# Check a .env file without putting secrets on screen

> Preview .env files in Finder with every value hidden until you choose Show values. Passwords, tokens and API keys are marked SECRET.

Open a `.env` file in an editor and every password and API key is on screen, in front of anyone nearby or on a screen share. Gander’s Quick Look preview shows the keys and hides every value until you choose **Show values**.

![.env.production with Show values on: plain values such as the port and log level next to flagged secrets.](https://ganderfinder.com/img/features/env-shown-2x.webp)
![.env.production in the default Hidden view: every value masked, with keys such as STRIPE_API_KEY marked SECRET.](https://ganderfinder.com/img/features/env-hidden-2x.webp)

## How to do it

1. Install Gander from the Mac App Store and open it once.
2. Select a `.env` file in Finder and press Space. If you can’t see the file, press ⇧⌘. (Command-Shift-Period) to show hidden files.
3. Read the keys, and choose **Show values** only when you need to see them.

## Hidden by default

Values stay hidden until you ask for them:

- Every value is masked when the preview opens
- Likely secrets are marked SECRET: passwords, tokens, API keys, private keys and connection strings with a password
- Copying from the hidden view never copies a real value
- Finder thumbnails show keys only, never values

## Read the way dotenv reads it

Gander reads the file the way dotenv does: quoted values can span lines, so a PEM private key is one entry; double quotes take escapes; and an unquoted value ends where a ` #` comment starts.

## Which files

`.env`, `.env.local`, `.env.production` and any other `.env.*` file, plus names that end in `.env`. Nothing is uploaded: Gander has no networking code.

## Questions

### Is it safe to preview a .env file during a screen share?

Yes, as long as you don’t choose Show values: the preview shows the keys and masks every value, and likely secrets are marked SECRET.

### Does Gander store or send my secrets?

No. It reads the file only to draw the preview, keeps nothing, and has no networking code.

### Why can’t I see my .env file in Finder?

Files whose names start with a dot are hidden. Press Command-Shift-Period (⇧⌘.) in Finder to show them.

## More guides

- [Preview Markdown in Finder, rendered the way GitHub shows it](https://ganderfinder.com/markdown-quick-look)
- [View Mermaid diagrams on your Mac without a browser](https://ganderfinder.com/mermaid-viewer)
- [Turn Markdown into a PDF or a Word document, right from Finder](https://ganderfinder.com/markdown-to-pdf-word)
- [Convert CSV to Excel on your Mac, straight from Finder](https://ganderfinder.com/csv-to-excel)
- [Read Jupyter notebooks on your Mac without starting Jupyter](https://ganderfinder.com/jupyter-notebook-viewer)
- [A fast JSON viewer in Finder, for JSONC and JSON Lines too](https://ganderfinder.com/json-viewer)
- [Look inside an SQLite database from Finder](https://ganderfinder.com/sqlite-viewer)
- [Read any SQL query neatly laid out, without changing the file](https://ganderfinder.com/sql-formatter)
- [Open log files at the newest line, with errors in red](https://ganderfinder.com/log-viewer)

Gander is free on the Mac App Store, with no in-app purchases, no subscription and no account, and nothing you preview leaves your Mac. https://apps.apple.com/app/id6817038818

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