diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerHex.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerHex.java
index a7a97e4b75..7a4df69e9d 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerHex.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerHex.java
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ public class DataContentViewerHex extends javax.swing.JPanel implements DataCont
             return;
         }
 
-        Content content = (selectedNode).getLookup().lookup(Content.class);
+        Content content = DataContentViewerUtility.getDefaultContent(selectedNode);
         if (content == null) {
             resetComponent();
             return;
diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerString.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerString.java
index 14cb2eb2c1..936ff3c46b 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerString.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerString.java
@@ -452,8 +452,7 @@ public class DataContentViewerString extends javax.swing.JPanel implements DataC
             return;
         }
 
-        Lookup lookup = selectedNode.getLookup();
-        Content content = lookup.lookup(Content.class);
+        Content content = DataContentViewerUtility.getDefaultContent(selectedNode);
         if (content != null) {
             this.setDataView(content, 0);
             return;
diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerUtility.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerUtility.java
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..53491b407e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/DataContentViewerUtility.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Autopsy Forensic Browser
+ * 
+ * Copyright 2018 Basis Technology Corp.
+ * Contact: carrier <at> sleuthkit <dot> org
+ * 
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.sleuthkit.autopsy.corecomponents;
+
+import org.sleuthkit.datamodel.Content;
+import org.openide.nodes.Node;
+import org.sleuthkit.datamodel.BlackboardArtifact;
+
+/**
+ * Utility classes for content viewers.
+ * In theory, this would live in the contentviewer package,
+ * but the initial method was needed only be viewers in 
+ * corecomponents and therefore can stay out of public API.
+ */
+class DataContentViewerUtility {
+    /**
+     * Returns the first non-Blackboard Artifact from a Node.
+     * Needed for (at least) Hex and Strings that want to view
+     * all types of content (not just AbstractFile), but don't want
+     * to display an artifact unless that's the only thing there. 
+     * Scenario is hash hit or interesting item hit.
+     * 
+     * @param node Node passed into content viewer
+     * @return highest priority content or null if there is no content
+     */
+    static Content getDefaultContent(Node node) {
+        Content bbContentSeen = null;
+        for (Content content :  (node).getLookup().lookupAll(Content.class)) {
+            if (content instanceof BlackboardArtifact) {
+                bbContentSeen = content;
+            }
+            else {
+                return content;
+            }
+        }
+        return bbContentSeen;
+    }
+}