Plain Files, Practical Editing
Work directly in Markdown while still using quick block transforms for headings, lists, task items, admonitions, code fences, tables, and front matter.
A Markdown application.
viewMarkdown is a desktop Markdown editor for people who want plain-text files, predictable saves, and keyboard-heavy editing. It is built for everyday writing, notes, checklists, and technical documents.
The application is built around Windows use: Explorer integration, practical tab and window behavior, configurable app data, portable use, and a companion CLI for local automation against the running app.
PlatformWindows-focused desktop application.
StrengthKeyboard-driven editing and predictable file
handling.
DocumentsMarkdown notes, checklists, logs, drafts, and
technical writing.
Why People Choose It
Predictable Save Semantics
Save-aware close commands and confirmation-first commands both exist, so you can choose whether a shortcut should save first or stop and ask.
Windows Integration
Open files and folders from the usual places, reveal items in Explorer, use the custom title bar, and integrate with company workflows that rely on local files. There are cloud or format lock-ins.
Modern Markdown Support
Core Markdown is joined by tables, task lists, math, Mermaid, admonitions, raw HTML tables, and export options for documents that need to be shared or printed.
How We Use It
Custom reports
We use Markdown as an intermediate format: we often create tools that produce reports with tables, images, task lists, etc. Then, viewMarkdown gives us a reliable way to inspect and refine the formatting, which saves time that would otherwise go into hand-coding the final presentation.
Quick and Dirty AI Training
The companion CLI allows us to collect simple voting data from open documents. A human trainer can mark items with say Ctrl+1, and the companion CLI will continue the workflow when the open copy does not need saving.
Core Workflows
Editing Switch between rich-text and source views, then
reshape
paragraphs and list markers without rebuilding them by hand.
Navigation Work across tabs and windows, use the sidebar and
table of contents, and keep front matter accessible when a file uses it.
Tasks Jump between open tasks, cycle checkbox states, and
check
live task counts through the CLI.
Export Export HTML or PDF, then adjust themes, margins,
headers,
footers, and table-of-contents options as needed.
Automation Use the companion CLI for
file-state
and
task-stats queries against a running app.
Documentation Map
Key bindingsCurrent Windows
defaults, grouped by workflow
Notable Features in v0.60
- Multi-cursor next-occurrence selection with Ctrl+D.
- F8 chord commands for keyboard tags, copy-as-Markdown, copy-as-HTML, and paste helpers.
- Admonition support for
NOTE,TIP,IMPORTANT,WARNING,CAUTION,BUG, andSUMMARY. - Raw HTML table rendering for documents that mix Markdown and handcrafted table markup.
- Theme brightness and contrast control with Alt+F11.
Why It Exists
MarkText provided a strong foundation; but at the time we started the fork, it had not received maintenance for some time. We liked how MarkText was opinionated about format but it had a fatal flaw for our workflow: it modified documents on opening. That confused backup and version-control tools. Once the bandaid was ripped, we started tweaking small UX improvements (preference dialog, theme adjustments, titlebar breadcrumbs, …) and then large changes (calendaring, CLI companion, reduce XSS attack surface, vmd:// protocol, … ).