OS X Quick Look: copy text - does it work?

With Quick Look on OS X you can actually only read documents. With a little trick you can also copy whole texts. You still have to activate the feature.

Copy text in quick look - so it works

First open the Mac terminal via "Applications"> "Utilities". Then enter the following commands there:

• defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE;
• killall finder

The Finder will now restart. You can then mark individual texts.

Quick Look in Mail: Highlight text

You can also mark texts in Apple's Mail using the following command via the terminal:

• defaults write com.apple.Mail QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE

Undo changes in Mac OS X.

If you want to undo the settings, enter this command for the Finder:

• defaults delete com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection;
• killall finder

Marking the text in mail can be deactivated again with this command:

• defaults delete com.apple.Mail QLEnableTextSelection

Note: For the changes to take effect, you must restart the respective program (Finder or Mail). By the way, with cool plugins you can expand the functionality of Quick Look.