How to Get Apple’s Quick Look Feature on Windows 10
Windows: Even if you’re the biggest Microsoft fan in the world, you have to admit that Apple’s ” Quick Look ” feature for macOS is pretty handy. If you’re so puristic that you haven’t even touched a Mac in the past decade or so, here’s a quick introduction: you click a file. You press spacebar. A preview of the item appears — for example, a photo, PDF content, and so on. It’s a great way to get a quick glimpse of something without wasting time downloading the real application.
In Windows 10, unfortunately, there is no such trick built into the operating system. One quick download from the Windows Store, however, and you’ll be previewing (most) of the files just like your Mac friends.
The cleverly named QuickLook Windows app is completely free. Install it, run it, and you’ll be able to preview “certain file types” – the developer doesn’t specify – by highlighting them in Explorer and hitting the spacebar to open the preview. (Don’t hold it; tap it.) And tap the space bar again to close the preview. It is so simple. The application automatically starts every time Windows starts, which is necessary for its main function to work.
Once QuickLook is open, you can also dock the window in front of everything else, and clicking on any other files will automatically bring up a preview. This is great if you have a bunch of files that you want to view.
A quick note for those using the smaller Windows 10 S operating system . QuickLook won’t do anything for you, so don’t worry about installing. Also, update your operating system already. Then install QuickLook and enjoy its usefulness.
Do you have a Windows app (paid or free) that you really like? Tell us about it: david.murphy@lifehacker.com .