This is how to use Microsoft's tool to see the contents of files without opening them in Windows
In macOS, the Quick Look feature lets you quickly preview files without opening them in a separate program. This makes it easier to find the file you are looking for and increases productivity when using the computer. However, Windows does not have this feature, so we must use external programs like Seer or QuickLook. In this post, we will learn about Microsoft's Peek tool, which lets you see the contents of a file without opening it in Windows.
You can find the Peek tool in the sidebar as part of the most recent v0.70.0 update, which is an add-on for File Explorer, after installing the Microsoft PowerToys toolkit from the link below the post.
Open the Peek tool and activate it by activating the Enable Peek button. Then scroll down and you will see the default keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + Space) dedicated to displaying file previews under the Activation shortcut section but it can be changed from the pen icon as in the picture.
Now select any file on Windows and then click on the shortcut you selected and a small pop-up window will appear containing a preview of the file contents where the image will appear in a larger size, the text file will display its contents and the video will be played inside the window and so on.
This window disappears after a few moments of dragging the mouse pointer away. You can also select a group of files to preview them together and then press the same keyboard shortcut to bring up the preview window and use the arrow keys to switch between previewing only the selected files.
- PowerToys Toolkit