Online 3D Model Viewer

A 3D model viewer for every common format

This online 3D model viewer opens STL, OBJ, FBX, glTF, GLB, 3MF, PLY, DAE, 3DS and USDZ files directly in your browser, along with STEP files from CAD software, SketchUp models and Rhino 3DM files. Drop a file on the page or click to browse, and the model appears in a few seconds. You do not need to install Blender, a slicer or a CAD package just to see what is inside a file someone sent you.

Everything happens on your own computer. The file is read by your browser and drawn with WebGL; it is never uploaded to a server. There is no account, no watermark and no limit on how many files you open. The only practical limit is your device's memory: a few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop, less on a phone.

The viewer works out the format from the file extension, so you do not have to pick anything first. If you are not sure what you have, just drop it in.

Supported 3D file formats

Each format was built for a different job, which is why the same model can look different depending on how it was saved. Here is what this 3D model viewer reads from each one, and where it usually comes from.

STL

The standard 3D printing file. Triangles only: no color, no textures, no units. ASCII and binary are both read, including the per-face colors some programs write into binary STL.

OBJ

A plain-text mesh format from Wavefront, supported almost everywhere. Materials and textures live in a separate .mtl file and image files; open them together with the .obj.

FBX

Autodesk's interchange format for games and animation (Maya, 3ds Max, Unity, Unreal, Mixamo). Meshes, materials, embedded textures, skeletal animation and morph targets. FBX 7.0 and newer.

glTF

The Khronos Group's open format for the web: a .gltf JSON file plus .bin buffers and texture images. Open all the files together. glTF 2.0 only.

GLB

The single-file binary form of glTF 2.0, with geometry, PBR materials, textures and animation packed into one file. Draco and Meshopt compression are supported.

3MF

The modern 3D printing format used by most current slicers. A zipped XML package with units, multiple objects and colors.

PLY

The Stanford polygon format, common for 3D scans and photogrammetry. ASCII and binary, vertex colors, and point clouds without faces.

DAE

COLLADA, an XML exchange format exported by SketchUp and many other tools. Meshes, materials, textures and animation.

3DS

The original Autodesk 3D Studio format from the DOS era, still found in older model libraries. Meshes, materials and textures.

USDZ

Apple's packaged form of Pixar's USD, used for AR Quick Look on iPhone and iPad. Meshes, PBR materials with textures, and simple transform and skeletal animation. .usda, .usdc and .usd also open.

STEP

The CAD exchange format (.step or .stp) that SolidWorks, Fusion, Inventor, CATIA, FreeCAD and Onshape export. Its exact curved surfaces are turned into triangles as the file opens, keeping the assembly's parts and their colors. Read in millimeters.

SKP

SketchUp's own format. Geometry, groups and components, and materials with their textures, read in meters. Most versions open; files saved by SketchUp 2019 and by versions before SketchUp 7 are not read yet.

3DM

Rhino's own format. Meshes and SubD objects, plus NURBS surfaces through the render meshes Rhino saves with them.

Opening models that come in several files

Some formats keep materials and textures outside the main file. An OBJ points to an .mtl file, which points to image files. A .gltf points to a .bin file and to textures. An FBX, DAE or 3DS file may reference images sitting next to it in a folder.

To see those models with their textures, select every file at once in the file picker (Ctrl-click or Cmd-click), or drag them all onto the page together. If you open only the main file, the geometry still loads, but surfaces show up plain grey.

GLB, USDZ and 3MF avoid this problem by packing everything into one file, which is one reason they are popular for sharing.

For a step-by-step look at the OBJ, MTL and texture trio, see the OBJ Viewer.

What you can do in the viewer

Rotate the model with the left mouse button or one finger, pan with the right button or two fingers, and zoom with the scroll wheel or a pinch. Double-click to re-center the view on the model.

The Display panel switches wireframe, the floor grid, auto-rotate and a light or dark background. The up-axis toggle fixes a model that is lying on its side: 3D printing formats (STL, 3MF, PLY) are opened Z-up by default, everything else Y-up. If a file contains animations (glTF, GLB, FBX, DAE, USDZ), you can play them and pick a clip from the list.

The info panel lists the number of vertices, triangles, meshes, materials, textures and animations, the bounding-box size and the file size. Dimensions are shown in the file's own units, except that DAE and USD files declaring a unit are scaled to meters; STL and similar formats have no units, so the numbers are shown as they are, usually millimeters for 3D printing.

You can save a PNG screenshot of the current view, or download the model as GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY or USDZ. No file at hand? The "Try a sample model" button loads one.

Per-format viewers and converters

Every format above also has its own viewer page: STL Viewer, OBJ Viewer, FBX Viewer, glTF Viewer, GLB Viewer, 3MF Viewer, PLY Viewer, DAE Viewer, 3DS Viewer and USDZ Viewer. They use the same viewer, but each page explains its format in detail: where the files come from, what they can and cannot store, and how to fix the problems people usually run into.

To change a model from one format to another, use the converters. They run in the browser the same way, show a preview before converting and the output file size after, and each converter page explains what the target format cannot keep. For example, OBJ and STL output contain geometry only, and STL drops colors and textures entirely.

To convert any of these formats to GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY or USDZ, use the 3D Model Converter.