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Syntax Look installed, but Quick Look still looks plain

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You installed Syntax Look, selected a source file in Finder, pressed Space, and got the same plain gray text as before. Nothing looks broken. Nothing looks different either.

This is the single most common thing people write in about, and in almost every case the fix is one switch.

Turn the extension on

macOS does not enable a Quick Look extension on install. Until you flip it on, the system keeps using its built-in text previewer and Syntax Look never gets asked.

System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Quick Look → turn on Syntax Look.

Then go back to Finder, select a supported file, and press Space. This applies to the Mac App Store build and the direct download alike.

Still plain? Reset Quick Look

Quick Look caches which previewer handles which file type. After enabling the extension, tell it to look again:

qlmanage -r && qlmanage -r cache

Opening the Syntax Look app once also works. It registers the extension on launch.

Only one extension gets a file type

macOS lets exactly one Quick Look extension claim a given file type. If another app registered for .py or .json first, that app keeps winning until you change the order in the same Quick Look settings pane. Toggle Syntax Look on there and it takes the type.

Check the file type

Syntax Look handles 150+ file types: source code, configs, data files, docs, lock files, and special filenames like Dockerfile and Makefile. If a file is text and not on the list, it still tries. Two cases are worth knowing about:

  • .html goes to Apple’s own WebKit previewer, which renders the page rather than showing the markup. Syntax Look does not override that.
  • .ts and .mts can be routed by macOS to a video handler, because the extension is ambiguous. There is a separate page on that.

A truncation banner is not a bug

Files over 512 KB render their first 512 KB with a banner saying so. That keeps Quick Look responsive on a giant log or lock file, and you still see real content. For the whole file, use the panel’s Open with… button and read it in your editor.

Requirements

macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. Earlier versions of macOS will not load the extension.