Binary data "View" button doesn't appear

Questions
1

Describe the problem/error/question

I’m trying to set up a workflow in which the user uploads a file via a form. But I can’t seem to be able to do anything with that file. I tested the execution, uploading a file, and it appears the binary data but there’s only the “Download” button, but not the “View” button.

I’m still on my trial period, if that affects somehow.

Please share your workflow

Share the output returned by the last node

[
  {
  "Proveedor":  "Proveedor 1",
  "Factura": [
      {
         "filename": "TitulosNoUniversitarios (1).pdf",
         "mimetype": "application/pdf",
         "size": 171560
      }
   ],
   "submittedAt": "2026-06-16T18:43:43.987+02:00",
   "formMode": "test"
   }
]

Information on your n8n setup

  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Web app (Opera GX)
  • Operating system: Windows
2

Hi @Xesa, that’s actually expected behavior, not a bug. n8n only shows “View” for types it can preview inline (images), and PDFs never get an inline preview, so you only get “Download.” Download working means your binary is intact and keyed correctly, so the View button isn’t your blocker.

What will actually stop you is downstream: your OpenAI “Analyze image” node has an empty Binary Property field, and gpt-image-1 is an image-generation model, not one that reads documents. What are you trying to do with the invoice, pull out its text/fields, or have an AI read it? That decides the right nodes.

3

Hello, thanks for your reply.

I’m trying to analyze the file, whether it’s an image or a pdf file. The thing is that I don’t know what to put in the “Binary File” field. I tried the following:

  • data
  • {{ $('Convert to File') }}
  • {{ $('Convert to File').item }}
  • {{ $('Convert to File').item.binary }}
  • {{ $('Convert to File').item.json }}

As for the model I’ve changed it to GPT-4.1, GPT-5 and others.

In every case, a message on the bottom of the screen appears saying:

Node was not executed
The execution took a different path and didn’t reach this node. This typically happens with conditional nodes like If or Switch.

4

@Xesa the “Binary Property” field takes a plain name as text, not an expression, so just data, no curly braces. And “node was not executed” means run the whole workflow from the form (submit a test file), not that node alone, or no binary reaches it.

Bigger issue: gpt-image-1 generates images, it can’t read them. Swap it for a vision model (gpt-4o) on Analyze image. Vision reads images, not PDFs, so if the upload is a PDF, use Extract from File (Extract from PDF) to get the text and send that to the AI. Image or PDF? Tell me and I’ll post the exact setup.