# Can't find the preview txt file
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [March 6, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838 "2026-03-06T22:06:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@fpefpe](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fpefpe)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/1 "2026-03-06T22:06:00Z")
What am I missing here?
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/2 "2026-03-06T22:14:18Z")
You have to assign an application as default program for text files.
---
### Author:  [@fpefpe](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fpefpe)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/3 "2026-03-06T22:45:39Z")
yes — I thought that was the problem so I opened up a cmd window and typed foo.txt and default program opened foo.txt
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/4 "2026-03-06T22:51:13Z")
You would still have to investigate locally:
- Has it ever worked?
- If so - what has changed in the meantime?
- Access rights to that folder as shown in the message need to be checked.
- Has the program been installed with different access rights than it is run now?
---
### Author:  [@fpefpe](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fpefpe)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/5 "2026-03-06T23:07:54Z")
_yes I have used it in the past_ — I just updated to 3.33.1 and it still the same —– I don’t recall what version it did work with
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/6 "2026-03-06T23:13:45Z")
Have you changed the installation mode from standard to portable or vice versa?
You might still have to investigate the access rights.
> [@fpefpe](#):
>
> 3.33.1
The version in the screenshot is a different one: 3.31a - Could it be that you have several installations in your system?
---
### Author:  [@fpefpe](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fpefpe)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/7 "2026-03-07T20:25:31Z")
Mystery solved —
It turns out that mp3tag will create a temp file for the preview of convert/changes to take place —
It saves the file in the %temp% folder, but before it does that it creates a subfolder in the %temp% with the name “mp3tag version” NOTE: that the name DOES have a space in it ---- that is the issue. It then relies on the “system config” for assoc and ftype to be correct
I guess that one fix would be to correct ftype ---- I think it would make more sense to me to have mp3tag have an option to show the preview files and maybe default it to notepad – I like to use my own editor. Then run exe and quote the preview file if there are blanks in it – also the temp subfolder might be named without blanks – ie “mp3tagversion”
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/8 "2026-03-07T20:34:11Z")
> [@fpefpe](#):
>
> NOTE: that the name DOES have a space in it ---- that is the issue
I just checked and you are right about the filename with the space in it.
But in my system the preview file is opened by editor without problems.
This is where I set it:
What happens, if you set the standard app to editor?
---
### Author:  [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/9 "2026-03-07T21:25:59Z")
> [@fpefpe](#):
>
> I think it would make more sense to me to have mp3tag have an option to show the preview files and maybe default it to notepad – I like to use my own editor.
As notepad ++ is my standard software to open txt-files, clicking the preview button opens notepad++ with preview.txt
---
### Author:  [@fpefpe](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fpefpe)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/10 "2026-03-08T18:56:00Z")
Hello –
Thanks for your reply ---- Yes you can use GUI in the apps/default settings, it hides much of the nuts ‘n bolts of the process
I am old school and use many of the command line tools, IE assoc and ftype that sets up the relationship
assoc sets up connection to the type/ext, IE .txt
.txt=myedit
then ftype connects the process to a program
myedit=C:\Program Files (x86)\Boxer Text Editor\b.exe “%1" “%2"
This is where the process get tricky ... I think that im my case I just set the arguments as %1 %2 — I think that when the system runs a program by context, type foo.txt at the command prompt it replaces %1 with foo.txt, but if the file in question was “foo bar.txt” then that is were the issue comes in with the blank in the file path ---- to that is why the arguments in the ftype settings have the quote (“) around each arguments
This why I would suggest that mp3tag have a setting for a editor of choice and to directly invoke the command with arguments as needed
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/11 "2026-03-08T19:02:23Z")
The problem you describe should appear with every program that uses the text-file association as a path with spaces could pop up in more or less any context.
What, if you use the windows means to associate the text files with your editor instead of only with the home-made command line?
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/cant-find-the-preview-txt-file/70838/12 "2026-03-15T19:02:48Z")
This topic was automatically closed 7 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.