[Tip] How to Preview or Edit Registry Files before Applying in Windows 10 and 11

If you downloaded a Registry script (.REG) file from a website and you want to first see the preview of the Registry changes before actually applying the Registry file in your Windows device, a small Registry Preview tool released by Microsoft will help you.

Many times Windows users download Registry files from Internet to make changes to Windows operating system. We here at AskVG also provide ready-made Registry scripts to automatically apply changes to Windows Registry in our tweaking articles.

Registry files make Windows users life easier as they don’t need to manually navigate to various keys and apply changes in Registry Editor (regedit). Registry files automatically write or make changes to Windows Registry based on the code present inside them.

Registry files contain .REG file extension and can be easily imported in Registry by double-clicking on the file. Advanced users can edit the .REG file in Notepad and check their code before merging the file in Registry.

But basic users who don’t have much knowledge of the code, find it difficult to understand the code and what changes the downloaded Registry file is going to make in their Windows device. They are not sure whether to apply the Registry script or not.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a utility which can show you a visual preview of Registry changes which a Registry file will make in your computer system? Fortunately Microsoft has released an official Registry Preview tool for Windows users to preview or edit Registry files before implementing them.

Registry Preview is a small utility which comes bundled with official PowerToys tool available for Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems. PowerToys is a collection of useful utilities available for Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems. These utilities help Windows users in tweaking and customizing Windows functionality.

To use Registry Preview tool, you’ll need to download and install PowerToys in your Windows 10 or Windows 11 device. You can download PowerToys for free using following article:

[Software Update] Download Microsoft PowerToys for Windows 10 and Windows 11

After downloading, install PowerToys and you’ll get all available utilities. In this article, we’ll discuss about Registry Preview tool.

You can open and use Registry Preview tool using Registry Preview tab or section present in left-side pane of PowerToys window.

Alternatively, right-click on the downloaded Registry (.REG) file and you’ll get a new “Preview” option present in the context menu.

Select the Preview option and Windows will launch Registry Preview tool showing a preview of the .REG file.

Now you can easily understand which key will be modified in Registry Editor by the Registry file and which DWORD or String values will be created, changed or deleted by the Registry file.

Following screenshot shows Registry Preview tool live in action:

You can also edit the Registry file and save the changes using the Registry Preview tool.

The tool also allows you to write the changes to Windows Registry. You just need to click on “Write to Registry” button and Windows will apply changes to Registry.

Registry Preview tool is an excellent tool provided by Microsoft for Windows users. It’ll definitely help Windows users in checking the preview of Registry files before applying them in their Windows devices.

You can also check out other useful PowerToys utilities mentioned in following articles:

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