# Outliner Model Preview

Preview objects and collections beside the mouse cursor in the Outliner.

## Using the preview

1. Enable the extension, then click its preview icon in the Outliner header.

2. Select an object or collection in the Outliner to see its preview.

3. Shift-click the preview icon to open the extra options. Enable **Hover

   Display** to preview the row under the mouse while holding **Alt**.

4. Change **Hover Hotkey** in the extension preferences to use Ctrl, Shift,

   or Space. Release the key to hide a hover preview. Hover targeting uses

   Outliner selection operations and may affect selection.

The extension starts with previewing disabled. Click the header icon again

to turn it off.

## Preferences

- **Preview Size**, **Preview Position**, and **Auto Avoid Edge** control

  the size and placement of the preview.

- **Rotation Speed** controls automatic rotation; set it to 0 for a still view.

- **Material Shading** uses material colors and supported textures. Turn it

  off to use **Model Color**. **Background Opacity** controls the backdrop.

- **Max Faces** switches dense geometry to a sampled point preview. The

  default is 500,000 faces; lower it for lighter previews. A value of 0

  disables this threshold and can increase memory use and drawing time.

- **Show Face Count** and **Visibility** control the preview information.

- **Camera Preview** enables camera previews and is disabled by default.

- The extra options include keyword exclusions for object and collection names.

## Geometry and performance

Preview geometry is read from Blender's evaluated objects. Instances retain

their evaluated geometry and transforms for drawing. Preview generation does

not add modifiers or node groups, change subdivision levels, or edit mesh

vertices, including on linked objects and library overrides.

Geometry extraction does not create undo steps. Hover targeting may change

selection as described above. Blender can defer automatic saving while a

modal operator is running. The preview operator exits after about three

seconds of inactivity once geometry processing and active interactions have

finished; automatic saving remains subject to Blender's normal scheduling.

Dense meshes use a sampled point preview. Blender must still evaluate the

scene: an expensive modifier or Geometry Nodes setup can delay the first

preview. Preview limits do not interrupt an evaluation already in progress.

## License

Copyright 2026 Shuimeng. Distributed under GPL-3.0-or-later.

The full GNU General Public License version 3 is included in `LICENSE`.