spacebarSpace Still Shows Apple’s Preview
Is the Space helper on? Without it, macOS keeps Space for plain text, HTML, CSV, PDFs, images, most audio and video, and Office files. Turn on Use spacebar for every file in Settings and allow Accessibility. How the helper works.
Is another previewer winning? Quick Look uses one previewer per file type. Turn the other off in System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions › Quick Look. On macOS 13 and 14: Privacy & Security › Extensions › Quick Look. spacebar’s Settings lists them, with a Turn Off button.
Is spacebar ticked? It should be, in that same Quick Look list.
Reset Quick Look. Run
qlmanage -rin Terminal, then press Space again. More fixes: Quick Look not working.
Keys In The Preview
| ↑ ↓ | Move through the files, as soon as the preview opens |
|---|---|
| → ← | Open or close a folder |
| Home End | Jump to the first or last file |
| Return | Open the file under the cursor |
| ⌥⌘F | Filter the sidebar by name: rdme finds README.md. It covers every folder, expanded or not, and Contents searches the text of Markdown, code, JSON, CSV and text files |
| ⌘F | Find in the file; ↵ and ⇧↵ for the next and previous match |
| ⌘C | With nothing selected, copy the whole file |
| ⌘+ ⌘− ⌘0 | Zoom |
| Space Esc | In Quick Look, the first press hands the keys back to Finder and the second closes. A Space window closes with Esc from Finder until you click into it, then with ⌘W. Space on the same file brings it forward. |
To leave the arrows with Finder, set "sidebarKeys": false in ~/Library/Application Support/spacebar/settings.json.
The Space Helper Isn’t Opening Files
Settings shows its status beside Use spacebar for every file:
- Waiting for AccessibilityTurn on spacebar Helper in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility.
- Blocked in Login ItemsTurn on spacebar in System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions.
- PausedWhile a password field or another app holds secure input, Space goes to Quick Look.
- Not runningFor a while after an update: macOS takes about 15 seconds to accept the new helper, and spacebar starts it again by itself.
When the helper isn’t taking Space, the first preview says so in one quiet line, and why. Click it to open Settings.
A File Says It’s Gone Or Can’t Be Read
- Moved or deletedThe file dims. Editing stays off until it returns, and unsaved text waits in the banner to copy.
- Missing when openedClick Show Folder.
- Can’t be readIt says why. For macOS’s privacy protection, click Open Privacy Settings.
An Error While Updating
The preview offers Update when one is out, and Check Now in Settings’ About section asks GitHub at once. The preview closes for a moment while it installs. Then press Space again.
The log is ~/Library/Logs/spacebar-update.log. Report a Problem… in Settings puts its end in a GitHub issue for you to send.
Uninstall
Use Uninstall spacebar… in Settings, or run:
curl -fsSL https://spacebar.patebryant.com/uninstall.sh | shAdd -s -- --purge after sh to delete your settings and themes too.
Install It
Or paste this in Terminal
curl -fsSL https://spacebar.patebryant.com/install.sh | sh
The script downloads the latest notarized release from GitHub, checks its SHA-256 and installs to ~/Applications, no sudo. Read the script.
Still Stuck
Open an issue on GitHub (opens in a new tab) or ask on X (opens in a new tab).