What Is ~/Library/QuickLook on Mac?

Your user folderUpdated

Definition
Full path
  • ~/Library/QuickLook
Scope
Your user folderInside your home folder — one copy per user account.
Freshist & this folder
Freshist checks this folder when uninstalling an app. When you uninstall an app, Freshist looks here for items that belong to it. Matches on the app's bundle ID can be pre-selected; name-only guesses are labeled “not sure” and never pre-selected. Removed items go to the Trash, so you can undo.

From Freshist's own cleaning rules — the same catalog the app uses.

Quick Look in brief

Press the Space bar on a file in Finder and Quick Look shows a preview without opening an app. Finder uses the same machinery for file icons and thumbnails. macOS knows how to preview common formats on its own. For everything else, such as source code with syntax colors, Markdown, archives, 3D models, or a specialist app's documents, it relied on plug-ins.

For a long time those plug-ins were Quick Look generators: bundles ending in .qlgenerator. An app could include one inside itself, or an installer could copy one into ~/Library/QuickLook (for your account) or /Library/QuickLook (for everyone).

Why the folder is mostly history now

Apple replaced generators with app extensions in macOS Catalina: Quick Look preview extensions and thumbnail extensions that ship inside an app. In macOS Sequoia, third-party generators stopped loading entirely. Apple's own built-in generators in /System/Library/QuickLook still exist, but anything an installer put in your Library folder is now inert.

KindWhere it livesWorks on Sequoia and later?
Third-party .qlgenerator in ~/Library/QuickLookYour LibraryNo
Third-party .qlgenerator in /Library/QuickLookShared LibraryNo
Apple's built-in generators/System/Library/QuickLookYes, part of macOS
Preview and thumbnail extensionsInside each app (Contents/PlugIns)Yes

Because extensions live inside the app, deleting the app removes them. Generators in this folder were separate files, so they were often left behind when the app was deleted.

Inspecting the folder

ls -la ~/Library/QuickLook
du -sh ~/Library/QuickLook
qlmanage -m plugins

qlmanage -m plugins prints the generator list Quick Look currently knows about. On recent macOS versions it shows Apple's generators, not third-party extensions. To review extensions, open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions and look under Quick Look.

Cleaning it up

  1. In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder… and enter ~/Library/QuickLook.
  2. Move any .qlgenerator bundles to the Trash. If you're on macOS 14 or earlier, keep the ones you still rely on, because those versions still load them.
  3. In Terminal, qlmanage -r tells Quick Look to reload its generator list.

If a preview you depended on disappeared after upgrading, look for an updated version of the app that adds a Quick Look extension. A replacement generator won't load. Removing old generators doesn't affect your files; it only changes how they're previewed.

Spotlight importers went through a similar change from loose plug-ins to app extensions. If you're removing an app that installed a generator, its settings and data are more likely in Preferences and Application Support.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Previews for a file type stopped working after I updated macOS. Can this folder fix it?

Not on Sequoia or later. Putting a .qlgenerator back here won't help. Install a current version of the app that handles the file type, then make sure its Quick Look extension is turned on in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions.

Where are the thumbnails Quick Look has already made?

In a cache managed by macOS, not in this folder. qlmanage -r cache resets that thumbnail cache, and Finder regenerates icons as you browse.

Why is there no QuickLook folder in my Library?

macOS doesn't create it by default. It only exists if some installer, usually an older one, put a generator there.

Keep reading

Other folders in ~/Library