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Quick Preview lets you preview files in the Finder. However, you can also do other things with it, such as rotate and edit images, cut videos, browse documents and select text to copy, display multiple files as an index or slideshow, and much more.

Working with the Quick View window

A surprisingly small number of users know that you can also move the Quick View window around and even resize it. First, you can quickly preview the selected file by selecting the desired file with one mouse click and then pressing the space bar. If you want to change the size of the Quick View window, point the mouse cursor to one of its corners. When the cursor changes to a double arrow, you can drag to resize the window. To change the position of the quick view window, point the mouse cursor to one of its edges, click, hold and drag.

Preview files on iCloud

Have you ever wanted to see a quick preview of a selected file, only to see an icon preview instead? This happens when you try to preview files that are on iCloud instead of your Mac's local storage. To display a quick preview, first download the given file by clicking on the cloud icon with an arrow. Once the file is downloaded to your computer, you can use Quick Preview as you normally would.

Quick preview of multiple files

On Mac, you can also use Quick Preview for multiple files at once. First, select all the files you want to preview quickly and press the space bar as you normally would. You will see a preview of only one of the files, but if you click on the arrows in the upper part of the window of this preview, you can easily and quickly move between individual previews.

Image editing

You can also work with images in Quick View on Mac. First, click to select the image you want to work with, then press the space bar to quickly preview it. On the right side of the bar at the top of the preview window, you can rotate, annotate, share, or open the selected image in the native Preview application.

Open in alternate application

There are several ways to open a selected file in a different application than the one it is associated with by default on the Mac. One is to right-click the file and then click Open in Application from the menu. But you can also open the file in an alternative application from the quick preview. First, mark the selected file with the mouse and press the space bar to display its quick preview. In the upper right corner of the preview window, you will find a button with the name of the default application. If you right-click on this button, you will see a menu with an offer of alternative applications in which the given file can be opened.

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