# \[DONE\] Preview content of media or text-based files directly within lightbox without needing to download **URL:** \ **Category:** Ideas & Features\ **Tags:** files\ **Created:** [June 21, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318 "2024-06-21T22:58:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/1 "2024-06-21T22:58:38Z")
I wish that if a media (image, video, pdf, etc) or text based file (.txt, .js, .doc, etc) that has been uploaded to an entity was clicked on, I could preview/read it’s contents directly within the fibery interface instead of having to download the file and open it locally every time! The file being displayed in a lightbox-style popup is very common functionality that is present in virtually every other tool in the space. ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/2 "2024-06-21T23:05:41Z")
This could apply to all file types that could reasonably be previewed in the browser. ---
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 12:14am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/3 "2024-06-22T00:14:12Z")
This is true. Images, videos & pdfs at least. ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 10:08am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/4 "2024-06-22T10:08:29Z")
> [@interr0bangr](#): > > I wish that if a text based file (txt, js, doc) saved on an entity was clicked on, I could read it’s contents directly in fibery instead of having to download the file and open it locally every time! I think most browsers have a setting that allows you to choose whether to download or open files in the browser. > [@interr0bangr](#): > > Even better if I could edit it too without having to do that locally and reuploading the file. If a file is opened by the browser, it is no longer under Fibery’s control, so I don’t think it’s very easy to implement editing and saving back to the original file. And there are no plans to make Fibery a native file editor. ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/5 "2024-06-22T13:35:01Z")
Currently my behaviour is that it opens in a new tab, not downloads. Wondering if these is browser specific? ![ed91e16f8e1c3282c4c7ba11e0581d39](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/9/92899b9326708b7c6a6491520083119541964f01.gif) That said, it still opens each in a new tab. I would see this like google drive deals with opening files which are not gdoc. It pops it open over the rest, then gives you the option to download and has arrows to go through the rest of the files in the folder. ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/6 "2024-06-22T13:47:01Z")
> [@RonMakesSystems](#): > > I would see this like google drive deals with opening files which are not gdoc. It pops it open over the rest, then gives you the option to download and has arrows to go through the rest of the files in the folder And MS Onedrive does something similar. But Fibery is not intended to be primarily used as a file storage service, nor as a tool for manipulating all the variety of file types that users might upload (doc, ppt, pdf, txt, png, svg, csv, xls, etc.) I don’t think it ever will be (but never say never 😉) ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/7 "2024-06-27T14:52:00Z")
> [@Chr1sG](#): > > But Fibery is not intended to be primarily used as a file storage service If you’re following the intended purpose it’s just a Product Management tool, no? 😉 I’ve thought a lot about this, especially with the AI Assistant coming out now, and entity permissions which can make for granular folder sharing access. I’m not sure if the AI Assistant can read uploaded files, but that could be an interesting! An easier way to find files. There could be something really powerful about each file as an entity. ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/8 "2024-06-27T15:32:01Z")
Maybe I should have written that Fibery is not _designed_ to function as a file storage. There’s lots that goes into good file management (including indexing/searching within contents, version history, in-browser editing, etc.) and Fibery is just not technically set up to do that. Of course, nothing is impossible, but at the moment, it is improbable. ---
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/9 "2024-06-27T19:12:16Z")
Yeah, we have no intention for using Fibery for mass file storage. But for the files we do store, it would be nice to have certain functionality you come to expect from product/project management tools like viewing media (images, videos, pdf) natively without needing to download. The specific scenario that prompted me to create this thread is that we use Test Cafe ([https://testcafe.io/](https://testcafe.io/)) to create automated testing for various products we build. Test Cafe creates a .js file with instructions on what steps will be completed in the test. We save that file on a “Test Scenario” entity within Fibery, and then using a script we wrote that’s triggered by a “Run Test” button, send that file to our testing server that executes it. The js file is just plain text, and it’s easy to tell by looking in it, what the parameters of the test are. I often forget what the parameters are and want to double check them before I run the test, but currently I have to download the file and open it when i wish I could just click on it and see it’s contents in a little lightbox window or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/10 "2024-06-27T19:35:38Z")
> [@interr0bangr](#): > > it would be nice to have certain functionality you come to expect from product/project management tools like viewing media (images, videos, pdf) natively without needing to download Have you checked your browser settings? For me, I can set it to open files in the browser rather than download, as the default option. ---
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/11 "2024-06-27T22:28:17Z")
I’m sure I could change my browser settings to try and open the file within the browser, but it doesn’t scale (I’m not going to make everyone else in my company change their browser settings) and at the end of the day still takes me away from Fibery when the whole point is to stay within Fibery. Not trying to minimize the effort here as I don’t know how Fibery is built, but there’s an abundance of react and javascript snippets out there for basic lightbox functionality which is all that’s really needed for images/videos. Fibery truly is the only tool in the space that doesn’t seem to use a lightbox to preview media natively before download. My original ask was around around text-based files though, which would essentially just require displaying the value of in a lightbox, which something like [colorbox](https://www.jacklmoore.com/colorbox/) (a very popular js-based lightbox solution) seems like it could do without issue. ---
**Author:** ![helloitse](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/helloitse/32/498_2.png) [@helloitse](https://community.fibery.io/u/helloitse)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/12 "2024-12-28T19:47:56Z")
This might be a stretch but I have a lot of imported .html files because that’s how most emails are exported from gmail. A popup, simple, .html fileviewer (no JS) would be the dream. ---
**Author:** ![mvnrsa](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/mvnrsa/32/8858_2.png) [@mvnrsa](https://community.fibery.io/u/mvnrsa)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/13 "2024-02-19T16:38:56Z")
Fibery already allows images to be attached to entities but if they are clicked they open one at a time in a new tab. This is a _terribly slow_ workflow to inspect or approve images (such as jewelry). It would be way better if clicking an image opens it in a lightbox to browse / swipe through all of the images attached to the entity (ala Trello attachments). Swipe is really important on mobile - it is much, much faster than opening and closing tabs. ---
**Author:** ![Oshyan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/oshyan/32/11431_2.png) [@Oshyan](https://community.fibery.io/u/Oshyan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/14 "2024-02-19T18:21:46Z")
If you want to review images like this you might consider just embedding them in a Rich Text. Much quicker to review that way. Unfortunately you can’t currently bulk add images to Rich Text, so that’s a workflow impediment. Definitely one I’d like to see solved in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Renato\_Carvalho](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/renato_carvalho/32/11001_2.png) [@Renato\_Carvalho](https://community.fibery.io/u/Renato_Carvalho)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/15 "2025-01-06T15:34:44Z")
I was just writing a similar feature request. I’ll post here my inputs: Enhance File Preview experience for Attached Documents and Media ### Current Situation: When viewing attached files (images, PDFs, etc.) in the Mac app, the current behavior disrupts workflow continuity. Opening an attachment creates a new tab, and upon closing it, the app doesn’t return to the original context. Instead, it shows the last opened tab, causing users to lose their place and requiring additional navigation steps. ### Impact on Workflow: - Frequent context switching disrupts concentration - Extra time spent navigating back to the original entity - Reduced efficiency in collaborative workflows where document review is common - Increased cognitive load from managing multiple tabs ### Proposed Solutions: **1. Modal Preview:** - Implement an overlay preview window for attached files - Preview remains contextually connected to the source entity - Quick access to view and dismiss without losing context - Support for common file types (images, PDFs, videos, audio) **2. Two-Panel Preview:** - Split-screen view showing the entity and attachment simultaneously - Maintains context while reviewing attached files - Allows for side-by-side reference and comparison - Flexible layout for different file types **Benefits:** - Streamlined workflow with reduced context switching - Improved collaboration efficiency - Better user experience for document-heavy workflows - Reduced time spent on navigation ### References: - Basecamp quick preview PDF: - ClickUp also has a simular quick preview. - Even Fibery already has something like this for attached images inside comments: ---
**Author:** ![Kiryl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/kiryl/32/11416_2.png) [@Kiryl](https://community.fibery.io/u/Kiryl)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/16 "2025-04-01T16:31:30Z")
I have a similar requirement: we typically have 2-3 photos from the construction site and need to display them in a mini-gallery or lightbox for easy browsing/swiping (on mobile). ---
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 1:12pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/17 "2025-04-02T13:12:23Z")
Related: [[PLANNED] Preview content of media or text-based files directly within lightbox without needing to download](https://community.fibery.io/t/preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318) ---
**Author:** ![mdubakov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/mdubakov/32/10_2.png) [@mdubakov](https://community.fibery.io/u/mdubakov)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/18 "2025-10-23T14:00:04Z")
Development started ---
**Author:** ![mdubakov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/mdubakov/32/10_2.png) [@mdubakov](https://community.fibery.io/u/mdubakov)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 2:43pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/19 "2025-11-20T14:43:50Z")
Released today > [@November 20, 2025 / artist Gallery view, Open and preview files, Fibery AI: Build v2.0](https://community.fibery.io/t/november-20-2025-gallery-view-open-and-preview-files-fibery-ai-build-v2-0/10043): > > Get some fire from our team to warm you up in this cold and rainy November. artist Gallery View Long-awaited Gallery View is live today face_holding_back_tears! Now you can better visualize entities with media files, like Employees, Books, Inventory, Products and create team directories, mood boards, company libraries, product catalogs, inventories boards. Gallery View can show several databases at once, it supports files upload, drag and drop, batch actions, filters, sorting and color c… ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/done-preview-content-of-media-or-text-based-files-directly-within-lightbox-without-needing-to-download/6318/20 "2025-11-20T17:03:18Z")