Actions & Instant Preview

Lertaro does more than find files at blazing speeds — it integrates a comprehensive context action system and a rich instant preview panel, letting you inspect, manage, and dispatch files without switching to File Explorer.

1. Action Menu Deep Dive

Press Ctrl+O or → on any search result (file, folder, application, or plugin entry) to expand the contextual action menu. In the Full Search Window, right-clicking a result opens the same menu for that result.

Built-in Core Actions Cheat Sheet

Action	Default Hotkey	Description
Open	Enter	Opens the selected item or launches the application with the system default program.
Reveal in Explorer	Ctrl+Enter	Opens the parent directory and highlights the item in Windows File Explorer.
Run as Administrator	Ctrl+Shift+Enter	Launches the selected application or script with elevated administrative permissions.
Copy Full Path	Ctrl+Shift+C	Copies the absolute path (e.g. D:\Projects\app.exe) to the clipboard.
Cut / Copy File	Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C	Places the file itself on the clipboard, ready to paste into Explorer or any folder.
Paste into Folder	Ctrl+V	When a folder is highlighted, pastes clipboard files directly into that directory.
Delete (Recycle Bin)	Delete	Safely moves the selected file or directory to the Windows Recycle Bin.
Permanent Delete	Shift+Delete	Permanently deletes the selected item (prompts for confirmation; cannot be recovered).
Rename	—	Renames one existing file or folder through the Windows Shell. The dialog preselects the filename portion for convenient replacement.
Windows Context Menu	—	Expands the full native Windows Explorer context menu with third-party extensions and "Send to".

Action Menu Interaction & Filtering

• Type to Filter: Once the action menu opens, type immediately to filter actions by name (e.g., typing copy narrows the list to copy-related actions).
• Independent Search Box: The action menu has its own focused search box, so filtering actions never changes the main search query. Moving to another menu level clears the action filter and focuses the new level's search box.
• Floating Action Panel: In the Quick Window, Quick Launch panel, and Full Search Window, actions appear in a floating panel anchored to the active result. The Quick Launch panel expands to the action menu's full working height and returns to its compact height when the menu closes.
• Hierarchical Navigation: On items with submenus (such as "Send to"), press → or Enter to enter; press ← or Backspace (when filter text is empty) to return to the parent level. In a nested menu, Escape and right-click return to the parent; at the root level they close the action menu.
• Click Away to Close: Clicking outside a floating action panel closes it. Right-clicking another result replaces the current action target in place when the host supports it.
• Action Hotkeys: Provider-defined action shortcuts work while the action panel is focused. Executing one closes the floating panel while keeping the Full Search Window or Quick Launch panel open.

2. Full Window Results List Features

The Full Search Window (Ctrl+F) is designed for high-density file management and exploration:

• Double-click Path Column: Double-clicking the Name column opens the file; double-clicking the Path column opens the containing parent folder directly.
• Infinite Streaming Results: When scanning millions of items, results stream into the view incrementally without waiting for the full index scan to conclude. You can interact with rows immediately as they arrive.
• Wrap-around Navigation: Pressing ↑ on the top row wraps around to the last item; pressing ↓ on the bottom row wraps back to the first.
• Selection Summary: When multiple rows are selected, the status bar shows the selected item count next to the total result count.
• Window Dragging & Size Memory: Drag the non-interactive top area of the window to reposition it; manually resized dimensions are automatically remembered across sessions.

3. Built-in QuickLook Instant Preview

Press Alt+P on any result to summon the docked preview panel alongside the search window:

Supported Formats & Rich Capabilities

• Images & Vector Graphics: Crisp rendering and scaling for JPG, PNG, GIF (animated playback), BMP, WebP, ICO, SVG, and more.
• Documents & Code Syntax: Highlighting and formatting for TXT, Markdown, JSON, XML, YAML, C#, Python, JS, HTML, etc.
• Audio & Video Playback: Media files (MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, WMV, MP3, WAV, FLAC, WMA) auto-play immediately with a theme-aware mini playback bar (play/pause, progress scrubbing, duration, mute). Playback stops instantly when switching items.
• Folder Structural Inspection: Shows up to 30 direct child items with file icons and sizes, automatically filtering system and hidden files.

Adaptive Layout & Pop-up Handling

• Adaptive Screen Bounds: Preview dimensions can be customized under Settings → General → Preview; Lertaro guarantees the panel remains within the visible monitor bounds.
• Native Dialog Avoidance: When previewing password-protected Office documents, Lertaro temporarily hides both windows so the native password dialog can be interacted with, restoring seamlessly afterwards.
• Drag Source: The top area of the preview panel acts as a drag source — drag the previewed file directly into editors, browsers, or chat applications.

4. Plugin Interactive & Rich Text Previews

QuickLook supports custom interactive preview cards provided by plugins:

• Theme-Adaptive Rich Text: Rendered via modern WebView2 and native controls, automatically matching dark/light system themes with high-contrast typography and subtle translucent scrollbars.
• Interactive Plugin Cards: MDict dictionary lookups, live weather forecasts, instant webpage snapshots, and API debugging payloads.

5. Third-party QuickLook Bridge (Optional)

If you have installed the standalone open-source tool QuickLook (QL-Win/QuickLook on GitHub), enable the QuickLook Bridge plugin under Settings → Plugins.

• External Preview Takeover: Connects via local named pipes to host external QuickLook preview windows anchored directly beside Lertaro.
• Seamless Fallback: If the external QuickLook process is not running, Lertaro smoothly falls back to its built-in preview engine.

6. Release File Occupation

The official File Occupation Release plugin adds a single-selection action for existing files. It lists the processes currently using the file, including their PIDs and executable paths, and sends a request for those processes to release it. The action is disabled for folders, missing files, or multiple selections; the release button is also disabled when no process is detected. The themed dialog supports refresh and automatically hides itself from Alt+Tab while remaining above the search window.

7. Add to Favorites

CoreExtensions provides an Add to Favorites action for one existing file or folder. It opens a themed dialog for the display name and hides the action when the same path is already a favorite.

8. Rename

CoreExtensions provides a Rename action for one existing file or folder. The themed dialog shows the full current name and preselects the filename portion: for report.pdf, only report is selected, while folders and names without an extension are selected in full. Press Enter to confirm or Esc to cancel. After confirmation, the actual rename is delegated to the Windows Shell.