How to use Quick Look on a Mac

In short

Click a file once in the Finder or on the desktop and press the Space bar. A Quick Look preview opens without starting an app. Press the Space bar again, or Esc, to close it.

8 of 8 steps show a real screenshot from our MacBook Neo.

Steps

1. 1

   Select the file

   Click it once in a Finder window or on the desktop so its name is highlighted. You can select several files.

   Apple says Quick Look also works on attachments in Mail and Messages.

   Done
   
2. 2

   Press the Space bar

   The preview window opens with the file name at the top, here Photo 1.jpg.

   If you selected several files, Apple says the last one you selected is shown first.

   Done
   
3. 3

   Look through several files

   With two or more files selected, click the ‹ and › arrows next to the file name, or press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key.

   On our MacBook Neo, macOS 27 shows only the arrows, with no count such as "1 of 2" in the title.

   Done
   
4. 4

   See all the files as a grid

   Click the grid button at the top, or press Command and Return.

   On our MacBook Neo the grid button sits at the top, just left of Markup.

   Done
   
5. 5

   Make it larger

   Click the full screen button, the second round button at the top left, next to Close.

   On our MacBook Neo, the full-screen view had a bar at the bottom with three buttons: Share, exit full screen and Close. Click the middle one to go back.

   Done
   
6. 6

   Make a quick change

   For a picture, click Rotate to turn it, or Markup to draw on it.

   Apple says video and sound files get a Trim button instead, and Done appears once you start editing; click Done to keep the change.

   Done
   
7. 7

   Open or share the file

   Click the Open with button to open the file in its usual app. On our MacBook Neo it read Open with Preview for a JPEG.

   Click the Share button to send it. Our Share menu showed "JPEG Image · 101 KB" and listed AirDrop, Mail, Messages, Notes, Add to Photos, Freeform, Journal, Reminders and Copy.

   Done
   
8. 8

   Close the preview

   Click the Close button at the top left, or press the Space bar or Esc.

   Done
   

If you do not see this option

• No arrows or grid button at the top They only appear when two or more files are selected. With one file, the top bar shows just Markup, Rotate, Share and Open with.
• No Trim button A photo preview shows only Markup and Rotate. Apple says Trim appears for video and sound files. Source: View and edit files with Quick Look on Mac
• The Open with button names a different app It names the app the file normally opens in. For our JPEG it read Open with Preview.

If this does not work

• Nothing happens when you press Space Click the file once first so its name is highlighted, then press the Space bar.
• The preview will not close Press Esc, press the Space bar again, or click the Close button at the top left.
• You are stuck in full screen Move the pointer to the bottom of the screen and click the middle button in the bar to exit full screen, or the right one to close.

Good to know

The Rotate button turns a picture to the left. Hold the Option key and it turns to the right instead.

With several files in full screen, the Play button shows them as a slideshow.

In a photo, Control-click the picture and choose Copy Subject to copy the main subject without its background.

macOS 27 compared with macOS 26: We rewrote this guide on macOS 27.0.1 (MacBook Neo): it now has 8 steps instead of 7. The macOS 26 page keeps the steps and screenshots as they were.

Version history: the macOS 26 version of this guide, with its own screenshots.

About this guide

Device

Mac

Shown on

macOS 27.0.1 (MacBook Neo)

App

Finder

Real screenshots

8 of 8 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Sources

• Apple Support: View and edit files with Quick Look on Mac

Links checked October 2026. Menus and features can change with updates.

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