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Content file preview issues

Publiseringsdato: Jan 24, 2025
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Salesforce does not guarantee all file types and their contained features will properly generate previews in Content. The 'Previewing' section of the Salesforce CRM Content documentation outlines this limitation. Viewing and Editing Content Details mentions this limitation as well, and details which file types are currently supported for previewing.

Time to generate a file preview may be variable as the preview generation service is a shared resource as per The Salesforce Platform Multitenant Architecture. It's not possible to guarantee that a file preview will be available within a specific time frame and longer than usual preview generation time is commonly attributed to temporary increases in resource utilization. These occurrences are frequently resolved naturally as the increased work loads are processed and return to normal levels. It's recommended to monitor and check with users to see if the condition may improve over time. However, if your org continually sees longer than typical preview rendition for an extended period of time, please note specific dates and times in order to log a case and ask Support to reference the internal information section of this article for review.

It is recommended to thoroughly review the online version of all content to ensure you are happy with the quality of it. Then decide whether it should only be downloaded and viewed in its original file format.

When a Content file is uploaded to Salesforce, the application generates PDF versions of the file's contents which are then used to generate an SVG version of the file for the online preview.

 

Note: During the upload and conversion process it is not possible for Salesforce to guarantee that all the original file's formatting and features will be preserved in the online version used for Content previews.

Hyperforce doesn’t support the SVG file preview format. Any org hosted on Hyperforce defaults to JPG file preview format regardless of the org preference in Setup. For more information, please review What happened to SVG file previews? in Introducing Hyperforce - General Information & FAQ

 

Due to the architecture and tools used in the generation process, Salesforce does not have the ability to implement an application-side solution to directly address discrepancies you may find between the original file and the online version or preview.

This is not all inclusive, and the preview process is consistently being improved upon. So here is a list of Office and general file features that have been known to potentially cause issues in rendering Content previews. 

Audio and video files can be uploaded and downloaded, but not parsed or previewed. Video playback is browser-based. While it is true you can set it up to be executable in a browser, it is not supported for preview.




PowerPoint:

  • Slide transitions.
  • Animations.
  • Embedded references to other files.
  • Complex shapes containing gradients and several objects, like a dot graph for example.
  • Smart Art - disable those features in your file.
  • Avoid text areas with special formatting such as bullet points and custom spacing for example.
  • Avoid using obscure fonts.
  • Avoid using non-standard or custom page sizes.

PDF:
  • Large numbers of pages. Exact number is dependent on their content but if the count is high (100+) it may cause the preview generation process to timeout.
 
Note: The number of pages generally has more impact on preview generation than actual file size. Although the file may be under the recommended 25 MB limit, the process may not be able to generate a preview.
 
  • A large number of shapes may cause the file to be too complex to render.
  • Check boxes or interactive forms do not always render properly in preview mode.
  • Scanned documents with multiple shading gradients and complex shapes.
  • Dynamic/Interactive PDF such as XFA PDF cannot be previewed in All interfaces and thus is not supported. This type of file needs to be downloaded by you in order to view it properly.
  • PDFs that have security encryption or are password protected will not generate previews in Hyperforce instance orgs. 

Word:
  • Embedded references to other files.
  • Obscure fonts.
  • Custom spacing, page sizes, margins.
  • Bullets and multiple list levels.
  • Microsoft Word field codes

Excel:
  • Special formatting such as complex tables, embedded charts, and shading.
  • Hidden columns or rows.
  • Tables or cell formatting that extends beyond the data set unnecessarily.
  • Formulas

TXT:
  • Text or .txt files that are close to or larger than 524 KB will not generate previews. 

General:
  • Hyperlinks to URLs in all file types are unsupported, and generally will not be clickable within the file's preview.
Løsning


    Resolve unexpected issues found in Content previews

     
     
    • If regeneration is unsuccessful, upload an entirely new version of the file to see if the issue persists.
     
    • If you're consistently seeing formatting or display issues in the online version, make note of where they are occurring in the file. Open the file in it's original format and program to review the specific areas or attributes. You may find an unexpected formatting discrepancy at the file level that's causing the preview to render incorrectly. If you do find an unexpected discrepancy or formatting issue correct it, save the file, and attempt an upload with the new version.
     
    ​For example, if there is an issue with bullets and numbering in a Word file's preview, check to see if it may be caused by an issue within the Word document itself. If you open the file in Word, you may find that the numbering's list level formatting is not properly carrying over to the next section where the preview issue is apparent. Identifying and correcting potential inconsistencies like this may fix the preview.
     
    • If it is essential that you have the content in an online version, consider removing or modifying the file's affected features to potentially improve the outcome of the rendition process. For example, change bullets to dashes, use default page formatting. Change complex shading to solid colors, reduce image sizes, and/or convert .png images to a simpler format such as .jpg, if possible. And use standard fonts.
     
    • If your document was scanned you may attempt to re-save it as a simplified PDF by opening it in Microsoft Word and selecting File | Save As | Save as type: PDF and then select the Optimize for: 'Minimum size (publishing online)' option and Save. See Optimizing PDFs for externally available recommendations to clean up, and simplify scanned documents in order to allow preview generation to be more successful.
     
    • If you're unable to address the issue by correcting discrepancies or formatting issues within the file itself, consider saving them directly as a PDF from within Office via the File | Save As...| PDF or XPS option. Carefully review the new PDF version of the file to ensure the formatting is correct, and upload the PDF version. This may allow file attributes that were not rendered properly in the preview when uploading in the original file format to be corrected by uploading it as a PDF, by performing the PDF conversion step of the preview process locally.
     
    • If possible, you may also try saving the file as a previous or older office file type. Then attempt to upload that version, to see if the preview issue persists.
     
    • If the 'Preview Unavailable' message is being returned for a PDF file, try saving the file as PDF version 1.3 or 1.4. At this time, Salesforce Content preview is not always supported for PDF files saved as version 1.5 or later.
     
    Note: There are several Ideas available for promotion on our IdeaExchange, so that we may see the Content file preview functionality extended and improved upon with future releases.
     

    See also:

    Knowledge-artikkelnummer

    000387545

     
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    Salesforce Help | Article