v0.3.0 · Folderglass for Mac

Press Space. See inside any folder.

Folderglass turns Quick Look into a folder X-ray: real size, what fills it, the biggest and newest files, and for code projects the git branch and README.

MIT licensed Offline previews Apple Silicon + Intel
Folderglass previewing a code project: size and file-type bar, git branch with two modified files, last commit and the rendered README
real size, subfolders included git branch and last commit README rendered inline zip + Markdown previews macOS 14+
See it in action

74 seconds, start to finish.

How it works

Select. Space. Know.

Finder's Quick Look shows a folder as a big blue icon. Folderglass shows you what's actually in it.

Select a folder

In Finder, on the Desktop, or in any app that uses Quick Look. Downloads, projects, photo shoots, client handoffs.

Press Space

Folderglass scans everything inside in the background. Numbers fill in live, so you never wait on a spinner.

See what matters

Size and file types at the top. Contents, largest and recent files in tabs. Git and README when it's a project.

Problems it solves

If you've ever searched for one of these…

Finder hides most of what you want to know about a folder until you open it, or open Get Info, or open Terminal.

How do I see a folder's size on Mac without Get Info?

Select it and press Space. Folderglass adds up every file in every subfolder and shows the total, the file count and when anything inside last changed.

What's taking up space in this folder?

The type bar shows how much is video, images, code or documents. The Largest tab lists the 100 biggest files anywhere inside, with the subfolder each one lives in.

How do I preview a folder's contents in Quick Look?

macOS doesn't do it on its own. With Folderglass, Quick Look shows a sortable table of everything in the folder, with sizes that include subfolders.

Which files in this folder changed most recently?

The Recent tab lists the 100 newest files from all subfolders, not just the top level. Handy for downloads and shared drives.

Can I see a repo's git branch from Finder?

Yes. Press Space on a project folder to see the branch, the last commit and its author, and how many tracked files are modified or deleted.

How do I look inside a zip without unzipping it?

Select the .zip and press Space. Folderglass lists its files with their real, uncompressed sizes. Nothing is extracted.

How do I preview Markdown files in Finder?

Folderglass renders .md files with headings, lists, code blocks, quotes and tables, offline, in light or dark mode.

Is there a free Quick Look folder preview?

Folderglass is free and MIT-licensed. The comparison page lines it up against the paid and free alternatives.

Features

A folder dashboard, one keypress away.

Everything below runs on your Mac, in a sandboxed, read-only extension with no network access.

Real folder size

Every file in every subfolder, counted in the background. Huge folders stop after 15 seconds by default, a limit you can change, and show what they found.

File-type breakdown

One bar shows how much space video, images, code, documents, archives and audio take, with counts.

Contents, Largest, Recent

Sortable tables: what's at the top level with full sizes, the 100 biggest files inside, and the 100 newest.

Git at a glance

Branch, last commit, author, date, and counts of modified and deleted files. Read straight from .git, linked worktrees included.

README inside the preview

A project's README opens rendered: headings, lists, code blocks, quotes and tables. Standalone .md files too.

Image grid

Folders that are mostly photos open straight to thumbnails, sorted by name.

Zip contents

Press Space on a .zip to see every file, the uncompressed size and the type breakdown, without extracting.

Private by design

The preview is sandboxed, read-only and never goes online, and there are no analytics. It skips other apps' data and cloud drives instead of asking. The app only checks GitHub for updates, and you can turn that off.

Your settings

Show hidden files, pick the tab previews open on, set how long big folders are counted, and count only the top level on network drives. Follows light and dark mode, on Apple Silicon and Intel.

Screenshots

What you see when you press Space.

Sample folders, generated for these screenshots.

A code project in dark mode: type bar, git card and the Contents table sorted by size
Code project. Branch, last commit and uncommitted changes above a size-sorted table.
A folder of product photos shown as a thumbnail grid
Photo folder. Mostly images? It opens straight to the grid.
The Largest tab listing the biggest files across all subfolders
Largest files. The 100 biggest files anywhere inside, with their subfolder.
A zip archive previewed without extracting, listing its files and sizes
Zip archive. Files and uncompressed sizes, nothing extracted.
Install

Two minutes, start to finish.

Install with Homebrew, or download the notarized app.

Option 1 · Homebrew

Build it on your Mac

Homebrew builds Folderglass from source and updates it with brew upgrade.

zsh
$ brew install justadityaraj/tap/folderglass
$ ln -sf \
    "$(brew --prefix)/opt/folderglass/Folderglass.app" \
    /Applications/
$ open /Applications/Folderglass.app

# later: brew upgrade folderglass

Prefer to build it yourself? git clone the repo and run ./scripts/build.sh --install.

Option 2 · Download

Drag into Applications

  1. Download Folderglass.dmg, open it and drag Folderglass into Applications.
  2. Open Folderglass. It's notarized by Apple, so macOS only asks you to confirm an app from the internet. Click Open.
  3. Folderglass's window shows Quick Look extension is on. Select a folder and press Space.
Then

Folderglass's window shows Quick Look extension is on. Opening the app once is all it needs.

Done

Select any folder in Finder and press Space.

Who built this
Aditya Raj Singh
Aditya Raj Singh
open-source builder

I build small, focused open-source tools for the Mac. Folderglass started because I kept opening folders just to find out what was in them. Also by me: Switchboard Browser Picker. More at adityarajsingh.com.

Questions

Folderglass, answered.

What is Folderglass?
A free, open-source Quick Look extension for macOS. Select a folder in Finder and press Space to see its real size including subfolders, a file-type breakdown, the largest and newest files, and for code projects the git branch, last commit, uncommitted changes and rendered README. It also previews zip archive contents and Markdown files.
Does Folderglass change or upload my files?
No. The extension is sandboxed, read-only and has no network access. It never writes to the folders you preview and collects no analytics. The app itself only checks GitHub for a newer version when you open it, and you can turn that off in its settings. It skips Mail, Messages, other apps' data and cloud-drive folders rather than asking you for access.
How does it read git info without running git?
It reads the .git folder directly: HEAD and refs for the branch, the commit object for the last commit, and the index to count modified and deleted tracked files. Packed repos and linked worktrees work too. Untracked files aren't counted.
Was Folderglass called Foldout?
Yes. It was named Foldout until version 0.2.0 in October 2026, and was renamed because another, unrelated Mac app already uses that name. Homebrew users move to Folderglass with brew upgrade. If you used the download, drag Foldout to the Trash and install Folderglass.
Is Folderglass signed and notarized?
Yes. From version 0.1.3 the download is signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a security warning. The certificate belongs to Swagloop Ventures Private Limited, a company I'm a director of. Folderglass itself stays my personal, MIT-licensed project. Homebrew installs build from source on your Mac.
Another app's folder preview shows up instead. What do I do?
macOS uses one Quick Look extension per file type. Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Quick Look and turn off the other folder preview extensions. Then run qlmanage -r in Terminal.
What do I need to run it?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel. Building from source needs the Xcode Command Line Tools.

Stop opening folders just to see what's inside.

Free, open source, and two minutes to set up.