# QuickLook

Instant File Previews, Just Press Space

**The most powerful Quick Look implementation for Windows**

The Problem

Superpowers

Get Started

Extend

Community

--- ## 💡 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
```powershell 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](https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki/Differences-Between-Distributions)

### ⚡ 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](https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki/Differences-Between-Distributions#user-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

### Built with Love by Amazing People

**Design Team** [@OiCkilL](https://twitter.com/OiCkilL) [@QubitsDev](https://twitter.com/qubitsdev) [Donno](https://github.com/Donnnno) *Fluent UI & Icons*

**Contributors** [Our Amazing Team](https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/graphs/contributors) *Code, translations & ideas*

**Open Source** [Libraries We Use](https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki/On-the-Shoulders-of-Giants) *Standing on giants*

**You!** Every User Matters *Thank you for using QuickLook*

--- ## 📜 License

**QuickLook is free and open source under [GPL-3.0](https://opensource.org/licenses/GPL-3.0)** *Free software, free forever. No ads, no tracking, no premium tiers.*
**Need commercial licensing?** Contact us for sublicensing options.

---

## ⭐ Like QuickLook? Star the repo! **Your support keeps this project alive and improving**

_{Made with ❤️ by the QuickLook community}

### 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 ```