If you want to disable the preview pane in Windows 7 that might be a bit annoying sometimes, you can simply hide it or disable it completely through the registry.
Preview Pane Shortcut
As mentioned in this guide (How to preview pictures in Windows 7), there’s a handy shortcut that allows you to quickly enable/disable the preview pane in Windows 7:
ALT + P (for preview)
Disable Preview Pane via Windows Explorer
1. Step Open the Windows Explorer (Windows key + E)
2. Step Now, on the right side at the top, there’s a square icon with two lines at the top… that’s the icon to hide the preview pane:
Disable Preview Pane via Registry
1. Step Open a notepad and copy and paste the following text:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Modules\GlobalSettings\Sizer]
“ReadingPaneSizer”=hex:6e,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,0c,03,00,00
2. Step Save it as a .reg file and select “All files” from the dropdown when you save the file.
3. StepDouble-click on the newly created registry file to add this registry key and disable the preview pane completely.
4. Step Reboot.