
Quick Look is one of the better little features of Mac OS X, but a new hidden option in OS X Lion makes QuickLook even better by allowing you to select and copy text directly from the windows.
This awesome tip was sent in by Keir Thomas, the author of a new book called Mac Kung Fu and the guy who discovered the cool iTunes “Now Playing” notification that has since become popular on the Mac web. Without further ado, here’s the trick directly from Keir:
If you use Quick Look to view any files that feature text—such as PDFs or Word documents—you’ll notice that you can’t click and drag to highlight text. Clicking anywhere on the Quick Look window simply moves it around.
However, a secret setting will let you click and drag as usual to highlight text, and you can use the standard key combination of Command+C to copy text. The Quick Look window can still be moved around the screen by clicking and dragging its title bar, as with any other program window.
To activate the setting, open a Terminal window and type the following:
defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE;killall Finder
The changes take effect immediately. To deactivate the setting, open a Terminal window and type the following:
defaults delete com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection;killall Finder