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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Calculating TV Time

In some industries it is necessary to work with time resolutions of less than a second. If you need to keep track of such ...

Discover More

Changing Tabs Using the Ruler

Need to adjust the position of tab stops in a paragraph? One simple way to do it is to just drag them around on the ruler.

Discover More

Entering Negative Times

Do you need to enter negative times into a worksheet? Excel doesn't really provide a way to do that but understanding why ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Working with E-mailed Documents

Ding! You've got mail. That mail has a Word document attached to it. Before you rush off and open that document, take a ...

Discover More

Full Path Names in Word

An easy way to display the document's full path name in the title bar.

Discover More

Opening a Document as Read-Only in Windows Explorer

Want to open your Word document as read-only? Here's a little trick to help you accomplish the task from within Explorer.

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 6 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.