Previewing Documents

In this lesson for macOS Mojave, I look at the different options we have for previewing files in a Finder window on the Mac.

Viewing as Icons
When you are looking at your files ina Finder window, you can view a preview of the document by viewing them as icons. Go to View in the toolbar and select the first option. All of your files will show as an icon, and the icon gives you a preview of the document. To change the size of the icon, go under View in the Menu Bar and select Show View Options. A new window will open with an option to make the icons larger.

Show Preview in a Finder Window
You can also show a preview in the Finder window. To turn this on, select Show Preview under View in the Menu Bar. You will see a new column in your Finder window. Once you select a file, the preview for that file will show in this column.

Using Quick Look
This is my favorite way to preview a file – using Quick Look. To use Quick Look, select the file you want to preview, then tap the spacebar on your keyboard. A new window will open with a preview of your document. To close the window, tap the spacebar again.

See this Lesson Action
To see this lesson in action, take a look at the video above.