Sizing the Preview Pane

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 7, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

When you use the Open dialog box in Word, you can configure what you see in the dialog box. One of the settings you can make is for Word to display a preview of whatever document you select in the left side of the dialog box. (Click on the drop-down arrow next to the Views tool, then choose Preview.)

If you are using Word 97 or Word 2000, you may have noticed that the preview shown by Word appears rather small, even though it occupies half of the dialog box. Unfortunately, neither version of Word allows you to adjust the size of the preview pane, or of the Open dialog box itself.

If you are using Word 2002 or Word 2003, however, you can resize the Open dialog box. As you do, the preview pane continues to occupy half of the dialog box. The upshot, then, is that you can make the preview larger (and more readable) by simply enlarging the Open dialog box. You can even make the dialog box occupy the whole screen by double-clicking on its title bar.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (764) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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