# File previews: video and audio play while they load

> Opening a video or audio file now starts playback right away and fetches only the parts you watch, instead of downloading the whole file first.

Oct 26, 2026. Topics: Specialists, Workflows. https://www.generalinput.com/changelog/2026-10-26-video-and-audio-previews-stream

Opening a video or recording in the file preview used to download the entire file before anything played, so a long screen recording or meeting audio meant a long spinner, even for a quick look. Now playback starts as soon as the first part arrives, and the preview fetches only the parts you watch or skip to. This applies to a specialist's files in [Resources](/changelog/2026-10-25-specialist-files-and-folders), the files a workflow run produces, and files you open from ⌘K search.

### How it works

- **Streams instead of downloading.** Video, audio, and images open on a short-lived signed link to the stored file. The player asks for the file's details first, then requests just the range it needs, so skipping to the end of a long video loads the end, not everything before it.
- **Documents work as before.** PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, slides, and text files are still read whole, since the preview needs the full file to lay out pages and cells.
- **Unplayable formats fail fast.** A video your browser can't play, like some HEVC `.mov` files, now says so right away instead of after a full download.
- **Download still downloads.** The Download action on a file or run output saves the complete file, and a copy saved from the preview keeps its own name.

### Also shipped

- Word documents open as separate pages, like PDFs, broken where Word last laid them out.
- The file name and buttons sit above the file, so they never cover the top of a page.