QuickLook Thumbnailing

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Generate thumbnails for common file types and add a Thumbnail Extension to your app using QuickLook Thumbnailing.

Posts under QuickLook Thumbnailing tag

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QuickLook Thumbnailing returns stale macOS 26 folder icon
On macOS 26, I've run into a situation when a user “customizes” a folder icon with Finder by assigning/changing an SF Symbol or an emoji, QLThumbnailGenerator keeps returning the stale initially retrieved folder icon (no matter whether it had been customized or not) until my app quits. After the app is re-launched, the icon is correctly retrieved once again. let generator = QLThumbnailGenerator.shared let size: CGSize = CGSize(width: 64, height: 64) let request = QLThumbnailGenerator.Request(fileAt: url, size: size, scale: NSScreen.main!.backingScaleFactor, representationTypes: .icon) request.iconMode = true do { let thumb = try await generator.generateBestRepresentation(for: request) thumb.nsImage.size = size return thumb.nsImage } catch { print("generateThumbnail: \(error)") return nil } It seems like the QuickLook Thumbnailing cache does not invalidate automatically upon folder customization. Is there any way to manually invalidate the QuickLook Thumbnailing cache?
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4w
Memory consumption of apps under macOS 26 "Tahoe"
macOS 26 "Tahoe" is allocating much more memory for apps than former macOS versions: A customer contacted me with my app's Thumbnail extension allocating so much memory that her 48 GB RAM Mac Mini ran into "out of application memory" state. I couldn't identify any memory leak in my extension's code nor reproduce the issue, but found the main app allocating as much as 5 times the memory compared to running on macOS 15 or lower. This productive app is explicitly using "Liquid Glass" views as well as implicitly e.g. for an inspector pane. So I created a sample app, just based on Xcode's template of a document-based app, and the issue is still showing (although less dramatically): This sample app allocates 22 MB according to Tahoe's Activity Monitor, while Sequoia only requires 16 MB: macOS 15.6.1 macOS 26.2 Is anyone experiencing similar issues? I suspect some massive leak in Tahoe's memory management, and just filed a corresponding feedback (FB21967167).
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378
Feb ’26
Finder tag colors and folder icons become gray for iCloud Drive items (URLResourceValues / xattr / QLThumbnailGenerator)
Hi, I’m working on a macOS app that includes a file browser component. And I’m trying to match Finder’s behavior for color tags and folder icons. For local files/folders everything works fine: Tag color key returns the expected label number via NSColor * labelColor = nil; [fileURL getResourceValue:&labelColor forKey:NSURLLabelColorKey error:nil]; NSNumber * labelKey = nil; [fileURL getResourceValue:&labelKey forKey:NSURLLabelNumberKey error:nil]; QLThumbnailGenerator obtains the expected colored folder icon (including emoji/symbol overlay if set) via QLThumbnailGenerationRequest * request = [[QLThumbnailGenerationRequest alloc] initWithFileAtURL:fileURL size:iconSize scale:scaleFactor representationTypes:QLThumbnailGenerationRequestRepresentationTypeIcon]; request.iconMode = YES; [[QLThumbnailGenerator sharedGenerator] generateBestRepresentationForRequest:request completionHandler:^(QLThumbnailRepresentation * _Nullable thumbnail, NSError * _Nullable error) { if (thumbnail != nil && error == nil) { NSImage * thumbnailImage = [thumbnail NSImage]; // ... } }]; However, for items on iCloud Drive (whether currently downloaded locally or only stored in the cloud), the same code always produces gray colors, while Finder shows everything correctly: NSURLLabelNumberKey always returns 1 (gray) for items with color tags, and 0 for non-tagged. Folder icons returned via QLThumbnailGenerator are gray, no emoji/symbol overlays. Reading tag data from xattr gives values like “Green\1” (tag name matches, but numeric value is still "Gray"). Also, if I move a correctly-tagged local item into iCloud Drive, it immediately becomes gray in my app (Finder still shows the correct colors). Question: What is the supported way to retrieve Finder tag colors and the correct folder icon appearance (color + overlays) for items in iCloud Drive, so that the result matches Finder? I am on macOS Tahoe 26.2/26.3, Xcode 26.2 (17C52). If you need any additional details, please let me know. Thanks!
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Feb ’26
Testing/debugging QLThumbnailProvider on macOS
I'm implementing the 'new' QLThumbnailProvider for our macOS app... So I just created the skeleton from Xcode, added our QLSupportedContentTypes in Info.plist, and have the skeleton code like below: import QuickLookThumbnailing class ThumbnailProvider: QLThumbnailProvider { override func provideThumbnail(for request: QLFileThumbnailRequest, _ handler: @escaping (QLThumbnailReply?, Error?) -> Void) { // cannot trigger break point here! } I understand I should test the Thumbnail Extension by using: $ qlmanage -t my_file.ext Testing Quick Look thumbnails with files: my_file.ext But I don't know what process to attach to in the Xcode debugger... a bit clueless... I've skimmed relevant parts of https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/719, but there is no real debug tips... Does anyone know if it is possible to debug with Xcode or not? And if possible, then how? 😅
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Nov ’25
QuickLook Thumbnailing returns stale macOS 26 folder icon
On macOS 26, I've run into a situation when a user “customizes” a folder icon with Finder by assigning/changing an SF Symbol or an emoji, QLThumbnailGenerator keeps returning the stale initially retrieved folder icon (no matter whether it had been customized or not) until my app quits. After the app is re-launched, the icon is correctly retrieved once again. let generator = QLThumbnailGenerator.shared let size: CGSize = CGSize(width: 64, height: 64) let request = QLThumbnailGenerator.Request(fileAt: url, size: size, scale: NSScreen.main!.backingScaleFactor, representationTypes: .icon) request.iconMode = true do { let thumb = try await generator.generateBestRepresentation(for: request) thumb.nsImage.size = size return thumb.nsImage } catch { print("generateThumbnail: \(error)") return nil } It seems like the QuickLook Thumbnailing cache does not invalidate automatically upon folder customization. Is there any way to manually invalidate the QuickLook Thumbnailing cache?
Replies
8
Boosts
1
Views
660
Activity
4w
QLThumbnailGenerator macOS 26.4 No Longer Honors Users 'Folder Color' Preference When Making Icons for Folders
I use QLThumbnailGenerator to generate icons. After updating to macOS Tahoe 26.4 the folder color preference of the user is no longer respected. It just makes the icon default 'light blue.'
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6
Boosts
0
Views
512
Activity
Mar ’26
Memory consumption of apps under macOS 26 "Tahoe"
macOS 26 "Tahoe" is allocating much more memory for apps than former macOS versions: A customer contacted me with my app's Thumbnail extension allocating so much memory that her 48 GB RAM Mac Mini ran into "out of application memory" state. I couldn't identify any memory leak in my extension's code nor reproduce the issue, but found the main app allocating as much as 5 times the memory compared to running on macOS 15 or lower. This productive app is explicitly using "Liquid Glass" views as well as implicitly e.g. for an inspector pane. So I created a sample app, just based on Xcode's template of a document-based app, and the issue is still showing (although less dramatically): This sample app allocates 22 MB according to Tahoe's Activity Monitor, while Sequoia only requires 16 MB: macOS 15.6.1 macOS 26.2 Is anyone experiencing similar issues? I suspect some massive leak in Tahoe's memory management, and just filed a corresponding feedback (FB21967167).
Replies
6
Boosts
0
Views
378
Activity
Feb ’26
Finder tag colors and folder icons become gray for iCloud Drive items (URLResourceValues / xattr / QLThumbnailGenerator)
Hi, I’m working on a macOS app that includes a file browser component. And I’m trying to match Finder’s behavior for color tags and folder icons. For local files/folders everything works fine: Tag color key returns the expected label number via NSColor * labelColor = nil; [fileURL getResourceValue:&labelColor forKey:NSURLLabelColorKey error:nil]; NSNumber * labelKey = nil; [fileURL getResourceValue:&labelKey forKey:NSURLLabelNumberKey error:nil]; QLThumbnailGenerator obtains the expected colored folder icon (including emoji/symbol overlay if set) via QLThumbnailGenerationRequest * request = [[QLThumbnailGenerationRequest alloc] initWithFileAtURL:fileURL size:iconSize scale:scaleFactor representationTypes:QLThumbnailGenerationRequestRepresentationTypeIcon]; request.iconMode = YES; [[QLThumbnailGenerator sharedGenerator] generateBestRepresentationForRequest:request completionHandler:^(QLThumbnailRepresentation * _Nullable thumbnail, NSError * _Nullable error) { if (thumbnail != nil && error == nil) { NSImage * thumbnailImage = [thumbnail NSImage]; // ... } }]; However, for items on iCloud Drive (whether currently downloaded locally or only stored in the cloud), the same code always produces gray colors, while Finder shows everything correctly: NSURLLabelNumberKey always returns 1 (gray) for items with color tags, and 0 for non-tagged. Folder icons returned via QLThumbnailGenerator are gray, no emoji/symbol overlays. Reading tag data from xattr gives values like “Green\1” (tag name matches, but numeric value is still "Gray"). Also, if I move a correctly-tagged local item into iCloud Drive, it immediately becomes gray in my app (Finder still shows the correct colors). Question: What is the supported way to retrieve Finder tag colors and the correct folder icon appearance (color + overlays) for items in iCloud Drive, so that the result matches Finder? I am on macOS Tahoe 26.2/26.3, Xcode 26.2 (17C52). If you need any additional details, please let me know. Thanks!
Replies
2
Boosts
1
Views
178
Activity
Feb ’26
Testing/debugging QLThumbnailProvider on macOS
I'm implementing the 'new' QLThumbnailProvider for our macOS app... So I just created the skeleton from Xcode, added our QLSupportedContentTypes in Info.plist, and have the skeleton code like below: import QuickLookThumbnailing class ThumbnailProvider: QLThumbnailProvider { override func provideThumbnail(for request: QLFileThumbnailRequest, _ handler: @escaping (QLThumbnailReply?, Error?) -> Void) { // cannot trigger break point here! } I understand I should test the Thumbnail Extension by using: $ qlmanage -t my_file.ext Testing Quick Look thumbnails with files: my_file.ext But I don't know what process to attach to in the Xcode debugger... a bit clueless... I've skimmed relevant parts of https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/719, but there is no real debug tips... Does anyone know if it is possible to debug with Xcode or not? And if possible, then how? 😅
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
339
Activity
Nov ’25