QuickLook
💡 The Problem
Ever wished Windows had macOS's Quick Look?
You know the drill: you want to peek at a file, so you double-click, wait for an app to launch, view the file, close the app... exhausting, right?
macOS users? They just press Space. Instant preview. Any file.
Now Windows has it too. 🎉
QuickLook brings that buttery-smooth, instant-preview experience to Windows. No more waiting. No more opening heavy applications just to peek at a document.
WITHOUT QuickLook:
┌─────────────────┐
│ 1. Double click │
│ 2. Wait... │
│ 3. App loads │
│ 4. View file │
│ 5. Close app │
└─────────────────┘
⏱️ ~10 seconds
WITH QuickLook:
┌─────────────────┐
│ 1. Press SPACE │
│ 2. Done! ✨ │
└─────────────────┘
⚡ ~0.2 seconds
🚀 Superpowers
What Makes QuickLook Extraordinary
⚡️ Lightning Speed
Instant previews with zero lag
Native performance that feels like magic
Hardware-accelerated rendering
🎨 Gorgeous Design
Fluent Design System integration
Beautiful on 4K displays
Touch-optimized interface
🌈 100+ Formats
Images, videos, documents, code
3D models, archives, fonts
Extensible with plugins
📸 Visual Files
- 🖼️ Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, RAW)
- 🎬 Videos (MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV)
- 🎨 Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (AI)
- 📐 3D Models (OBJ, STL, FBX)
- 🎭 Animated GIFs & APNGs
📄 Documents
- 📝 PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- 📋 Text files with syntax highlighting
- 📊 Markdown with live rendering
- 📜 E-books (EPUB, MOBI)
- 📑 Comics (CBZ, CBR)
💻 Developer Files
- 🐍 Python, JavaScript, C++, Rust
- 🌐 HTML, CSS, JSON, XML
- ⚙️ Config files (YAML, TOML, INI)
- 📦 Archives (ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR)
- 🔧 Binary files with hex view
🎵 Media
- 🎵 Audio (MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC)
- 🎼 Sheet music
- 🎨 Fonts (TTF, OTF, WOFF)
- 🖌️ Vector graphics (SVG, EPS)
- 📹 Subtitles (SRT, ASS)
🎯 Works Everywhere
File Explorer
Native integration
Open/Save Dialogs
System-wide support
3rd Party Managers
Total Commander, xplorer²
Cloud Storage
OneDrive, Dropbox ready
📦 Get Started
Choose Your Adventure
Microsoft Store
Recommended for most users
✅ Automatic updates
✅ Sandboxed security
✅ One-click install
⚠️ Limited Open/Save dialog support
Installer
Full-featured experience
✅ Complete functionality
✅ Open/Save dialog support
✅ Portable option available
💎 Get the full power
Scoop
For command-line lovers
✅ Easy updates
✅ Reproducible installs
✅ Version management
scoop bucket add extras
scoop install quicklook
🤓 Power user choice
Nightly
Live on the edge
✅ Latest features
✅ Bug fixes first
⚠️ May be unstable
🌙 Experimental builds
🤔 Not sure which version to choose?
| Feature | Store | Installer | Scoop | Nightly |
|---|
| Auto-updates | ✅ | ⚠️ | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Open/Save dialogs | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Portable mode | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Stability | ✅✅✅ | ✅✅✅ | ✅✅✅ | ✅✅ |
📖 Read the full comparison
⚡ Quick Start in 10 Seconds
Step 1️⃣ Install QuickLook
↓
Step 2️⃣ It runs automatically
↓
Step 3️⃣ Select any file
↓
Step 4️⃣ Press SPACE
↓
Step 5️⃣ 🎉 Magic happens!
💡 Pro Tips:
- QuickLook lives in your system tray
- Works with any file in File Explorer
- Use arrow keys to preview multiple files
- Press
Esc or Space again to close
- Drag files directly from the preview!
⌨️ Master the Shortcuts
Your New Superpowers
🎮 Basic Controls
| Key | Action |
|---|
| Space | Toggle preview |
| Esc Space | Close window |
| Enter | Open file |
| ↑ ↓ | Next/Previous |
🔍 Navigation
| Key | Action |
|---|
| ← → | Navigate files |
| Mouse Click | Select file |
| Page Up Down | Scroll content |
| Home End | Jump to start/end |
🎨 Advanced
| Key | Action |
|---|
| Wheel | Zoom (images) |
| Ctrl+Wheel | Zoom (PDFs) |
| L-Click Drag | Rotate 3D |
| M-Click Drag | Pan 3D |
> 💡 Pro Tip: You can navigate files using arrow keys even when the preview window isn't focused!
🧩 Extend
Supercharge QuickLook with Plugins
Transform QuickLook into a universal file viewer
OfficeViewer
Preview Word, Excel & PowerPoint files
No Microsoft Office required!
✅ Native Office formats
✅ Standalone viewer
✅ Fast rendering
PdfViewer-Native
Enhanced PDF viewing with WebView2
Modern, fast, feature-rich
✅ Smooth scrolling
✅ Search & annotations
✅ Hardware acceleration
PostScriptViewer
Preview .ps and .eps files
Perfect for designers
✅ Vector rendering
✅ High quality output
✅ Professional formats
CADImport
View CAD files natively
.dwg, .dxf, .plt, .cgm
✅ Engineering drawings
✅ Architecture files
✅ Technical diagrams
📦 How to Install or Upgrade Plugins
1️⃣ Download
Get the .qlplugin file
2️⃣ Install
Ensure QuickLook is currently running, select the file and press Spacebar.
3️⃣ Restart
Click on the Install button, then restart QuickLook.
📦 How to Remove Plugins
1️⃣ Quit
Quit QuickLook.
2️⃣ Navigate
Navigate to the Data location.
3️⃣ Remove
You should find several folders. Remove the one you do not want to use.
💖 Community
Join Thousands of Happy Users
QQ Group
Join our Chinese community
371388501
Translate
Help QuickLook speak your language
Make it accessible
Star Us
Show your support
It means a lot!
👨💻 For Developers
Interested in contributing? Check out our development resources:
🙏 Credits
📜 License
QuickLook is free and open source under GPL-3.0
Free software, free forever. No ads, no tracking, no premium tiers.
Need commercial licensing? Contact us for sublicensing options.
Instant File Previews, Just Press Space
