A LOCAL EDITOR FOR YOUR MAC

Write the document.
Keep the Markdown.

By Charles Majola · Free & open source · MIT

Headings, lists, links and code, without working around the punctuation. Write visually, then save an ordinary Markdown file.

macOS 13+Universal preview.md & .markdown

Download preview for Mac View source on GitHub ↗

Version 1.0.0 · Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) · 0.70 MB ZIP

Not notarized. This preview is ad-hoc signed; Gatekeeper rejects it as a trusted public release. A Developer ID–signed, notarized build is not yet available. Do not disable your Mac’s security protections.

Verify the download · SHA-256

9d1a80782367ad4ecf22c0f85f0f30c7ffe85c5d01253f4b1661ef78a02c2957

Download checksum file

Start here

markdown is a desktop app. This website is its guide; it does not open, edit or upload your documents.

Download & unpack
Download the preview ZIP above and double-click it in Finder to extract markdown.app. Move the app to your Mac’s Applications folder. If an older copy is running, quit it first. Keep your documents; they are separate files.
Open markdown
Find markdown in Applications or Spotlight. Choose File → New or press ⌘N for a fresh document.
Write, then save
Type into the page. Press ⌘S, choose a folder and name, and save with a .md or .markdown extension.

A note about this release

This package contains Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x86_64) code, built for macOS 13 or later. Launching and editing have been tested on Apple Silicon only. Intel and macOS 13 runtime compatibility have not been tested. The preview is not notarized; if macOS blocks it, wait for a Developer ID–signed release.

Open & save

An existing file

Choose File → Open… or press ⌘O. You can also select a file in Finder and choose Open With → markdown. Each document has its own window.

Your next save

Save writes changes to the current file. Save As… lets you choose a new name or location; the active document then uses that file. Use ⇧⌘S for Save As.

Saving is explicit: press ⌘S as you work. When you close a changed document or quit, macOS offers Save, Don’t Save and Cancel. Cancel keeps the document open; Don’t Save discards edits since the last save.

Use File → Revert to Saved… when you want to return to the saved version. Keep a separate copy before discarding work you may need later.

Write visually

The app opens in WYSIWYG mode: “what you see is what you get.” Select text to format it, or put your cursor in a paragraph to change its structure.

Headings

Use the Headings toolbar button to choose a heading level. Use headings to organize sections of your document.

Emphasis

Select words, then choose Bold, Italic or Strike. Bold and italic also have keyboard shortcuts.

Lists & tasks

Choose Unordered list, Ordered list or Task. Lists can contain nested items, and tasks include checkboxes.

Links & quotes

Choose Insert link to add link text and a destination. Use Blockquote for quoted paragraphs.

Code

Use Inline code for a short expression. Choose Insert codeBlock for multiple lines and, optionally, a language label.

Tables & dividers

Use Insert table for rows and columns, or Line to separate sections with a horizontal rule.

THE SAME IDEA, TWO WAYS

What you write

Weekend notes

A small plan for a quiet morning.

Make coffee
Write a page

What a Markdown file can contain

## Weekend notes

A **small plan** for a *quiet morning*.

- Make coffee
- Write a page

See the Markdown underneath

Choose Markdown at the bottom of the editor to work with source text and its preview. Choose WYSIWYG to return to visual editing.

markdown source mode showing Markdown syntax alongside its rendered preview. — The same welcome document in Markdown mode, with source and preview side by side.

Switching modes alone does not mark the document as changed. Opening and saving an untouched file preserves its original bytes. After visual edits, the editor may normalize spacing and Markdown punctuation—for example, using * instead of - for bullet lists.

Working with a specialized document?

Raw HTML, YAML front matter and custom Markdown extensions are not guaranteed to survive visual editing unchanged. Use the source view and review the saved result. Keep a backup before editing documents that depend on a particular dialect.

Keep your hands on the keyboard

⌘ is Command. ⇧ is Shift.

New document: ⌘N
Open a file: ⌘O
Save: ⌘S
Save As: ⇧⌘S
Undo: ⌘Z
Redo: ⇧⌘Z
Bold: ⌘B
Italic: ⌘I
Cut / Copy / Paste: ⌘ + X / C / V
Select all: ⌘A
Close document: ⌘W
Quit markdown: ⌘Q

Make markdown your default

Set this once, and a double-click in Finder will open your Markdown files in markdown.

Select a .md file in Finder.
Choose File → Get Info, or press ⌘I.
Expand Open with and select markdown. If needed, choose Other… and locate it in Applications.
Click Change All… and confirm the change.
Repeat with a .markdown file if you use that extension.

This changes the application used to open those files. It does not rewrite the files themselves. You can return to the same Finder setting to choose another editor.

Good to know

Your files stay local

Text editing needs no account, server or internet connection. The app has no cloud sync, and editor telemetry is disabled. Remote images referenced by a document may load from their original URLs.

Plain text, with boundaries

Files must be UTF-8 text. Common formatting is supported, but visual editing can normalize Markdown. Relative-image rendering and custom extensions are not guaranteed.

Save deliberately

The app uses explicit saves. Unsaved-change prompts protect ordinary close and quit actions; they are not a substitute for saving or keeping backups.

A focused first release

There is no PDF export or app-wide text search. The universal package targets macOS 13 or later. Apple Silicon is the tested architecture; Intel code is included but has not been run on an Intel Mac.

Licenses & notices

Created by Charles Majola and released under the MIT License. You may use, copy, modify and distribute the app; retain the copyright and license notice. Get the source on GitHub. Included third-party software keeps its own licenses, including TOAST UI Editor’s MIT license. Read all third-party notices; these are also inside the app bundle.

When something looks wrong

A file still opens in Xcode or another app

Use Finder’s Get Info instructions above and select Change All…. Choosing Open With for one file does not necessarily change the default for other files. Check both filename extensions you use.

markdown is missing from Open With

Confirm that markdown.app is in Applications and launch it once. In Finder, choose Open With → Other… and select the app directly.

The file cannot be opened as text

The app expects UTF-8 Markdown. Convert a copy to UTF-8 in an editor that supports the original encoding, then open that copy in markdown.

Markdown punctuation changed after saving

Visual editors convert between formatted content and Markdown. Equivalent delimiters or list indentation may change. For syntax-sensitive documents, use source mode, keep a backup and review the result.

I need the app’s built-in help

Choose Help → markdown Help in the Mac menu bar for a short reminder of editing, saving and default-editor settings.

Write the document.Keep the Markdown.