QL-Win / QL-Win/QuickLook

Previewing files in File Explorere's Home page requires pressing space twice

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Dominant language
C#
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Description

Describe the bug
Space to preview doesn't work on the Home page of File Explorer.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

  1. Start File Explorer, it should default to enter the Home page. If not, navigate there, the address bar shows "Home"
  2. Select an item, either folder or file
  3. Press space key once
  4. Observe the item is un-selected, and the preview window does not open
  5. Press space key again
  6. The item is re-selected, and the preview window opens

Expected behavior
The preview window should open on the first space key press. And ideally it will not get the item un-selected.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

  • OS Version: Windows 11 25H2 26200.7019
  • QuickLook Version: 4.2.2 from Microsoft Store

Screenshots and Exception Log
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/94ce5551-860e-4c71-8c43-7a3eb2936c74

I suspect that both File Explorer and QuickLook gets the space key activation, but File Explorer reacts faster and marked the file as un-selected, so QuickLook thinks there's nothing to preview?

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the issue on Windows 11 25H2 with QuickLook 4.2.2, using File Explorer's Home page and the single-space sequence described above. Then trace the space-key handling and File Explorer integration; done means the preview opens on the first press without the item becoming un-selected.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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