How to Use Quick Look on Mac

Step by step

1. 15 sec

   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.

   Note: You can also select multiple files by holding Command while clicking each file.
2. 10 sec

   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.

   Note: Alternative method: Press Command + Y or click the Quick Look button in the Finder toolbar.
3. 15 sec

   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.

   Note: You can also click the arrow buttons in the Quick Look window or swipe left/right on a trackpad.
4. 20 sec

   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.

   Note: Press Command + Plus or Command + Minus to zoom in and out of any preview.
5. 15 sec

   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.

   Note: Press Command + C while in Quick Look to copy the selected file to your clipboard.
6. 10 sec

   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.

   Note: Press Escape twice to exit both full-screen mode and Quick Look in one action.
7. 5 sec

   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.

   Note: Clicking outside the Quick Look window also closes it automatically.