Enhancement: Add option to pass Space key to system for QuickLook compatibility

[badplatano]

Currently, pressing Space while highlighting a file in Flow Launcher does not trigger a QuickLook preview (like it does in Windows Explorer or Everything). This is because Flow Launcher captures the Space key and does not pass it through to the system.

Feature request:

Please add an option in the settings (or advanced config) to allow the Space key to be passed through to the system when a file result is selected. This would allow seamless compatibility with QuickLook, which uses the Space key to preview files.

Use case:

QuickLook is a very popular utility for quickly previewing files (PDFs, images, etc.) without opening them. It's especially useful for power users and productivity setups that rely on keyboard-first workflows. Allowing the Space key to trigger QuickLook would enhance the Flow Launcher user experience without interfering with existing functionality for those who don’t use it.

Optional: This could be a toggle in settings like:

[x] Allow system to receive Space key when highlighting file paths

Thanks! Loving the app — would love to see this small improvement that makes a big difference for QuickLook users.

[deefrawley]

Hi, have you tried the Flow Quicklook plugin?

https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.QuickLook

[onesounds]

Unlike a regular file explorer, we need to keep the keyboard input focus active at all times, so we cannot use the spacebar. Assigning the spacebar to QuickLook would prevent users from entering spaces while typing a search query. 😂

[TechySC23]

Workaround:

1. Install Quicklook
2. Then install quicklook plugin
3. And yes remember to turn of "Always Preview" option as that would prevent you from using quicklook plugin and crash it.
4. then just open flow and search for anything and just press F1 key or any other key you set for using Preview in hotkeys.

Just another Happy user of Flow Launcher and Quicklook 😄

[H5820121]

Workaround:

1. Install Quicklook
2. Then install quicklook plugin
3. And yes remember to turn of "Always Preview" option as that would prevent you from using quicklook plugin and crash it.
4. then just open flow and search for anything and just press F1 key or any other key you set for using Preview in hotkeys.

Just another Happy user of Flow Launcher and Quicklook 😄

This solution is very limited, because then it is not possible to use the normal FL preview, meaning it is not possible to know the file properties (size, modification date).

[H5820121]

Unlike a regular file explorer, we need to keep the keyboard input focus active at all times, so we cannot use the spacebar. Assigning the spacebar to QuickLook would prevent users from entering spaces while typing a search query. 😂

The solution is to provide the option to set a keyboard shortcut for QuickLook, rather than the spacebar.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has been open 60 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 60 days.\n\nAlternatively this issue can be kept open by adding one of the following labels:\nkeep-fresh