---
title: How to use it
nav: How to use it
order: 1
description: Pick a folder, filter by type, search filenames, sort three ways, move with the arrow keys. Plus the three limits you will actually run into — subfolders, large folders, and video thumbnails.
updated: 2026-08-29
---

## Three steps

1. **Pick a folder** — press the button and choose one in your system's folder dialog.
   Your browser will then ask whether to “upload” the files;
   [this chapter](/en/media-viewer/docs/upload-warning) explains why.
2. **The file list appears on the left** — images get thumbnails, videos get an extension badge.
3. **Click one to start** — then use the arrow keys.

## Filtering and search

**Type filter**: WebP, PNG, GIF, JPG, JPEG, AVIF, BMP, SVG and MP4 can each be toggled.
Only after animations? Keep GIF and WebP. Don't want video interrupting the flow? Turn MP4 off.

**Search** matches filenames by keyword, and stacks with the type filter — a file has to pass
both to be listed.

## Sorting

| By | When it helps |
| --- | --- |
| Name | Numbered files (`001.png`, `002.png`…) read most naturally this way |
| Date | Start from the newest, or find “the one I saved last week” |
| Size | Spot the space hogs — or the opposite, find originals among a pile of thumbnails |

All three work ascending or descending.

## Keyboard

| Key | Action |
| --- | --- |
| `↓` or `→` | Next |
| `↑` or `←` | Previous |

Arrow keys are not hijacked while you are typing in a text field, so editing the search box
behaves normally.

## Three limits you will actually run into

**Whether you see one level or the whole tree depends on the folder you pick.** When you choose
a folder, the browser hands the page **every file underneath it**, subfolders included. Pick a
large root directory and you get an enormous list — so pick the specific level you want.

**The first load is slow with many files.** Thumbnails are read one by one. Everything already
read is cached, so changing the filter, sort or search afterwards (even switching interface
language) does not re-read anything — but the first pass has to happen.

**Videos have no thumbnails.** The list shows an extension badge; the file plays when you open
it. Generating one would mean decoding a frame, which is out of scope here.

## What this tool will not do

It is read-only. No renaming, deleting, moving or converting. Read access is all it is given,
so even if it wanted to, it could not — that is a security property, not an unfinished feature.