Pro Tip: See full-screen Quick Look slideshows in macOS Finder

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projector Quick Look slideshows
You don't need a projector to do a slideshow.
Photo: Kali Motxo/Flickr CC

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugQuick Look is one of the Finder’s best features. Whenever you have a file selected in the Finder, just hit the space bar and you’ll see a preview of that file. It’s a great way to quickly view photos, or read the contents of a document, without opening it in an app.

But did you know you can pull up full-screen Quick Look slideshows just as easily?

Full screen Quick Look slideshows in Finder

To get a full-screen slideshow in the Finder, select the photos you want to see, then hit the option (⌥) key while tapping the space bar. Now, instead of seeing the images in a floating window, you get a full-screen slideshow, complete with a bezel containing more controls.

The Quick Look index view is super handy on a big screen. The Quick Look index view is super-handy on a big screen.

Some of you may already have Option-Space set as a shortcut for another feature — Spotlight, for example. In this case, you can use the other default Quick Look full-screen shortcut: Command-Option-Y.

To leave the full-screen view, hit Escape. You can also enter the full-screen view from the regular Quick Look window by clicking the full-screen icon at the top left corner of the window.

To navigate the slide show, use the arrow keys. To see an overview of all the pictures on a grid, use the mouse or trackpad to click the little grid icon.

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