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Troubleshooting

Jonathan Harris edited this page Jan 7, 2025 · 34 revisions

Troubleshooting

  • First, please check that you're running the latest version, log out of macOS and back in again and see if the problem remains.
  • Check that you don't have other copies or versions of QuickLook Video lying around which might confuse QuickLook and/or Spotlight. The QuickLook Video app offers to delete any version 1.x plugins that it finds, but you can delete them manually by copying the following, pasting in the Terminal app, and pressing Enter:
    rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/QLVideo ~/Library/QuickLook/Video.qlgenerator ~/Library/Spotlight/Video.mdimporter
    sudo rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/QLVideo /Library/QuickLook/Video.qlgenerator /Library/Spotlight/Video.mdimporter
    

Finder doesn't show thumbnails and/or previews for any "non-native" video files

  • Under System SettingsGeneralLogin Items & Extensions (scroll to the bottom) → ExtensionsQuick LookQuickLook Video ensure that Video previews and Video thumbnails are checked. Try unchecking and checking this setting. (Note that this setting is under System SettingsPrivacy & Security (scroll to the bottom) → ExtensionsQuick Look on older versions of macOS).
  • Run the QuickLook Video app and press Refresh. This tells QuickLook to clear its thumbnail cache and then restarts Finder to make it refresh its thumbnail cache.

Finder doesn't show previews for some "native" video files

  • Unfortunately macOS doesn't allow this app to handle displaying previews of the following "native" file types: .avi, .dv, .m4v, .mov, .mp2, .mp4, .mts, .ts, .vob. This may be fixed in a future release.

Finder doesn't show metadata for "non-native" video files

  • If the problematic files reside on an external or remote volume check that you have write access to the volume - see Change permissions for files, folders or disks on Mac. Once you've granted yourself write access, you'll need to force Spotlight to re-index the files as described below.
  • Ensure that you haven't disabled Spotlight indexing using any of the methods discussed here.
  • Spotlight can be slow to notice new plugins. You can check whether Spotlight has found the plugin supplied by this app by typing mdimport -L in the Terminal and checking whether "/Applications/QuickLook Video.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Video.mdimporter" is listed. If it isn't listed, then check whether you have any other copies of the QuickLook Video app lying around (Spotlight doesn't like multiple copies). You may have to log out and back in again.
  • If you see a message in the QuickLook Video app about high CPU and disk usage then Spotlight has found the plugin and the app has asked it to re-index video files. Re-indexing happens in the background so it may take a few minutes before you can see the metadata in Finder.
  • Once Spotlight has found the plugin:
    • You can force it to re-index video files by copying the following, pasting in the Terminal app, and pressing Enter:
      mdimport -r "/Applications/QuickLook Video.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Video.mdimporter"
      
    • Alternatively, you can force Spotlight to re-index all the files in a folder with mdimport -i /path/to/folder

"QuickLook Video requires a late-2013 Mac or newer, with AVX2 support"

  • Recent versions require macOS 12 "Monterey" or later on a late-2013 or newer Mac. The last version to support hardware older than this is Release 1.991.

Can't delete a file on an external volume, and/or can't unmount the volume

  • You can't delete a file while QuickLook is thumbnailng or Spotlight is re-indexing it. And you can't Unmount a volume while QuickLook is thumbnailng or Spotlight is re-indexing files on it. Unfortunately you'll have to be patient until QuickLook and Spotlight settle down.

To report an issue

  • From the QuickLook Video app's Help menu, choose Report an Issue.
  • Drop any problematic file and press Send.
  • Give the new Issue a title, describe the problem and press Submit new issue.

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