Windows 7 Explorer Preview Pane for zip files

Question

I was wondering if there is a possibility to add .zip file to the explorer preview pane (Windows 7 64 Bit). For example if a folder contains a .zip file i would like to see the content of the .zip file in the explorer preview pane.

I know how to add file types in the registry to be previewed as plain text as you can see in the image below. I have added a xml files to be previewed in the explorer pane a plain text.

But what about a .zip file. It would be nice if in the explorer preview pane i could see what files are inside the .zip file. I use 7-Zip to open my .zip files.

Solution 1

You need a Preview Handler for ZIP files, and 7-Zip doesn't provide one. I don't know of any such handler except the one available via the View Data Your Way With Our Managed Preview Handler Framework article on MSDN.

Try it out; it was written for Vista (and Outlook 2007) but should work equally well on Windows 7:

The code download for this article includes a framework that makes it a snap to implement your own preview handlers, and it provides several sample previewers (including previewers for PDF, XML, ZIP, MSI, BIN, CSV, XPS, and XAML files).

Solution 2

Windows Explorer in Windows 7 treats .zip files almost the same way it treats folders. You can select the .zip file in the folder tree in the left sidebar to see the contents of the .zip file:

Solution 3

I think PowerArchiver 2018 has what you're looking for.

It shows the file contents on the left and the image or doc text on the right.

Comments

[Devid]

Good to know, but that is not the Windows Explorer Preview Pane. If i open a file containing a .zip file in it i would like to see what is inside on the preview pane of the explorer. For example if you have WinZip when you click on the zip file you will see a preview on the left (preview pane). I was wondering if something like that is also possible for 7-Zip. Is there a way i can add this in the registry just as i have done for .xml , .ini and .log files.

[William Jackson]

I often find that one's question is not the same as the problem one wants to solve. I perceived your problem to be, "How do I see the contents of a .zip file in Windows Explorer without extracting the contents?" and I tried to solve that problem as easily as possible.

[Devid]

Sorry i actually meant a .zip preview inside a file.

[William Jackson]

When you say "a file containing a .zip file", do you mean a .zip file with another .zip file inside?

[Devid]

No, i mean like a folder.

[Devid]

Have you tried to install this preview handlers on windows 7 ?

[Karan]

No, I haven't. Maybe you'd care to do the honours and report back whether it works for you? :)

[Devid]

Ok will try it out

[Devid]

I got also this: previewhandlers.codeplex.com

[Karan]

Good find, although it seems the code used there is from the same article I linked to above (CodePlex is an MS site too).

[Karan]

Bonus: Here's a Delphi preview handler found by Devid. I'm sure there are many more available for various other file types, especially text-based ones.