Lowkey Media Viewer

Overview

LowKey Media Viewer is a fast and simple image and video viewer for macOS and Windows. Designed for a visually rich experience that puts your media first with no distractions. Supports easy navigation with Mouse/Scrollwheel or Trackpad modes.

• Simple, low-clutter UI with no wasted space
• Folder-based navigation with recursive scanning
• Powerful tagging and curation system
• Transcript-based video navigation
• Battle mode for ELO-based media rating
• Support for common image and video formats

Supported File Types

Lowkey Media Viewer reads a wide range of image, video, and audio formats natively. Comic book archives are extracted automatically and their contents load like a directory.

• Images jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp, svg, jfif, pjpeg, pjp, webp
• Video mp4, mov, webm, mkv, m4v, ogg
• Audio mp3, wav, flac, aac, ogg, m4a, opus, wma, aiff, ape
• Archives cbz, zip

Basic Navigation

The main design principle of Lowkey Media Viewer is that you should spend most of your time and screen real estate on your images and videos.

Open a File/Directory

When you launch Lowkey Media Viewer you will be asked to select a file. Opening a file automatically loads other files in the directory into the list view. You can also associate media file types with LowKey Media Viewer and open files directly. Change files anytime using the file icon in the Command Palette.

Open a Comic Archive

Comic book archives (.cbz and .zip) open just like directories. Pick one from the file dialog, drag it onto the window, or double-click it in Explorer / Finder — the viewer extracts the contents and loads every page into the list view automatically. Reopening the same archive is instant, and the temporary extraction is cleaned up when you quit the app.

Drag & Drop Import

Drop files straight onto the viewer to import them into your current folder. A drop zone appears on the main panels while you drag. Hold Shift while releasing to move files instead of copying. When you're viewing a tag instead of a folder, dropped files are placed in your configured default import path and the active tags are applied automatically.

Using Panels

There are four panels: List View (Left), Detail View (Middle), MetaData (Right), and Tagging (Bottom). To open a closed panel, drag it open from the edge of the screen. To close a panel, drag the border back to the edge.

Using the Command Palette

Right-click anywhere to bring up the command palette. This is the primary location of all controls and options.

Using the Context Palette

Shift + right-click on any media item to open the context palette. Unlike the full command palette, it shows only actions relevant to what you clicked — run a saved workflow (if you're using the Media Server), copy, delete, tag, and more. Jobs started from the palette stay in a footer so you can watch progress or cancel them without losing your place.

Resizing List View Grid

Modify the size of items in the list view grid using the grid tab in the command palette.

Shuffle

Shuffle images by clicking the shuffle icon in the command palette or pressing the X key. Use sorting options in the command palette to return to a sorted view.

Display & Scaling

Scale Modes

Control how media is displayed in the detail view:

• Fit - Scale to fit within the window
• Cover - Fill the window (may crop edges)
• Actual - Display at 100% zoom
• Zoom - Configurable zoom levels (140%+)

Grid & Masonry Layouts

Choose between traditional grid layout or Pinterest-style masonry layout for your thumbnail view. Toggle between layouts in the command palette under List settings.

Curation & Tagging

The tagging panel lets you create collections of images and videos. Tags are saved to a local SQLite database in your home directory.

Creating a Category and Tag

Organize your media with categories and tags. Categories group related tags together.

Tagging an Image or Video

Apply a tag by dragging it onto an image in the detail view or list view.

Using an Image as the Tag Preview

Hold Shift before dragging a tag onto an image to use that image as the tag preview. You can also toggle the "Apply Tag Preview" option in the Tagging panel sidebar.

Tag All Images in the Current List

Hold Ctrl before dragging a tag onto an image to apply it to every image in the current list. Or select "Tag All Images" in the Tagging Panel Sidebar.

Reordering Tags and Media

Drag tags and media to reorder them in a collection. Media can only be dragged when sorting by Weight.

Selecting Tags to View

View individual tags or combinations. When selecting multiple tags, choose between:

• OR mode - Media with at least one selected tag
• AND mode - Media with all selected tags
• Exclusive mode - Selective filtering

Toggle filtering mode in the Tagging Panel Sidebar.

Searching Tag and File Names

Use text inputs in the Tagging panel to search files by filename or search tags in your collection.

Edit and Delete Tags

Edit tag names or delete tags. Editing updates all associated assignments. Deleting removes all assignments (not reversible).

Tag & Category Descriptions

Tags and categories now support descriptions. Add notes about what a tag is for, what to include, or anything else worth remembering — descriptions appear inline in the tagging panel and can be edited from the redesigned tag and category modals.

Video & Audio Playback

Playback Controls

Full video and audio playback with:

• Play/Pause toggle (spacebar)
• Progress bar with scrubbing and hover preview
• Time display (current/total)
• Volume control with mute toggle

Autoplay Settings

Configure autoplay behavior in the command palette:

• Enable/disable autoplay on media selection
• Set delay before playing (5-second increments)
• Configure video loop count before advancing

Looping

Set custom loop durations (1s, 2s, 5s, 10s) for focused viewing of specific segments.

Metadata & Transcripts

View file metadata, Stable Diffusion parameters, gallery-dl metadata, and transcripts in the Metadata panel.

Viewing Transcripts

View VTT transcripts located in the same folder as the media file. Transcripts must have the same filename with a .vtt extension. Click cues to jump to timestamps, and toggle "Follow Transcript" ( on / off) to auto-scroll along with the video.

Generating Transcripts

Generate transcripts using the Whisper command if installed locally. Learn how to install Whisper.

Advanced Features

Battle Mode (ELO Rating)

Compare two media items side-by-side and vote for your preference. The ELO rating system automatically updates scores based on your choices. Great for ranking and curating large collections.

Duplicate Detection

Find and manage duplicate or similar media files. Merge duplicates to consolidate entries while preserving tag assignments.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Customize all keyboard shortcuts in the Hotkeys tab of the command palette.

Contact & Support

Have a question or feature request? All development is driven by community feedback, and updates are free forever.

• Help Requests: help@lowkeyviewer.com
• Feature Requests: features@lowkeyviewer.com