Guides
How to view 3D models on a Mac with Preview and Quick Look
macOS Preview opens GLB, OBJ, STL and USDZ files with no extra software. What it supports, what it misses, and what to use for FBX.
2 min read
Quick answer
How do I view a 3D model on a Mac?
Double-click the file. Preview, which ships with macOS, opens USDZ, USD, GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY, Alembic, MaterialX and OpenVDB files in a 3D view you can orbit. For a quicker look, select a USDZ in Finder and press Space. FBX is the main format Preview does not open.
Preview is already a 3D viewer
Most Mac owners use Preview for PDFs and photos. It also opens 3D models. Apple's list of 3D formats Preview supports covers:
- USDZ, USD, USDA and USDC, Apple's and Pixar's scene formats
- GLTF and GLB, the web standard
- Wavefront OBJ
- STL and PLY, the scan and print formats
- Alembic (.abc), for baked animation caches
- MaterialX (.mtlx) and OpenVDB (.vdb)
Double-click a file, or right-click and choose Open With › Preview. Drag to orbit, pinch to zoom, and use two fingers to pan.
Editing in Preview
According to the same Apple page, Preview edits single-layer USD, USDA, USDC and USDZ files directly. For every other format, including multi-layer USD, Preview saves your first edit to a copy, so the original file is left alone. It is not a modelling tool. Treat it as a viewer that can make small adjustments.
Quick Look from Finder
Select a USDZ file in Finder and press Space for a Quick Look preview you can rotate, without opening an app. It is the fastest way to check a folder of models.
What Preview does not open
FBX is the big one. It is common in game work and missing from Apple's list. Your options:
- Blender, free on macOS, imports FBX and lets you re-export as GLB or USDZ.
- Autodesk's FBX Review is a free viewer with a Mac version.
- A browser viewer such as Online 3D Viewer opens FBX without installing anything.
How to open FBX files covers each one.
If a model opens black
A thread on Apple's developer forums reports USDZ files opening with a black viewport in Preview on macOS 26.2, while the same files rendered in Xcode. That is a user report, not an Apple statement. If you hit it, check the file in a second viewer before assuming the model is broken: open it in Babylon.js Sandbox or Blender. If it looks right there, the problem is the viewer, not the file.
From viewing to the next step
A Mac is also a good place to prepare models for iPhone AR. Preview reads both GLB and USDZ, so you can compare a model before and after converting it. See viewing 3D models on your phone. To edit the model itself, Blender is the free standard, and our Blender guide covers importing at the right scale.
Vi3W runs in Chrome, Firefox or Edge on macOS, so you can generate a model in the browser, download the GLB and open it in Preview straight away.
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