QL Provider Inspector 2.0
QL Provider Inspector 2.0 Help
QL Provider Inspector helps you find out how macOS describes a file, which installed components claim they can preview it, and what information is available for search.
Start here: Open a file and read your first report. You do not need to know the technical terms first.
What the app can tell you
For example, a JPEG photo can have an image type, a matching preview extension, and camera metadata. A Markdown document can have a text type, a matching Spotlight importer, and readable text that you can search.
A provider match means that a component declares support for the file’s type. It does not prove that macOS selected that component for a particular preview. Learn what the results establish.
Requirements and privacy
Requires macOS 26 or later and an Apple silicon Mac, M1 or later. Intel Macs are unsupported. The app is distributed through the Mac App Store and uses the macOS Liquid Glass interface.
Help is included with the app and can be read offline. Inspection and search run on your Mac. General natural-language questions need an available Apple Intelligence model; literal and supported date searches do not. See search privacy and folder access.