100% private — everything runs in your browser
MD Viewer — Open and Preview Markdown Files Online
Drop in a .md file or paste Markdown and this md viewer renders headings, lists, tables, task lists, and code instantly — no account, no upload, no waiting.
MD Viewer Team
Welcome to MD Viewer
This sample README shows what the viewer renders. Replace it with your
own file — open a .md file, drag one in, or just edit the source.
Features
- CommonMark headings, lists, and emphasis
- Links and inline
code - GitHub Flavored Markdown extras
Task list
- Render tables
- Export to PDF
Table
| Syntax | Result |
|---|---|
**bold** | bold |
~~strike~~ |
Markdown is intended to be as easy-to-read and easy-to-write as is feasible. — John Gruber
// fenced code block with syntax shown as-is
const greeting = 'Hello, Markdown!';
console.log(greeting);
- Open a file
- Read the preview
- Download or copy when done
中文与日本語のテスト — Unicode renders correctly. ¡Hola! café élève
- Markdown tools
- 14
- Markdown tools
- languages
- 6
- languages
- server uploads
- 0
- server uploads
- max file size
- 2 MiB
- max file size
An md viewer should answer one question the moment it opens: what does this file actually look like? You point this free md viewer at a local .md file, and the formatted document appears immediately — headings, emphasis, links, tables, task lists, and fenced code blocks all rendered the way GitHub and CommonMark render them. The tool on this page runs entirely inside your browser, so your notes, README files, and documentation never leave your device.
Most people reach for an md viewer after double-clicking a .md file and seeing raw markup instead of a document. A good md viewer closes that gap in one step. Open the file here with the Open .md file button, drag a file onto the viewer, or simply edit the sample README that loads by default. Every keystroke updates the preview, which makes this md viewer double as a quick sanity check before you commit documentation changes.
The md viewer supports the full CommonMark baseline plus the GitHub Flavored Markdown extensions people actually use: tables, strikethrough, task lists, and fenced code. Files up to 2 MiB load instantly, Unicode text renders correctly, and HTML embedded in your Markdown is sanitized against scripts before it is displayed. Below the tool you will find a complete guide to using this md viewer, the syntax it renders, and answers to the questions people ask most.
How to use this md viewer in three steps
- 1
Open or paste your Markdown
Click Open .md file to browse for a .md, .markdown, or .txt file, or drag a file anywhere onto the md viewer card. You can also paste Markdown straight into the left source pane — the viewer treats pasted text exactly like an opened file.
- 2
Read the rendered preview
The right pane of the md viewer shows your document fully formatted: heading hierarchy, bold and italic text, block quotes, ordered and unordered lists, tables with alignment, and syntax-styled code blocks. Switch to the Source tab any time to see the original markup.
- 3
Copy or download the result
Copy the rendered text for pasting into an email or editor, copy the Markdown source, or download the current document as a fresh .md file. The md viewer resets to its sample README with one click, so experimenting is always safe.
What the md viewer renders
| Syntax | Rendered as |
|---|---|
| # Heading | H1–H6 headings with a clear visual hierarchy |
| **bold** *italic* | Bold and italic emphasis |
| > quoted text | Indented block quote with an accent bar |
| - item / 1. item | Bulleted and ordered lists, any depth |
| | a | b | | GFM tables with column alignment |
| ~~strike~~ | Strikethrough text (GitHub Flavored Markdown) |
| - [ ] task | Interactive-looking task list checkboxes |
| ```code``` | Fenced code blocks in a monospace panel |
| [link](url) | Links with safe https, http, and mailto targets |
Why an online md viewer beats a desktop app
Installing an application just to glance at a README is overkill, and web searches constantly surface .md files that deserve a quick look. A browser-based md viewer removes the friction: nothing to install, nothing to configure, and it works the same on Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, and mobile browsers. Because rendering happens locally in JavaScript, the md viewer works offline once the page has loaded — your browser does the parsing, not a distant server.
Privacy is the second reason this md viewer runs client-side. Documentation often contains internal notes, API keys in examples, or unpublished content. With a server-side converter you would have to trust that your upload is discarded. Here there is nothing to trust because there is no upload: the file API in your browser reads the .md file, the viewer parses it in memory, and the network stays silent. You can verify this yourself — open your browser developer tools and watch the Network tab while you load a file.
md viewer features at a glance
- Drag-and-drop, file picker, and paste — three ways into the same md viewer
- Live editing: change the source and the preview re-renders instantly
- Preview and Source tabs so you can flip between document and markup
- Copy rendered text or raw Markdown with one click
- Download the current buffer as document.md without round-tripping a server
- CommonMark plus GFM tables, strikethrough, and task lists out of the box
- UTF-8 with BOM tolerated, CRLF preserved, and CJK characters rendered correctly
- 2 MiB size guard with a clear message instead of a frozen tab on oversized files
Security note: HTML in Markdown is sanitized
Markdown documents may contain raw HTML, and careless viewers have shipped XSS bugs by injecting that HTML straight into the page. This md viewer parses your document, then passes every element through a strict sanitizer whitelist before rendering. Event handlers, scripts, iframes, and javascript: URLs are stripped automatically — you can safely open Markdown files from untrusted sources.
From viewing to editing and exporting
Viewing is usually the first step of a longer task. Once a file looks right in the md viewer, many people want to fix a typo, restructure a section, or share the document as a PDF. That is why this site pairs the viewer with a full md markup editor and a convert md to pdf page, plus eleven focused syntax pages for quotes, line breaks, horizontal lines, comments, and more. Each tool page is a working playground, not a static article.
Every page shares the same engine, so behavior is consistent: a table that renders in the md viewer renders identically in the editor preview and the PDF export. The syntax pages exist because Markdown has genuine quirks — a single newline does not start a new paragraph, --- under a title becomes a heading, and underline is not native Markdown at all. Trying those quirks in a live playground teaches them faster than any cheat sheet.
Frequently asked questions
Sources and spec citations
“Markdown is intended to be as easy-to-read and easy-to-write as is feasible.”
“CommonMark defines a rational, unambiguous syntax for Markdown.”
All Markdown tools
One page per task: view, edit, learn syntax, or export. Every tool works offline in your browser.
Markdown Quote
Create a Markdown quote with the greater-than symbol. Edit examples, see the rendered blockquote, and copy the syntax.
Markdown New Line
See what Enter and a blank line do in Markdown. Try soft line breaks and paragraph breaks in a live editor.
Markdown Line Break
Insert a hard line break using two trailing spaces or a backslash. Preview and copy the working Markdown syntax.
Markdown Horizontal Line
Generate a Markdown horizontal rule using dashes, stars, or underscores. Preview and copy your divider.
Markdown Comment
Learn how HTML comments behave in Markdown. Edit a hidden comment and see what appears in the rendered output.
MD Markup Editor
Write and preview Markdown side by side in your browser. Open a .md file, edit the source, and download the result.
Convert MD to PDF
Convert a .md file or pasted Markdown into a downloadable, text-based PDF. Preview the document before exporting.
Strikethrough Markdown
Use double tildes to strike through text in GitHub Flavored Markdown. Try examples and copy the syntax.
Markdown Underline
See how to underline text in Markdown with the HTML u tag, including a live preview and copyable example.
Underline in Markdown
Find out when underlining works in Markdown, which renderers allow HTML, and what to do when they do not.
Markdown Ordered List
Create and preview Markdown numbered lists. Test list markers, nested items, and indentation with a live editor.
Markdown Indent
Try different kinds of Markdown indentation, including nested lists and four-space code blocks, with a live preview.
Markdown Block Quote
Write multiline and nested Markdown block quotes. Edit the example, preview the output, and copy the source.