# Quick Look extension

hypershot ships a Quick Look thumbnail extension so Finder can show previews
of your `.hypercapture` captures — in icon and column views, and when you
select one and press **Space** — without opening anything. (Exported images
like PNG and JPEG are previewed by macOS itself.)

## Enabling it

macOS does not prompt for this permission, and apps can't request it — it's a
manual toggle:

1. Open **System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Quick Look**
   (on macOS 14: **System Settings → Privacy & Security → Extensions → Quick
   Look**). On macOS, **Show Permissions Setup** in the menu bar menu has a
   Quick Look step with a button that opens this page
2. Find **hypershot** in the list and make sure it's turned on

If hypershot isn't in the list at all, launch hypershot once, then reopen
System Settings — extensions register on first run.

## If you denied it earlier

Denied here doesn't mean a dialog was clicked away — it means the extension's
checkbox is off (or was off when you looked). Re-enable it exactly as above.

> **A reboot may be required.** macOS occasionally caches extension state, and
> some users report the toggle not taking effect until after a restart. If
> Finder still won't preview hypershot files after enabling, reboot once
> before assuming it's broken.

## Verifying

Select any `.hypercapture` file in Finder and press **Space**. A preview
should appear. If you get the generic file icon instead, re-check the toggle
(and the reboot note above).

## Windows

No equivalent setup — hypershot installs a File Explorer thumbnail handler
for `.hypercapture` files along with the app, so thumbnails just work. See
[Hypercapture Files](/docs/hypershot/exporting/hypercapture-files).

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From https://hypernuclear.com/docs/hypershot/getting-started/quicklook/