QuickLook README

The project's README from github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook. As one markdown file: README.md.

QuickLook Logo

QuickLook

Instant File Previews, Just Press Space

The most powerful Quick Look implementation for Windows

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QuickLook Preview




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


Microsoft Store

⚠️ Limited Open/Save dialog support

Installer

Full-featured experience

✅ Complete functionality ✅ Open/Save dialog support ✅ Portable option available


Latest Release

💎 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


Nightly Builds

🌙 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
Download

PdfViewer-Native

Enhanced PDF viewing with WebView2

Modern, fast, feature-rich


✅ Smooth scrolling
✅ Search & annotations
✅ Hardware acceleration
Download

PostScriptViewer

Preview .ps and .eps files

Perfect for designers


✅ Vector rendering
✅ High quality output
✅ Professional formats
Download

CADImport

View CAD files natively

.dwg, .dxf, .plt, .cgm


✅ Engineering drawings
✅ Architecture files
✅ Technical diagrams
Download

📦 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.

Browse Plugins Installation Guide

💖 Community

Join Thousands of Happy Users


QQ Group

Join our Chinese community

371388501


QQ Group

Translate

Help QuickLook speak your language

Make it accessible


Translations

Star Us

Show your support

It means a lot!


Star us

👨‍💻 For Developers

Interested in contributing? Check out our development resources:

Wiki Code Style Issues

🙏 Credits

Built with Love by Amazing People


Design Team

@OiCkilL @QubitsDev @Donno @Shomnipotence

Fluent UI & Icons

Contributors

Our Amazing Team

Code, translations & ideas

Open Source

Libraries We Use

Standing on giants

You!

Every User Matters

Thank you for using QuickLook

📜 License


GPL v3



QuickLook is free and open source under GPL-3.0

*Free software, free f

QuickLook (QL-Win/QuickLook)

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25.4K ·GitHub
QuickLook
What is this?QuickLook brings macOS's 'Quick Look' feature to Windows: select any file in File Explorer, press Space, and get an instant preview without opening a full application.
Is this a standalone app, or does it only work through plugins?It's a standalone Windows desktop utility that sits in the system tray and hooks into File Explorer; its format coverage can be extended further by installing separate .qlplugin files.
How do I install and start using it?Install via the Microsoft Store, the standalone Installer, or Scoop (`scoop install quicklook`); once running, it sits in the system tray, and pressing Space on a selected file in File Explorer opens the preview.
Do I need Microsoft Office or other software installed to preview documents?No - the OfficeViewer plugin previews Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files without Office installed, and the base app has no other listed dependencies beyond Windows itself.
Do all the install options work the same way?They differ: the Microsoft Store build is sandboxed with automatic updates but has limited Open/Save dialog support, while the Installer and Scoop builds have full dialog support; Nightly builds get fixes first but may be unstable.
What file formats can QuickLook preview out of the box?It covers 100+ formats including images (JPEG, PNG, WebP, RAW), videos, PDFs, Office documents, Markdown, e-books, comics, 3D models (OBJ, STL, FBX), syntax-highlighted code, audio, fonts, and archives.
What official plugins are available to extend it?OfficeViewer previews Word/Excel/PowerPoint without needing Office, PdfViewer-Native gives enhanced WebView2-based PDF viewing, PostScriptViewer handles .ps/.eps files, and CADImport natively views .dwg, .dxf, .plt, and .cgm files.
How do I install or remove a plugin?Download the .qlplugin file, make sure QuickLook is running, select the file and press Space, then click Install and restart QuickLook; to remove one, quit QuickLook, go to the Data location, and delete the plugin's folder.
Does it work with file managers other than Explorer?Yes - besides native File Explorer and Open/Save dialog integration, it works with cloud storage like OneDrive and Dropbox and third-party managers such as Total Commander and xplorer2.
What are similar projects?Flow.Launcher, DeskBox, BibaYanji, KillerPDF, FileConverter, forel, StarPie, netch
Which topics is it in?productivity-tools, file-manager, image, dotnet, plugin-system, c#, windows-app, video, pdf, utility, plugin, desktop
Creator
QL-Win
Size
339.9 MB
Stars
25.4K
Updated
CommitOct 14Release4.5.0Apr 14
Age
9y
Commits · 90 Days