10.10.3 Yosemite: Previewing Links in Safari with a Tap

Apple didn’t add much new stuff (aside from Photos, whoo-hoo!) into 10.10.3 Yosemite. One of the things they did add is a doozy, though, and I’ve already forgotten how I lived without it. Here’s the deal: If you’re using a trackpad and have System Preferences> Trackpad> Point & Click> Look Up toggled on…

…you can use a three-finger tap on a link to preview it in Safari.

I find this handiest while I’m doing Google searches, as I can preview the site results to figure out how relevant they are before I navigate away from my search page.

After you check out the preview window, just click it to open the page in a new tab, or click away to dismiss it and move on to something else.

This feature is pretty similar to an ability we’ve had for a while—previewing links in Mail messages without having to open Safari to do so. Now you can do that with a three-finger tap, too, instead of using the teeny drop-down arrow that’ll appear when you hover over a link.

And one more thing—if you’ve got yourself a fancy new MacBook or MacBook Pro that supports Force Touch, that function can be also used to invoke Safari or Mail’s link previews! You lucky ducks.

For the full effect of this article, be sure to imagine a squeal of Melissa-delight the first, oh, 300 times you three-finger tap or Force Touch to preview something. That’s pretty much what it’s been like in my house the last few days, so if my neighbors are reading this, I officially apologize.