Quick Look still shows plain text

Finder shows Markdown source when formatted Quick Look is not active. Work through these checks in order. They distinguish an app registration problem, a disabled extension, a cached preview provider and an unlock that StoreKit has not restored.

Start with a test file

Create a small file named quick-look-test.md with neutral content:

# Preview test

- First item
- Second item

Select it in Finder and press the Space bar. In the formatted view, Preview test appears as a heading and the two lines appear as a list. In the plain-text view, the # and hyphens remain visible as source characters.

Using a test file rules out confidential content and makes the expected result clear.

Check the app location

1. Open the Applications folder in Finder.
2. Confirm that spaceMD is inside that folder.
3. Launch spaceMD once from there.
4. Open the test file in the spaceMD viewer.
5. Return to Finder and press the Space bar on the test file again.

macOS registers the Quick Look extension from the installed app. A copy left in Downloads or moved after registration may not be the copy the system expects.

Check the extension

1. Open System Settings.
2. Find the section that lists Quick Look extensions. Depending on the macOS version, it is grouped with other extensions under the general login items and extensions settings.
3. Find spaceMD.
4. Turn its Quick Look extension on.
5. Test the file again.

If spaceMD does not appear, return to the previous section and confirm that the app has been launched from Applications.

Refresh the selected provider

macOS caches Quick Look providers. It can continue to use an older provider after spaceMD has been installed and enabled.

1. Close every open Quick Look window.
2. Restart Finder.
3. Select the test file and press the Space bar again.
4. If the old preview remains, sign out of macOS and sign in again.

If another app supplies a Markdown preview, macOS may choose that extension instead. Review the enabled Quick Look extensions and disable the other Markdown provider before testing again. spaceMD cannot force macOS to choose it while competing providers are enabled.

Check the purchase state

1. Open spaceMD settings with Command-Comma.
2. Find Quick Look in Finder.
3. Confirm that it says Unlocked.
4. If you previously bought the feature, choose Restore.
5. Confirm that the Mac uses the Apple Account that made the purchase.

Without the unlock, plain text is expected. The free viewer remains available and can still show the same document with formatting, search, outline, themes, printing and PDF export.

The App Store handles the purchase. If Restore does not return a valid entitlement, do not buy the feature a second time as a troubleshooting step. Open a purchase support ticket.

Check the file itself

spaceMD recognises .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, .mkdn, .mdwn, .mdtxt and .mdtext. A different extension may use the standard macOS text preview.

Quick Look can shorten a document larger than 4 MB, but it should still format the displayed part. Open the file in the spaceMD viewer when you need its complete contents.

If it does not work

If the neutral test file still appears as source after all of these checks, open a support ticket with:

• spaceMD and macOS versions
• whether spaceMD appears and is enabled in the Quick Look extension list
• whether settings show Unlocked
• whether another Markdown preview extension is installed
• whether the test file renders correctly in the spaceMD viewer

Do not attach a confidential Markdown file. If a screenshot includes Finder paths or file names, replace them with neutral examples first. For the initial setup sequence, see Set up formatted Markdown in Quick Look.