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QuickLook

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<i>Instant File Previews, Just Press Space</i>

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The most powerful Quick Look implementation for Windows

<a href="https://trendshift.io/repositories/3258"> </a> <!-- Animated Badges --> <p> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/releases"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/releases"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/stargazers"> </a> <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/actions/workflows/msbuild.yml"> </a> <a href="https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/latest/runtime"> </a> </p> <!-- Hero Image with Modern Styling --> <!-- Quick Navigation with Icons --> <table> <tr> <td align="center" width="20%"> <a href="#-the-problem"> 
    <b>The Problem</b>
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  <a href="#-superpowers">
    

    <b>Superpowers</b>
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  <a href="#-get-started">
    

    <b>Get Started</b>
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  <a href="#-extend">
    

    <b>Extend</b>
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  <a href="#-community">
    

    <b>Community</b>
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๐Ÿ’ก The Problem

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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 <kbd>Space</kbd>. Instant preview. Any file.

Now Windows has it too. ๐ŸŽ‰

QuickLook brings that buttery-smooth, instant-preview experience to Windows. No more waiting. No more opening heavy applications just to peek at a document.

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WITHOUT QuickLook:
โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ 1. Double click โ”‚
โ”‚ 2. Wait...      โ”‚
โ”‚ 3. App loads    โ”‚
โ”‚ 4. View file    โ”‚
โ”‚ 5. Close app    โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜
   โฑ๏ธ ~10 seconds

WITH QuickLook:
โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ 1. Press SPACE  โ”‚
โ”‚ 2. Done! โœจ     โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜
   โšก ~0.2 seconds
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๐Ÿš€ Superpowers

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What Makes QuickLook Extraordinary

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โšก๏ธ Lightning Speed

Instant previews with zero lag

Native performance that feels like magic

Hardware-accelerated rendering

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๐ŸŽจ Gorgeous Design

Fluent Design System integration

Beautiful on 4K displays

Touch-optimized interface

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๐ŸŒˆ 100+ Formats

Images, videos, documents, code

3D models, archives, fonts

Extensible with plugins

</td> </tr> </table> <!-- Feature Grid with Modern Cards --> <table align="center" > <tr> <td width="50%">

๐Ÿ“ธ Visual Files

  • ๐Ÿ–ผ๏ธ Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, RAW)
  • ๐ŸŽฌ Videos (MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV)
  • ๐ŸŽจ Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (AI)
  • ๐Ÿ“ 3D Models (OBJ, STL, FBX)
  • ๐ŸŽญ Animated GIFs & APNGs

๐Ÿ“„ Documents

  • ๐Ÿ“ PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint
  • ๐Ÿ“‹ Text files with syntax highlighting
  • ๐Ÿ“Š Markdown with live rendering
  • ๐Ÿ“œ E-books (EPUB, MOBI)
  • ๐Ÿ“‘ Comics (CBZ, CBR)
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๐Ÿ’ป Developer Files

  • ๐Ÿ Python, JavaScript, C++, Rust
  • ๐ŸŒ HTML, CSS, JSON, XML
  • โš™๏ธ Config files (YAML, TOML, INI)
  • ๐Ÿ“ฆ Archives (ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR)
  • ๐Ÿ”ง Binary files with hex view

๐ŸŽต Media

  • ๐ŸŽต Audio (MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC)
  • ๐ŸŽผ Sheet music
  • ๐ŸŽจ Fonts (TTF, OTF, WOFF)
  • ๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ Vector graphics (SVG, EPS)
  • ๐Ÿ“น Subtitles (SRT, ASS)
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๐ŸŽฏ Works Everywhere

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File Explorer

Native integration

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Open/Save Dialogs

System-wide support

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3rd Party Managers

Total Commander, xplorerยฒ

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Cloud Storage

OneDrive, Dropbox ready

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๐Ÿ“ฆ Get Started

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Choose Your Adventure

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Microsoft Store

Recommended for most users

โœ… Automatic updates โœ… Sandboxed security โœ… One-click install

<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nv4bs3l1h4s"> </a>

<sub>โš ๏ธ Limited Open/Save dialog support</sub>

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Installer

Full-featured experience

โœ… Complete functionality โœ… Open/Save dialog support โœ… Portable option available

<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/releases"> </a>

<sub>๐Ÿ’Ž Get the full power</sub>

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Scoop

For command-line lovers

โœ… Easy updates โœ… Reproducible installs โœ… Version management

powershell
scoop bucket add extras
scoop install quicklook

<sub>๐Ÿค“ Power user choice</sub>

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Nightly

Live on the edge

โœ… Latest features โœ… Bug fixes first โš ๏ธ May be unstable

<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/releases/"> </a>

<sub>๐ŸŒ™ Experimental builds</sub>

</td> </tr> </table> <details> <summary><b>๐Ÿค” Not sure which version to choose?</b></summary>
FeatureStoreInstallerScoopNightly
Auto-updatesโœ…โš ๏ธโœ…โš ๏ธ
Open/Save dialogsโŒโœ…โœ…โœ…
Portable modeโŒโœ…โŒโœ…
Stabilityโœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…โœ…

๐Ÿ“– Read the full comparison

</details> </div>

โšก Quick Start in 10 Seconds

<table> <tr> <td width="50%"> 
Step 1๏ธโƒฃ  Install QuickLook
         โ†“
Step 2๏ธโƒฃ  It runs automatically
         โ†“
Step 3๏ธโƒฃ  Select any file
         โ†“
Step 4๏ธโƒฃ  Press SPACE
         โ†“
Step 5๏ธโƒฃ  ๐ŸŽ‰ Magic happens!
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๐Ÿ’ก 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!
</td> </tr> </table>

โŒจ๏ธ Master the Shortcuts

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Your New Superpowers

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๐ŸŽฎ Basic Controls

KeyAction
<kbd>Space</kbd>Toggle preview
<kbd>Esc</kbd> <kbd>Space</kbd>Close window
<kbd>Enter</kbd>Open file
<kbd>โ†‘</kbd> <kbd>โ†“</kbd>Next/Previous
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๐Ÿ” Navigation

KeyAction
<kbd>โ†</kbd> <kbd>โ†’</kbd>Navigate files
<kbd>Mouse Click</kbd>Select file
<kbd>Page Up</kbd> <kbd>Down</kbd>Scroll content
<kbd>Home</kbd> <kbd>End</kbd>Jump to start/end
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๐ŸŽจ Advanced

KeyAction
<kbd>Wheel</kbd>Zoom (images)
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Wheel</kbd>Zoom (PDFs)
<kbd>L-Click Drag</kbd>Rotate 3D
<kbd>M-Click Drag</kbd>Pan 3D
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๐Ÿ’ก Pro Tip: You can navigate files using arrow keys even when the preview window isn't focused!

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๐Ÿงฉ Extend

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Supercharge QuickLook with Plugins

Transform QuickLook into a universal file viewer

<!-- Featured Plugins Grid --> <table align="center"> <tr> <td align="center" width="50%">

OfficeViewer

Preview Word, Excel & PowerPoint files

No Microsoft Office required!

โœ… Native Office formats
โœ… Standalone viewer
โœ… Fast rendering
<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook.Plugin.OfficeViewer/releases"> </a> </td> <td align="center" width="50%">

PdfViewer-Native

Enhanced PDF viewing with WebView2

Modern, fast, feature-rich

โœ… Smooth scrolling
โœ… Search & annotations
โœ… Hardware acceleration
<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook.Plugin.PdfViewer-Native/releases"> </a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" width="50%">

PostScriptViewer

Preview .ps and .eps files

Perfect for designers

โœ… Vector rendering
โœ… High quality output
โœ… Professional formats
<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook.Plugin.PostScriptViewer/releases"> </a> </td> <td align="center" width="50%">

CADImport

View CAD files natively

.dwg, .dxf, .plt, .cgm

โœ… Engineering drawings
โœ… Architecture files
โœ… Technical diagrams
<a href="https://github.com/emako/QuickLook.Plugin.CADImport/releases"> </a> </td> </tr> </table>

๐Ÿ“ฆ How to Install or Upgrade Plugins

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1๏ธโƒฃ Download

Get the .qlplugin file

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2๏ธโƒฃ Install

Ensure QuickLook is currently running, select the file and press Spacebar.

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3๏ธโƒฃ Restart

Click on the Install button, then restart QuickLook.

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๐Ÿ“ฆ How to Remove Plugins

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1๏ธโƒฃ Quit

Quit QuickLook.

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2๏ธโƒฃ Navigate

Navigate to the Data location.

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3๏ธโƒฃ Remove

You should find several folders. Remove the one you do not want to use.

</td> </tr> </table> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki/Available-Plugins"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki/Available-Plugins#how-to-install-or-upgrade-a-plugin"> </a> </div>

๐Ÿ’– Community

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Join Thousands of Happy Users

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QQ Group

Join our Chinese community

371388501

<a href="https://qm.qq.com/q/KIczirznua"> </a> </td> <td align="center" width="33%">

Translate

Help QuickLook speak your language

Make it accessible

<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki/Translations"> </a> </td> <td align="center" width="33%">

Star Us

Show your support

It means a lot!

<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/stargazers"> </a> </td> </tr> </table>

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ป For Developers

Interested in contributing? Check out our development resources:

<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki"> </a> <a href="CodeMaid.config"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/issues"> </a> </div>

๐Ÿ™ Credits

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Built with Love by Amazing People

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Design Team

@OiCkilL @QubitsDev @Donno @Shomnipotence

Fluent UI & Icons

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Contributors

Our Amazing Team

Code, translations & ideas

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Open Source

Libraries We Use

Standing on giants

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You!

Every User Matters

Thank you for using QuickLook

</td> </tr> </table> </div>

๐Ÿ“œ License

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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.

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โญ Like QuickLook? Star the repo!

Your support keeps this project alive and improving

<a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/wiki"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/issues"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/releases"> </a>

<sub>Made with โค๏ธ by the QuickLook community</sub>

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