Golden hour from the top of the ridge
Zoom where you point
Rest on a thumbnail or an image link and the full-size image appears beside your cursor. Scroll to zoom, then move around the image to look closer.
Hover to zoom or inspect.
No browser extensions.
Hover on an image or video thumbnail and the full-size version appears right beside your cursor. In Finder, rest on a file to see its details, where it came from, and which apps are using it. HoverEnhance lives in your menu bar and works in the browser you already use, no extension needed. Free and open source.
In Browser
Everything, without the click.
Albums
Reddit galleries and multi-photo posts on X, Bluesky, and Instagram, in its feed too. They open at the photo you’re on; scroll to step through.
Videos
Clips from Reddit, X, Bluesky, Instagram, Streamable, and Imgur play in the preview. Scroll on the notch for the volume, or on the video to move through it.
Stays out of the way
No preview over a video the page is already playing, or an image it already shows large. Move away, click, or switch apps, and the preview is gone.
Your rules
Previews always, or only while holding a key. Set the hover delay, how far a scroll step moves a video, the preview size, and apps and sites to skip.
Signed & auto-updating
Notarized builds install without warnings, and Sparkle updates HoverEnhance in place, so you always have the latest version.
In Finder
Know a file before you open it.
Rest on a file or folder for its path, size, dates, where it came from, and which apps are using it, so you can finally eject that drive. Photos, songs, and videos show large, with what their own tags say: the camera and exposure, the artist and album, and when and with what a video was recorded. Click any detail to copy it.
DetailsPhotosSongsVideos
Where a file came from, which apps have it open, and its path to copy.
Privacy
Sees what you point at. Nothing else.
Only what you hover
HoverEnhance reads the thing under your cursor, never what you type.
Only where you point
It contacts the sites behind what you hover, GitHub to check for updates, and Google only if you sign in to subscribe to YouTube channels.
Browsers by default
Links in other apps, like Mail, load nothing unless you allow it in Settings.
No surprise downloads
Images over 25 MB (adjustable) wait for you to click Load Anyway.
Changelog
Latest Release
Added
- Scroll on the notch under the cursor to change a video's volume, shown on a rocker beside it; scroll on the video to move through it.
- In Finder, images, videos, and audio show large, with their details beside or below.
- Songs in Finder show their artwork and play at a click, or right away if you turn that on.
- Songs and videos in Finder show what their own tags say: title, artist, album, album artist, composer, genre, year, track, and disc, and when and with what a video was recorded.
- Finder cards show a video's frame rate and HDR, and the sample rate and channels of its sound.
- Multi-photo posts in Instagram's feed open as an album at the photo you're on, to scroll through without the arrows.
Changed
- Scrolling on a video moves it 2 seconds a step, wheel or trackpad alike, and Settings → Video can change that.
- The menu starts with the app's version.
Fixed
- No preview pops up over a video the page is already playing, as on Instagram, or over an image it already shows large.
- Instagram albums no longer show as one photo after the cursor passes over them while they load.
- Previews come up more reliably when the cursor stops on a page still filling in, as just after scrolling.
- Clearing the image cache in Settings shows the new size right away.
Support
Stuck? Broken? Weird bug?
This is a small, one-maintainer project, but I am responsive. I prefer that you use Github Issues for most support requests.
Open a GitHub issue
Best for bug reports, reproducible crashes, feature requests, or anything other users might hit too. Public thread, tracked alongside the code.
Report on GitHub →Send an email
If you have private questions or anything you’d rather not post publicly, this address goes straight to my inbox.
jesse@stilwe.com →Free, open source, one maintainer.
HoverEnhance is MIT-licensed, and every line of it is on GitHub, so you can see exactly what it does with what you hover. No accounts, no subscriptions, no ads.
Donations aren’t expected — I love free and open source software — but they’re very much appreciated if you want to help support my caffeine habit.
Buy Jesse's Morning Coffee