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Glance v0.5.0
Glance is a free, open-source viewer and editor for PDFs, images, camera RAW and 3D models, inspired by macOS Preview.
| Intel or AMD (most PCs) | ARM | |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 and 11 | Download .exe | Download .exe |
Also on the Microsoft Store, which keeps it updated, and in your browser with nothing to install.
New in 0.5.0
- Let your AI apps use Glance. Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, LM Studio and any other MCP app can view every format Glance opens, read text (scanned pages through Windows OCR), convert, combine, split and redact files, remove a photo's location, and see or move to the page you have open in Glance. Turn it on with one Connect click in Settings → AI apps. Edits always go to new files, so your originals stay as they were. How it works
- Word, PowerPoint and Excel files open in Glance. Documents, slides and spreadsheets (and CSV) show as a read-only preview, with an Open with… bar to edit them in Office or another app.
- Previews for much more: text and code with syntax colours, Markdown, video and audio, EPUB e-books, font sample sheets, and .eml and .msg email with attachments. Nothing in these files loads from the internet, and HTML email can't run scripts or tracking images.
- Glance in your browser. The same app runs on phones, tablets, Macs and Chromebooks at https://redtrocks.github.io/glance/app/. It can be installed, works offline, and your files never leave the device. On phones it gets a bottom dock, pinch to zoom, double-tap and swipe between pages.
Install help
Windows. Run the installer; it installs for your account only, without administrator rights. SmartScreen warns about an unknown publisher because releases aren't code-signed yet: click More info → Run anyway. To open PDFs or images with Glance, pick it in Settings → Apps → Default apps → Glance. Needs Windows 10 (1809+) or 11; the installer fetches WebView2 if it's missing.
Check a download. Its SHA-256 hash is in SHA256SUMS.txt: run Get-FileHash in PowerShell.
Which processor? Most PCs are Intel or AMD. ARM means Snapdragon laptops, Surface Pro X and similar; on Windows, Settings → System → About → System type says which.