How to view 3D files online without installing anything

Why a browser viewer is usually the right first step

A browser viewer opens in seconds, works on any operating system and does not ask you to install a 3D package just to look at one file. Modern browsers draw 3D through WebGL, so a viewer page can render a detailed model about as smoothly as a desktop app. For checking what a file contains, that is all you need.

Babylon.js Sandbox

Babylon.js Sandbox is the viewer Microsoft now recommends in place of its retired 3D Viewer. Its documentation lists .gltf, .glb, .obj, .stl, .babylon, .bvh and .ply, plus the Gaussian-splat formats .splat, .spz and .sog.

• Open a file by dragging it onto the page or using the open button in the toolbar.
• Install it as a desktop app if you use it often. The page is a progressive web app.
• Inspect it with the built-in inspector, which shows the scene tree, materials and textures. That is useful when something renders oddly and you want to know why.

Online 3D Viewer

Online 3D Viewer is an open-source project under the MIT licence. According to its repository, it imports 3dm, 3ds, 3mf, amf, bim, brep, dae, fbx, fcstd, gltf, ifc, iges, step, stl, obj, off, ply and wrl. That is the widest list here, and the one to try first for FBX or CAD formats such as STEP and IGES. It can also export to glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY and a few others, which makes it a quick converter. Because the code is public, you can run your own copy if you would rather not open a file on someone else's site.

The three.js editor

The three.js editor is a small scene editor rather than a viewer, but it opens most common formats and lets you move, rotate and scale the model, swap materials and export the result. Use it when you want to check how a model looks in a three.js scene before you build one yourself.

When the model loads grey, black or not at all

Most failed loads come down to a few causes:

• Missing companion files. A .gltf points to a .bin file and to texture images. An .obj points to a .mtl file, which points to images. Drop them all in together. If you only have the main file, you get grey geometry or an error.
• Absolute texture paths. Some exporters write a path like C:\Users\…\wood.png into the file. A browser cannot follow it. Open the .mtl or .gltf in a text editor and change it to just the file name.
• Inside-out faces. If parts of the model vanish as you orbit, its normals point the wrong way. That is a problem with the model, not the viewer. The inspection checklist covers it.
• The wrong scale. A model that seems missing may be tiny or huge. Use the viewer's "fit to view" or frame button.

If you only need one file and the viewer offers no format choice, convert to GLB. It is a single file, every browser viewer reads it, and it is what GLB-to-anything guides start from.

If the model you need does not exist yet

Viewers are for files you already have. If you are browsing because you need a specific prop or object and cannot find it, Vi3W can generate it from a description, a sketch or a photo, and export a GLB that opens in every viewer on this page.