Everything Markdown Peek does
A fast, native viewer for the Markdown you read every day. Here is the whole picture.
What is Markdown Peek?
Markdown Peek is a fast, native Markdown viewer for macOS. Make it your default app for .md, .markdown, and .txt files and they open the moment you double-click, rendered in clean GitHub style.
It is built for reading, not editing. Press the spacebar to flip to the raw source whenever you want to see exactly what a file says, and press Command-P to save a polished PDF. No accounts, no setup, nothing to learn.
Features
GitHub-style rendering
Headings, lists, tables, code blocks, and task lists render crisply in the familiar GitHub style, so your files look the way you expect.
LaTeX math
Inline math written $like this$ and display math written $$like this$$ render as real formulas, in the window and in Quick Look, entirely offline.
Mermaid diagrams
A fenced mermaid code block becomes a flowchart, a sequence diagram, and more, drawn to match light or dark mode. A diagram that will not parse falls back to its source.
Find with Command-F
Search the open document with every match highlighted, a count of how many there are, and Command-G or Shift-Command-G to step through them.
Document Info
Option-Command-I opens a panel with words, characters, and lines, an estimated reading time, the heading structure, and the file's own details.
Spacebar flips to the source
One press swaps the rendered page for the raw Markdown, and the next press swaps it back. The quickest way to check formatting or copy a snippet.
Line numbers in the raw source
The raw view shows subtle line numbers, so you can point a teammate at line 42 and find it again yourself. They stay out of the way when you select and copy.
Quick Look in Finder
Markdown Peek adds a Quick Look preview, so you can select a file in Finder, press Space, and read it formatted without opening the app at all.
Print and save as PDF with Command-P
Print the open document or save it as a clean PDF at a natural Mac document size, from either the rendered or the raw view. The suggested file name matches the document.
Images on your terms
Images from the web are off by default for privacy, and load when you choose to show them. Local images render once you grant access to their folder.
Nine languages
English, Danish, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Simplified Chinese, across the app, Quick Look, and the built-in help.
Live reload
Open files reload automatically when they change on disk, with your scroll position kept, so a file you are watching stays current on its own.
Built for speed
Even large files open instantly and scroll without lag, a real difference on long READMEs and generated docs.
Opens .md, .markdown, and .txt
Double-click, drag and drop onto the window, or open from the file dialog. Plain text files open too.
Select and copy in both views
Select and copy text in the rendered page and in the raw source, so grabbing a paragraph or a code block is easy either way.
Light and dark mode
Sharp contrast in both themes, following your Mac's appearance, with dark mode tuned so code blocks stay readable.
Remembers its place
Windows keep the size you give them, so the app opens the way you left it every time.
Make it your default for .md
Set Markdown Peek as the default app for Markdown files once, and every .md you double-click opens straight into a clean rendered page.
See how in HelpA focused viewer, not an editor
Markdown Peek does one thing well: it opens Markdown fast and shows it beautifully. If you need a full editor or a notes system, these are excellent, and they solve a different problem.
- Typora
- A polished Markdown editor for writing and editing documents, with a live preview as you type. Markdown Peek is the lightweight viewer for the files you only need to read, and it previews them in Finder.
- Obsidian
- A powerful knowledge base for linked notes and vaults. Markdown Peek has no vault and no accounts: it just opens any single .md file, fast, including ones outside any app's library.
- MacDown
- A long-standing open-source editor with a live preview pane. Markdown Peek skips the editor entirely and adds Quick Look in Finder and save to PDF, for a pure reading flow.
- iA Writer
- A focused writing app with a distraction-free editor. Markdown Peek is for the other half of the day, when you are reading and reviewing Markdown rather than writing it.
Honest take: Markdown Peek does not edit or create files. The one thing it writes is a PDF when you ask. For reading .md on a Mac, that focus is the point.
Free on the Mac App Store
Open a file and read. No accounts, no setup, no cost.
