Preview Markdown in Finder with Quick Look

How It Works

macOS Quick Look lets you preview files by pressing Space in Finder. It works with images, PDFs, text files — and with Peekdown installed, it works with markdown too.

Select any .md file in Finder. Press Space. You'll see a fully rendered preview with GitHub-style formatting — not raw markup. Press Space again to dismiss. That's it.

No app to launch, no window to manage, no waiting. Quick Look is instant because it's built into macOS. Peekdown just teaches it how to render markdown.

What Renders in Quick Look

Peekdown's Quick Look extension renders the full range of GitHub-Flavored Markdown:

• Tables — properly aligned with header styling
• Fenced code blocks — with syntax highlighting for 100+ languages
• Task lists — checkboxes rendered visually
• Strikethrough, bold, italic — all inline formatting
• Headings and horizontal rules — clean visual hierarchy
• Links and images — clickable links and inline images
• Blockquotes — styled with left border accent

The preview follows your system appearance — light mode or dark mode — automatically.

Supported File Types

Quick Look preview works with all common markdown extensions:

• .md
• .mdx
• .markdown
• .mdown
• .mkd

Beyond Quick Look

Peekdown is also a standalone markdown viewer and editor. Open any markdown file for a full-window preview with side-by-side editing (⌘E), zoom controls, pin-on-top, and live file watching that auto-reloads when the file changes externally.

If you work with Obsidian, Peekdown also renders Obsidian-specific syntax — callouts, wikilinks, highlights, and tags — in both Quick Look and the app.

Setup

Install Peekdown from the Mac App Store. The Quick Look extension is enabled automatically — no configuration needed.

If another app's Quick Look extension is overriding Peekdown's (you'll see plain text instead of formatted markdown), go to System Settings > Login Items & Extensions > Quick Look and disable the conflicting extension.