3D Mesh Viewer
Preview STL, OBJ, PLY, GLB and 3MF models as a lit 3D shape you can orbit, with size and printability checks
Drop an STL, OBJ, PLY, GLB or 3MF fileTap to choose an STL, OBJ, PLY, GLB or 3MF file
or click to browseor tap to choose
Preview a 3D model, solid and orbitable, right in your browser
Large files (over 50 MB) may take longer or run out of browser memory
About 3D Mesh Viewer
Previews a 3D model (STL, OBJ, PLY, GLB or 3MF) as a lit, solid shape you can orbit and zoom, with an optional wireframe overlay, a click-two-points distance tool, a cross-section slider, plus vertex and triangle counts, size, and 3D-printing checks (watertight, volume, fits-on-bed). Runs in your browser; the file isn't uploaded.
Upload your 3D file, then drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom, and right-drag to pan. Toggle the wireframe or auto-rotate, and use Reset View to go back. Choose Measure and click two points on the model for the straight-line distance, or Cross-section to slice the model open along X, Y or Z. The size is shown in millimetres and inches; set the model units if the size looks off.
Check the size before sending a file to a 3D printer. STL files have no units, so a model made in millimetres or inches can be off by a large factor. The "Watertight" check also catches models with holes before a slicer does.
Watch: 3D Mesh Viewer in Action
- Why should I check bounding box dimensions before 3D printing?
- It's a quick way to catch a model that's the wrong scale entirely — a mesh modeled in millimeters versus inches can be off by a large factor, and checking the dimensions here catches that before you've wasted material printing it.
- Which 3D formats does it open?
- STL in ASCII or binary form, OBJ, PLY in ASCII or either binary byte order, GLB, and 3MF. These are the only extensions the file picker accepts, and anything else produces an unsupported file type message.
- Why does my model appear as one plain colour?
- The viewer reads geometry only. Vertex colours, textures, materials and lighting from the source file are discarded, and every model is shown in the same blue shade with fixed lights so shape and surface detail are easy to judge.
- What does the watertight check mean?
- A mesh is watertight when every edge joins exactly two faces, which is what a slicer needs to treat it as a solid. If it passes, the report adds volume and surface area and notes if the faces point inward. Otherwise it counts open edges.
- Why is there no bed-fit result for my OBJ?
- OBJ and PLY files carry no unit, so the report labels their size as plain units and hides the bed boxes. STL and 3MF are treated as millimetres, so those files show the bed boxes and a fits-or-too-large message.
- Can I open a .gltf file?
- Not as a separate .gltf. The tool accepts the binary GLB form only, which packs geometry into a single file. A .gltf that depends on external files is rejected as an unsupported type, so export or convert it to GLB first.
How to use 3D Mesh Viewer
Drop a model file in one of five formats: STL, OBJ, PLY, GLB or 3MF. Once it loads, drag with the mouse or one finger to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom and right-drag to pan. 'Wireframe' overlays the triangle edges, 'Auto-rotate' spins the model and 'Reset View' returns the camera to its starting position. 'Change file' swaps in a different model.
Below the viewer, a report gives the vertex and triangle counts, the bounding box size and whether the mesh is watertight. For millimetre models you can enter your printer's bed size in X, Y and Z boxes, which start at 220, 220 and 250, and the tool says whether the model fits.
When to use it
Open it to check a downloaded or exported file before printing: confirm that the shape is what you expected, see its real dimensions and catch holes that would trip up a slicer. It also works for a quick look at a model a colleague sent when no modelling software is installed, or for reading a scan's triangle count before you decide whether to simplify it.
When not to use it
It is a viewer, not an editor, so it will not repair holes, change scale or export a corrected file. Colours, textures and materials are ignored and the model appears in a single blue shade, so it cannot show how a textured asset will look. For repairs and conversion between formats, use a modelling application or the site's separate mesh converter.
Tips for best results
Read the size before you trust it. STL carries no unit information, so STL and 3MF sizes are shown in millimetres and GLB sizes in metres, while OBJ and PLY are shown in plain units. A model built in inches will therefore appear 25.4 times too large. The bed-fit check shows only for millimetre models, so set the bed boxes to match your own printer.
Limitations
Only the five listed extensions open; separate .gltf files with external buffers, as well as FBX, STEP and Blender files, do not. OBJ faces with more than three corners are split into triangles, and PLY colours and normals are ignored. The preview needs WebGL and cannot display without it. The watertight test counts edges shared by exactly two faces, so it flags open and non-manifold edges but is not a full print simulation.
Privacy
The model is read from your device by parsers running in the page, and the three.js graphics code is loaded from this site as part of the page rather than from another host. No mesh data, file names or measurements are uploaded. Counts, size and printability checks are computed locally, and closing the tab clears the model from memory.
More from 3D & CAD Files: