Markdown viewer
Open a markdown file and read it rendered, not as a screen of raw symbols. Edit it beside the preview if you want to, and take it away again. It all happens in your browser, so the file never leaves your machine.
Your document appears here
Paste markdown on the left, drop a file anywhere on this page, or open one.
How it works
- 1
Open the file
Drag a .md file onto the page, pick one from your disk, or paste markdown straight from your clipboard.
- 2
Read it rendered
Headings, tables, task lists, code and diagrams appear the way GitHub would show them. Switch between light, sepia and dark.
- 3
Edit it, or take it with you
The left pane is a live editor and the preview follows as you type. Save as a PDF, copy the HTML, or download the markdown back.
What it renders
GitHub-flavoured markdown
Tables, task lists, strikethrough and autolinks, the way you already write them.
Front matter
YAML between --- fences becomes a tidy metadata card instead of a stray heading and a horizontal rule.
Code with highlighting
Fenced blocks are highlighted for around 40 languages, loaded only after your document is already on screen.
Footnotes
Markers are collected into notes at the bottom, numbered in the order they appear, with a link back to each citation.
Mermaid diagrams
Flowcharts and sequence diagrams are drawn on demand, and only for documents that contain one.
More than markdown
.md, .txt, .json, .yml, .toml, .csv, plus files without an extension such as README, LICENSE and CHANGELOG.
Your file stays in your browser
Most online markdown viewers send your document to a server to render it. The parser here runs inside this page instead, so your file is never transmitted. Open your browser's network tab and check for yourself: no request carries your document.
- No upload, no server, no account.
- No cookies. The analytics are cookieless and count page views, not people.
- Your last document is remembered in this browser only, and the Clear button removes it.
What is a .md file?
A .md file is a plain text file written in Markdown, a way of marking up text with characters that stay readable: # for a heading, ** for bold, - for a list item. John Gruber designed it in 2004 with exactly that goal, so the raw file still makes sense when nothing renders it.
That is why it turns up everywhere now: README files on GitHub, notes in Obsidian, documentation, changelogs, and the CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md files that coding agents read. The catch is that double-clicking one usually opens a text editor full of raw symbols, or an app that offers to import it into a library you did not ask for.
Questions
How do I open a .md file?
Drag it onto this page. You can also use Open file to pick one from your disk, or paste markdown from your clipboard. There is nothing to install and no account to create.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The rendering happens in your browser, with code that is already part of this page. There is no upload endpoint on this site, so the file cannot leave even if we wanted it to.
Can I edit the markdown here?
Yes. The left pane is a live editor and the preview follows as you type, with the document remembered in this browser between visits. There is nowhere to save it back to, so use Download .md to keep your version. The app for iPhone, iPad and Mac edits the file where it lives and saves back to it.
Can I turn markdown into a PDF?
Use Save as PDF. It opens your browser's print dialogue with a stylesheet that prints the rendered document only, so you get a clean page instead of a screenshot of this website.
Does it support GitHub-flavoured markdown?
Yes: tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks and fenced code blocks. Footnotes, mermaid diagrams and YAML front matter work as well.
Does it work offline?
Once the page has loaded, rendering needs no network. The syntax highlighter and the diagram library are fetched the first time they are needed, so open the page once while online if you want those.
What can I open besides .md?
.markdown, .mdx, .mdc, .txt, .json, .yml, .toml, .csv, and files without an extension such as README, LICENSE and CHANGELOG. Data files are shown as formatted code.
The same thing, without a browser tab
NanoFile is an app for iPhone, iPad and Mac as well: the same renderer, reading files straight off your device, free and with nothing to buy inside it. On the Mac it takes over .md files properly, so a double-click opens the document and the space bar previews it in Finder.
For iPhone, iPad and Mac.