Features
- Clean rendering of headings, tables, code blocks, and images
- Interactive checklists: click a checkbox and it saves straight to your file
- Notes on any checklist item, saved as plain Markdown; attach files by dragging them in (Mac)
- Show Source: the file's raw text with line numbers, one keystroke away; edit it in place with a live preview (Mac)
- Several documents in one window as tabs; drag them to reorder, into another window, or out to their own; hide the tabs or the Contents pane per window (Mac)
- Syntax highlighting for fenced code blocks, fully offline
- LaTeX math typeset offline: $…$ inline and $$…$$ display equations
- Auto-reload when a document changes on disk, keeping your place
- Table of contents sidebar for long documents, highlighting the section you're reading
- Full-text search with match navigation
- Zoom, print, and export to PDF; PDFs are always light, whatever appearance you read in
- Light, Dark, or follow the system, on every platform
- Opens .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, and .mkdn files
- One free download covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad
- Sandboxed and private: no accounts, no analytics, no data collection
Reading Markdown Should Be Effortless
Markdown files are everywhere — READMEs, notes, documentation — but Apple’s platforms have no built-in way to read them rendered. MarkDown Reader fixes that: double-click a .md file on your Mac, or tap one on your iPhone or iPad, and it opens as a beautifully formatted document. No editor chrome, no distractions, just your content.
Built for Real Documents
Long documents get an auto-generated table of contents sidebar so you can jump straight to any section. Full-text search finds every match with quick navigation between them. Zoom to your comfort, and when you need a copy outside the app, print it or export a polished PDF.
Checklists You Can Actually Check
Markdown task lists aren’t just for reading. Click a checkbox in the rendered document and the change is written straight back to your .md file — byte for byte, with no Save step. Keep a plan, a packing list, or a project tracker in plain Markdown and tick items off as you go.
Notes Where the Work Is
Every checklist item can carry a note, and on the Mac a dragged-in file becomes an attachment on the item. Both are written into the document as ordinary indented bullets, so any other Markdown tool still reads them. Saving is careful: a tick or a note never overwrites a change made in another app, and anything that couldn’t be saved stays on screen for you to copy.
See the Source, and Fix It
When a formula or a list doesn’t render the way you expected, Show Source swaps the rendered page for the file’s raw text with line numbers, so you can see what a tool actually wrote. Search works in either view, and your reading position is kept when you switch back. On the Mac, click Edit to change the file right there: the rendered page stays beside the text as a live preview that follows your typing and scrolls with it, ⌘S saves, and a file that changed on disk while you were editing is never overwritten.
One Window, Many Documents
On the Mac, open files sit as tabs down the left of one window, each showing its name and folder. Drag a Markdown file from the Finder onto the window to add it, drag a tab to reorder it, into another window, or out onto the desktop for a window of its own, hide the tabs or the Contents pane when you want the page to itself, and your windows and tabs come back the way you left them when you reopen the app. The Contents pane highlights the section you’re reading as you scroll.
A Live Preview, Not a Snapshot
Edit a document in your editor while MarkDown Reader has it open and the view refreshes on its own, keeping your scroll position. Fenced code blocks are syntax highlighted — entirely offline, so nothing about your code leaves your machine — and every block has a one-click Copy button.
Math That Renders
Notes, research write-ups, and documents generated by AI tools are full of LaTeX. MarkDown Reader typesets it the way VS Code and GitHub do: inline formulas between single dollar signs, display equations between double ones, all rendered offline. Ordinary prices like $5 stay plain text, and a formula with a typo shows in red instead of disappearing.
Which Markdown It Reads
MarkDown Reader follows CommonMark and GitHub Flavored Markdown: tables, task lists, fenced code, math, inline HTML tags like <sup> and <details>, and more. We tested 52 features and publish the results, including the ones that don’t work yet. See the full Markdown support list.
Light or Dark, Your Call
Follow the system appearance, or pin MarkDown Reader to Light or Dark on the Mac, iPhone and iPad. Exported PDFs are always light, so they read the same for whoever you send them to.
Free, With a Tip Jar
MarkDown Reader is free and stays free. If it earns its keep, Help › Support MarkDown Reader offers an optional tip; tips unlock nothing. Help › Send Feedback opens our feedback page.
Private by Design
MarkDown Reader runs in Apple’s App Sandbox and reads only the files you open. No accounts, no analytics, no data collection — your documents never leave your device.
Get It
Get it free on the App Store — one download covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Requires macOS 13 or later, or iOS/iPadOS 17 or later.
Need Help?
Questions, bug reports, or feature requests — get in touch and we’ll get back to you.