How to open .md files on Windows

Quick answer

MD Editor, a free Markdown editor for Windows 10 and Windows 11, is coming to the Microsoft Store. Once it is there, install it, then open a .md or .markdown file from File Explorer, drag it into the window, or choose Open… in the File menu. MD Editor shows the file as a clean page and saves your edits to the same file as you type.

Step by step

1
Get MD Editor from the Microsoft Store

MD Editor is free and needs no account. It runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
- Coming to the Microsoft Store
Open your .md file

Open a .md or .markdown file from File Explorer, drag it into the window, or choose Open… in the File menu. Files you've opened before are under Open Recent.
Read it as a page, or edit it

Ctrl+1 shows the Editor, Ctrl+2 the Split view and Ctrl+3 the Preview. In Split, the Markdown and the page sit side by side and scroll together. Your edits are saved to the file as you type.

MD Editor on Windows in Split view: the Markdown source of a launch plan on the left and the same document as a clean page on the right.

Notepad or MD Editor?

Notepad in Windows 11 also shows some Markdown formatting: headings, bold, italics, links and lists, and in recent versions tables and strikethrough. For a quick look at a simple file, that can be enough.

MD Editor is made for Markdown files:

Shows GitHub Flavored Markdown as a clean page: tables, task lists, quotes and code, plus footnotes, definition lists, highlights, and superscript and subscript.
Editor, Split and Preview, one shortcut apart. Split scrolls both sides together.
Notices when another app or an AI tool changes the file you have open, and never overwrites the other version.
Find and replace, and Export as PDF.
Free, with no account, no tracking and no ads.

Questions

Is MD Editor free?

Yes, it's free, with no ads and no in-app purchases. You don't need an account.

Can I open .markdown files too?

Yes. MD Editor opens .md and .markdown files from File Explorer, by drag and drop, or with Open… in the File menu.

Does it work offline?

Yes. It works fully offline; only images linked from the web need a connection. It has no analytics and no tracking, and the developer never sees your documents.

Free. No account, no tracking, no ads.

Coming to the Microsoft Store