This functionality works in 10.5, it's not some great new discovery.

Also, the status bar at the bottom of Finder windows shows the available space for a volume, and has done for YEARS.

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But not in QuickLook, as this hint is about.

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Wrong. This hint does work in 10.5 with QuickLook. Typing this from a 12" PowerBook G4 running 10.5.8, and the "QuickLook on hard drive" functionality is identical to my 17" MacBook Pro running 10.6.1.

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Wrong. This hint does work in 10.5 with QuickLook.

This hint doesn't work for me on 10.5.8 for drive icons on the Desktop. It does work if the drive is selected in the sidebar or in the Volumes folder. Could the hint be about desktop drive icons?

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I think you're right, I just assumed it was about desktop items but I guess it doesn't actually say that. However, the hint is given for the purpose of viewing available disk space, and if you have a finder window open then you most likely do not need quick look to accomplish this since the space shows up in the windows (assuming the window is showing a folder on the drive in question.) I know that has already been mentioned here many times, I am just using this to support the argument that the hint is probably about desktop icons.

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Free space is also always listed at the bottom of any finder window, assuming you've got the sidebar/window chrome showing...

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Or: right-click the desktop, select Show View Options, check Show Item Info. Size and free space will be listed under volumes.

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OR (since 10.4 as far as I know) click on the desktop, open the view options (cmd-J) and activate the checkbox "show object info": So you will see the available disk space anytime below the volume name.

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If you are going to click on the drive icon anyway, why not just right-click (control-click) and then choose "Get Info" from the pop-up menu? You will see more info than Quick Look provides.

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Because you also have to close the get info window afterwards. With this hint it's a simple (slow) double tap of the space bar.

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Great find. I'm glad you noticed this.

Using Quicklook is much faster and easier than going through the bother of pressing Option-click, navigating to the Show Info item, then having to close the window again. Just clicking on the icon and pressing SPACE twice is far more efficient, especially if you're using a trackpad.

This is just what I was looking for to improve my workflow.

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Erm, you're saying "keyboard shortcuts is quicker than menus". But there are already keyboard shortcuts available.

Tapping space twice is only barely quicker than Command-I, Command-W. Notice those keyboard shortcuts have been available right from the very start of Macintosh System.

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To the poster of this tip, please ignore the mean comments. I liked this hint. To everyone who states a different way, thank you. But the hint is still valid. Most of the other way listed (aside from the status bar), take more steps then pressing the spacebar.

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Even the status bar option takes more effort, as you have to open a finder window to do it. This works from the desktop.

Showing the item info on the desktop works well, so long as your icons are huge and so there's enough space.

Great hint. Thanks.

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While you have the window open you can click on another drive and it will switch and show that drives info. Nice hint.

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Yeah guys seriously, read the hint before commenting- I actually mention the other ways of finding disk space; so stop yapping.

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Great hint. Yes, it worked in 10.5 also, but I never saw it hinted before.

I've already voiced my frustration several times with negative commenters (I affectionately call "snobs") on this site as of late. Please please people just ignore them. They don't realize this isn't a contest, but rather a collective knowledgebase site. Even if it's not "some great new discovery," I love seeing it documented.

Snobs be gone.



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I don't think anyone is being a snob — the reason I (and I presume many other members) love this site so much is the high quality of the information here. Whenever I see misinformation in a hint, I feel obliged to point it out so that Rob will hopefully add a correction to the hint (or at least readers of the hint will have a chance to be informed by the comments, assuming they read that far…). I've been reading the site for nearly a decade (has it really been around that long?) and it does seem like the quality of the hints has taken a distinct downward turn this last year or so.

This particular hint contains a lot of misinformation. The claim that the behavior is new to 10.6. The (implied) claim that the author has mentioned all the other ways to get the information (which they fell far short of doing, as is obvious from all the "mean" comments). For such a short hint, it really packs a lot of misinformation punch!

All that being said, I acknowledge that a lot of the corrective comments could have been phrased more tactfully. I'd suggest the rudeness is just an emotional (possible subconscious) reaction to a perception of a recent flood of questionable hints on the site.

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Rubbish! I agree the quality of (some of) the hints here has dropped, but this isn't an example of that. The ONLY misinformation in the hint is the idea that it's new to 10.6, which anyway I'd regard more as the editor's job to check for than the hinter's. While of course the hinter should strive to be as accurate as he can, he can normally only go by what he remembers of the previous version, as by definition he can't check now. The editors on the other hand have other resources to call upon, presumably.

There is no requirement whatsoever for any hinter to point out the alternative ways of achieving the same thing. He's not writing an OS X manual, he's pointing out one handy thing he's found that people might not have noticed. If others use other methods to do the same thing, great, and it's good if they list them in the comments, but the first reply in particular was stupid and unnecessary.

I know, lets get all the people who post convoluted ways to do things through Terminal include the much simpler UI methods in their hints shall we, before they're accepted? Who cares that some people may prefer to work that way, I don't, so will start to insult the hinter for daring to suggest I should.

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I think the drop in "quality" you've noticed has several causes. One, the volume of hints has increased significantly due to the popularity of the site and the OS, so robg can't test everything, and two, many more novices are feeling like they can contribute. Both of these are good things. I prefer to look at the hints not as 100% rock solid take it to the bank info, but rather as points of experimentation and discussion. The "snobs" see it differently. They like to show their prowess by pointing out the flaws in other people's hints, and presume they know every possible thing about every possible thing, in every possible configuration, with every possible peripheral, etc etc. It's not what they say, but how they say it. Often rude and superior. They put the hinter on the defensive. I'm really getting sick of it. I've been reading and contributing to this site for over six years, and one thing has changed for sure, the quality of the commenters.

This hint is a great example. It's a fine hint, but not 100% accurate. I've never seen it here before, and so it's fair game. Who should test it? We, the readers! And we should report back in a professional and respectful manner. That's how we get all the facts, not by taunting and degrading.

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And this perceived drop in quality is as all perceptions involving comparisons over larger time periods skewed by the biased nature of human memory. Humans tend to forget the bad things and remember the good things, that is how our psyche manages to make life bearable.

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People, this is definitely new to 10.6, this was one of my biggest frustration in 10.5, and when I noticed that a lot of new stuff started showing up in QL windows (such as copyrights on apps) I decided to check HDs.

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