Mac Tip: Spotlight Preview (Quick Look) In Mac OS X Lion

This Mac tip is provided by Mark Greentree and was originally posted on Mark’s blog – Everyday Mac Support. For more of Mark’s tips visit his site, follow him on Twitter, or browse his archive of posts here.


How To: Spotlight Preview (Quick Look) In Mac OS X Lion

A new feature added to Spotlight in Mac OS X Lion is the ability to preview a file, any supported file, in a breakout window as shown above.

You will notice the file presented at the beginning of the article is a still image. Below you will notice the video from which the frame above came from. You will also note the small play button in the middle of the preview below. Simply click and the video clip will start playing.

When in this view should you hold down the “Command” button on your keyboard whilst the preview is being presented you will be shown the file name underneath the preview and then a few seconds later that will change and will present the exact directory location of the file in order to help you navigate to it’s location.

This is not only limited to multimedia files. You can view spreadsheets and documents by using the same method.

Mark Greentree

Mark Greentree is the principle blogger and podcast creator of Everyday Mac Support. His aim is to inform users at all levels of experience how to get the most out of the Apple hardware and associated software. He is the lead host of Not Another Mac Podcast, an Apple based round table discussion with Mac users and experts from all over world.