with this crap just to keep their habits.

nom

2 months ago

2 replies

Let me ground you a bit. This feature is 20 years old. The data is stored in NTFS alternate data streams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_of_the_Web

childintime

2 months ago

Wow, it contains forensic info:

"As of Windows 10, the contents [...] include the keys HostIpAddress, HostUrl, and ReferrerUrl.[...] they typically contain the domain name and exact URL of the original online download location".

phito

2 months ago

Interesting, thanks

drawfloat

2 months ago

Aren’t most files used on an operating system day to day downloaded from the Internet? This feels like it completely kills that feature’s utility.

compressedgas

2 months ago

Seems they can't just sandbox it.

LocalH

2 months ago

Good thing I don't use Explorer to manage files :)

jbverschoor

2 months ago

Orrr run it in a sandbox?

Bedlow

2 months ago

This is in the most recent Windows 10 update, a lot of my PDF downloads have stopped previewing. It affects any PDF, not just PDFs downloaded since the update. It seems completely random, as some PDFs still preview.

timnetworks

2 months ago

imho good riddance, but lots of people used it. it'd be all sorts of crazy to let local files just be local files though. new generation of devs are vaping kool aid.

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ID: 45709038Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 1:32:57 PM

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