WikiLens by buak
Select text on any page to instantly preview the matching Wikipedia article with an image and snippet.
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About this extension
WikiLens turns every page into an encyclopedia. Select any text, and if it is the exact title of a Wikipedia article, an elegant popup appears right where you are: the article's images shown whole (flip through them with an arrow), the full first paragraph with Wikipedia's own formatting, and a link to read the rest on Wikipedia.
EXACT BY DEFAULT Previews appear only when your selection is precisely an article title, so the popup never gets in your way. Ambiguous titles show a tidy "may refer to:" list, and clicking a meaning previews it in place. Prefer looser matching? One switch also resolves redirects like "USA" to "United States".
QUICK FACTS The Large popup adds up to five facts from the article's infobox (born, died, occupation, founded, population, website), and every linkable value is a clickable link of its own.
23 LANGUAGES Point WikiLens at any major Wikipedia edition, with an automatic English fallback when a title only exists there.
YOURS TO SHAPE Three popup sizes. Light, dark, and auto themes. An optional Alt+select trigger, and a per-site disable list for sites where you want quiet. Esc dismisses the popup, and nothing triggers while you type in forms or editors. Plays nicely with Dark Reader and hover-zoom extensions.
ALWAYS AT HAND The toolbar popup keeps your recent lookups nearby (stored only on your device) and lets you look up titles directly.
PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your selection travels to Wikimedia's APIs (Wikipedia and Wikidata) and nowhere else. No analytics, no tracking, no accounts. Free software under the GPL-3.0, source at github.com/Ville-Mattila/wikilens.
EXACT BY DEFAULT Previews appear only when your selection is precisely an article title, so the popup never gets in your way. Ambiguous titles show a tidy "may refer to:" list, and clicking a meaning previews it in place. Prefer looser matching? One switch also resolves redirects like "USA" to "United States".
QUICK FACTS The Large popup adds up to five facts from the article's infobox (born, died, occupation, founded, population, website), and every linkable value is a clickable link of its own.
23 LANGUAGES Point WikiLens at any major Wikipedia edition, with an automatic English fallback when a title only exists there.
YOURS TO SHAPE Three popup sizes. Light, dark, and auto themes. An optional Alt+select trigger, and a per-site disable list for sites where you want quiet. Esc dismisses the popup, and nothing triggers while you type in forms or editors. Plays nicely with Dark Reader and hover-zoom extensions.
ALWAYS AT HAND The toolbar popup keeps your recent lookups nearby (stored only on your device) and lets you look up titles directly.
PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your selection travels to Wikimedia's APIs (Wikipedia and Wikidata) and nowhere else. No analytics, no tracking, no accounts. Free software under the GPL-3.0, source at github.com/Ville-Mattila/wikilens.
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Permissions and data
Required permissions:
- Access your data for all websites
Optional permissions:
- Access your data for sites in the wikipedia.org domain
Data collection:
- The developer says this extension doesn't require data collection.
More information
- Add-on Links
- Version
- 1.4.1
- Size
- 44.06 KB
- Last updated
- 3 hours ago (Jul 10, 2026)
- Related Categories
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- Version History
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