Free Tool
Markdown Viewer
Drop a .md file and read it rendered the way GitHub shows it, instead of as raw punctuation. The file is opened in your browser and never uploaded. Print it to PDF, or flip to the source.
Want to open it without a website? How to open a .md file on Windows, Mac, and phones
Drop a .md file here, or choose one
Read in this browser. Nothing is uploaded. 5 MB max.
README.md(example — drop your own file above)
Rendered in a sandboxed frame, so raw HTML inside the file cannot run scripts on this page.
What an .md file actually is
An .md file is a plain text file. That is the whole format. There is no binary container, no compression, and nothing that can be corrupted by opening it in the wrong program. Markdown just agrees that a handful of punctuation marks mean formatting: a line starting with # is a heading, text wrapped in ** is bold.
# Install
Run **npm install** first, then:
- [Read the docs](https://example.com)
- Open `config.json`
Open that in Notepad on an older Windows build, or in TextEdit, and you see exactly those characters. That is not a failure to open the file — it is the file. A viewer is the thing that turns those characters into a heading and a bold word. The beginner's guide to Markdown covers why anyone would store a document this way.
How to open a .md file on every platform
Most advice on this question is a list of apps to install, and most of it was written before Windows started rendering Markdown on its own. Here is the current state, including where you genuinely do still need something.
Windows 11
Built in, as of 2025Notepad renders Markdown now. Microsoft added lightweight formatting in 2025 (Notepad 11.2504.x, shipped through the Microsoft Store), covering headings, bold, italic, links, and lists. Tables followed in Notepad 11.2510 and strikethrough and nested lists in 11.2512, both first released to Windows Insiders, so an older build may lack them. Windows does not always associate .md with Notepad, so you may need right-click > Open with > Notepad the first time. Once it is open, the file appears formatted rather than as raw syntax; switch to the raw source from the View menu or the toggle in the status bar, or turn rendering off entirely in Notepad settings under Formatting.
macOS
Not built inTextEdit opens a .md file as plain text and Quick Look shows the raw source — there is no native Markdown viewer, which is the opposite of the Windows situation above and the reason so many paid Mac viewers exist. On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, Apple Notes can import one (File > Import Markdown) and converts it into a formatted note, but that is a copy, not the file. Otherwise use the viewer on this page, VS Code, or a Quick Look extension for Finder previews.
VS Code
Built inOpen the file and press Ctrl+Shift+V (Cmd+Shift+V on a Mac) for a preview tab, or Ctrl+K then V (Cmd+K then V) to put the preview beside the source so both scroll together. No extension needed.
iPhone and Android
Depends on the appTapping a .md attachment usually opens it as plain text. If the file is in OneDrive, the OneDrive app for iOS and Android opens it formatted (since July 2026). Otherwise this page works in a mobile browser: tap Choose a file in the viewer and pick the file from Files or Drive.
GitHub
AutomaticAny .md file in a repository is rendered when you view it, and a README.md is rendered automatically on the folder it sits in. Press the raw button to see the source instead.
OneDrive, SharePoint and Google Drive
Built in or one clickOneDrive and SharePoint on the web open a .md file formatted, with View, Edit, and Split modes, since April 2026. In Google Drive, Open with > Google Docs converts the Markdown into a formatted document you can edit or download as .docx or PDF.
Obsidian and Notion
Native formatObsidian stores its notes as .md files, so opening one is just putting it in a vault. Notion imports Markdown but converts it into Notion blocks rather than keeping the file.
The short version: since 2025 Windows opens Markdown formatted out of the box and macOS still does not, which is the reverse of what most guides assume. If you are on a Mac and do not want to install anything, the viewer above is the whole answer.
Why this viewer renders single newlines as spaces
Markdown has two common behaviors for a single line break, and a viewer has to pick one. Chat apps like Discord and Slack treat every newline as a visible break. GitHub, rendering a .md file in a repository, does not: a single newline is just a space, and a real line break needs two trailing spaces or a backslash. This viewer follows GitHub, because a .md file you have been handed is almost always one written for a repository. The line breaks guide explains the rule and how to force a break when you want one.
Frequently asked questions
- What program opens an MD file?
- Any text editor opens one, because a .md file is plain text. The question is usually which program renders it. On Windows 11, Notepad now renders Markdown itself, and OneDrive opens .md files formatted in the browser and its mobile apps. On macOS, neither TextEdit nor Quick Look renders it, so use this viewer, VS Code, or import the file into Apple Notes. Anything that shows you asterisks and hash marks is opening the file correctly and just not formatting it.
- What is an MD file and how do I open it?
- An MD file is a Markdown document: plain text where a few punctuation marks stand in for formatting, so # means a heading and **text** means bold. Open it by dropping it onto the viewer on this page, which renders it in your browser without uploading it anywhere.
- How do I open an MD file as a PDF?
- Open the file in the viewer above, then use the Print / PDF button. That opens your browser's print dialog, where every desktop browser offers Save as PDF as a destination. There is no conversion step and the file never leaves your machine. For page size, margins, and page breaks, use the Markdown to PDF converter.
- How do I open an MD file in Word?
- Word has no Markdown import, so it opens a .md file as plain text with the raw syntax showing. For an editable, formatted document, upload the file to Google Drive, open it with Google Docs (which converts Markdown), and use File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx). From the command line, pandoc notes.md -o notes.docx does the same. Converting the Markdown to HTML and opening that in Word also works.
- Does this Markdown viewer upload my file?
- No. The file is read in your browser with the standard File API and rendered on this page. It is not sent to a server, stored, or logged, and the viewer keeps working with your network disconnected.
- Why does my .md file look like punctuation in Notepad or TextEdit?
- Because that is the actual content of the file. Markdown stores formatting as characters, so a bold word is literally stored as **word**. A renderer turns those characters into formatting; a plain text editor shows them as written. Nothing is broken or corrupted.
- Which Markdown flavor does this viewer render?
- GitHub Flavored Markdown, including tables, task lists, strikethrough, and fenced code blocks. Single newlines are treated as spaces rather than line breaks, which is how GitHub renders a .md file in a repository. GitHub-only extras are not rendered: footnotes, [!NOTE] alerts, math, and Mermaid diagrams show as plain text.