How to open a .md file
Neither Windows nor macOS knows what to do with a .md file, so double-clicking one opens a dialog asking which app should handle it. There are three answers, depending on whether you want to read, edit or just print.
Fastest route: drag it into a browser
Open MDFrame, drag the .md file from its folder into the window, and the formatted document appears with a table of contents on the left, a search box, and one tab per file you open.
The file never goes anywhere. Your browser reads it on your own machine, with no upload step involved.
That is enough for most people: reading a document someone sent you, printing it, or exporting a PDF to keep.
On Windows
- Notepad or Notepad++: right-click the file, choose Open with, then Notepad. You see the raw syntax instead of formatting.
- VS Code: open the file and press
Ctrl + Shift + Vfor the preview pane. The best choice if you already work inside the project. - MDFrame: open it in the browser, or install it as an app (PWA) so a double-click launches it, it works offline, and it shows up in the Open with menu.
- Microsoft Word: cannot open it directly. See converting to Word.
On macOS
TextEdit will open a .md file, but choose Format → Make Plain Text first. Otherwise the file gets saved with RTF formatting and picks up stray symbols the next time you open it.
VS Code, Sublime Text and BBEdit show the raw text, with preview plugins if you want one. Marked 2 and MacDown are built for Markdown and show the formatted page as soon as the file opens.
On mobile
Phones have no built-in Markdown reader, and you do not need a heavy app to get one.
On iPhone and iPad, the Files app shows the raw text through Quick Look. That is enough to read, but headings and tables are lost. For the formatted version, open MDFrame in Safari and add it to your Home Screen.
On Android, the Files app also opens .md as plain text. Obsidian, Markor, or Chrome with MDFrame will render it properly. Step-by-step details are in opening a .md file on your phone.
Images and links inside the document
Documents usually reference images sitting next to them, like , or link to another .md file. A browser cannot read your disk on its own, so those paths break if you only drag in the single file.
In MDFrame, press the folder icon in the toolbar and pick the folder that holds the document. Images resolve, and internal links open in a new tab.
When it does not look right
- You see rows of
#and*: that is the raw source, not a broken file. Open it in a Markdown viewer to see the formatted version. - Accented characters are missing or garbled: the file was saved in a legacy encoding such as ANSI. Open it in an editor and save it again as UTF-8.
- Images do not load: the paths are relative and the app has no folder permission yet. Press the folder button to attach the folder.
- A multi-megabyte file is painfully slow: documents that large do not belong in a browser tab. Split them up.
Read .md files in your browser
Drop a file into MDFrame to see the formatted document, search it, print it, or export PDF/Word. Your file never leaves your device.
Open the app