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Folder Quick Look is a deliciously simple and useful utility that should be part of macOS

Every now and then there is an app or utility whose usefulness is so obvious that you immediately think it ought to be part of macOS.

Folder Quick Look is a great example of this. It does one very simple job – and does it in a way that just seems like it has always been there …

While Steve Jobs was a great believer in the concept, it was Joe Sparano who said “good design is obvious, great design is transparent.” In other words, once a design exists, it seems completely obvious that it should always have been that way.

Apple’s Quick Look feature is something we likely all use all the time. Click on a file and hit spacebar to quickly see the content of it. Martin Lexow’s Folder Quick Look does exactly the same thing for folders, and I agree with John Gruber that it ought to be built into the Finder itself.

Simply install the app and then click on any folder or archive file, press the spacebar and you can immediately see what’s inside it – including the contents of subfolders. That’s it: nothing more, nothing less.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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