How to Use Quick Look on Mac

Master Quick Look on Mac to preview files instantly without opening applications. Learn keyboard shortcuts, gestures, and advanced features.

1. Select a file in Finder. Open Finder and navigate to any folder containing files. Click once on any file to select it. The file will be highlighted in blue to indicate it's selected.
2. Press Space to open Quick Look. With a file selected, press the Space bar on your keyboard. Quick Look opens immediately in a floating window showing a preview of the file content.
3. Navigate between multiple files. Use the left and right arrow keys to preview other files in the same folder. Quick Look automatically moves to the next or previous file without closing the preview window.
4. Interact with preview content. For PDFs and documents, scroll to view multiple pages. For images, use the zoom controls or pinch gestures on trackpad. Videos and audio files display playback controls automatically.
5. Use Quick Look actions. Click the share button in the top-right corner to email, message, or save files to other locations. Some file types show additional options like rotating images or extracting text from PDFs.
6. Enable full-screen mode. Click the full-screen button in the top-right corner of the Quick Look window, or press Command + Control + F. Full-screen mode provides maximum viewing area for detailed file inspection.
7. Close Quick Look. Press Space again, press Escape, or click the X button in the top-left corner of the Quick Look window. The preview closes and returns you to the standard Finder view.