Markdown Reader

Markdown viewer & editor for Windows, macOS, Linux and the web

Open, read and edit .md and README files with live preview, GitHub-flavored Markdown, Mermaid diagrams, KaTeX math, folders and backlinks. Fast, private and offline-first — no account and no tracking.

Free and open source (MIT). Available for Windows, macOS, Linux and the web.

Markdown Reader showing a document in its reading view

Everything a Markdown workspace needs

Nothing it doesn't.

Reading view

GitHub-flavored Markdown, syntax-highlighted code, a contents sidebar that tracks scroll, callouts, footnotes, task lists and a YAML frontmatter card.

Real editing

A CodeMirror 6 editor with a live, scroll-synced preview, formatting shortcuts, a visual table editor, optional Vim keybindings and Prettier formatting.

Notes & folders

Open a folder as a workspace: file tree, quick-open, full-text search, [[wikilinks]], backlinks and #tags.

Diagrams & math

Mermaid diagrams (export to SVG/PNG) and KaTeX math render inline, with the fonts served from the app itself.

Export anywhere

Save to PDF or Word (.docx), export self-contained HTML, copy as rich text, or print — with page size and header/footer options.

Remote files

The desktop app opens and saves over SFTP, FTP/FTPS and WebDAV. Passwords are encrypted with your system keychain and never leave your machine.

Automation & MCP

An opt-in local API lets scripts and AI assistants read, write and search your notes. A Model Context Protocol bridge plugs it into Claude.

Yours to theme

Light, dark or system, a custom primary colour, adjustable text size and reading width, sans / serif / mono body fonts, and your own CSS for the reading view.

Keyboard-first

A command palette, find & replace, a scroll-synced outline, and shortcuts for every action — with optional Vim keybindings in the editor.

The split editor with Markdown source and a live preview

Yours, on your device

Markdown Reader has no server, no account system, no analytics and no telemetry. Your documents are read and written straight from disk.

MIT licensed No tracking Offline-first WCAG 2.1 AA