#Markdown Master Support

• What is Markdown Master?
• How do I open or create a document?
• Preview, source, or both?
• Which Markdown does it understand?
• How do I find my way in a long document?
• Why are images missing from the preview?
• How do I change how the preview looks?
• What does the editor do for me?
• Can I tick tasks without editing?
• Find and replace
• The command palette
• Export, print and copy
• Where are my files stored?
• Make it the default app on Mac
• Quick Look previews
• Which files and encodings does it open?
• Settings and themes
• Can I change the language?
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Does it need an internet connection?
• System requirements
• Contact and feedback

What is Markdown Master?

A reader and editor for Markdown files. Open a .md file and it is shown formatted, the way it was meant to look: headings, tables, task lists, code and callouts. Switch to the source to fix a typo, or put source and preview side by side and write. When the text has to leave the device, export a PDF or an HTML file. Everything you open and save is an ordinary text file — there is no library to import into and no account to create.

How do I open or create a document?

On iPhone and iPad, the app opens with the document browser: choose a file there, or tap New document. You can also open a .md file straight from the Files app. On Mac, double-click a file in Finder, or use File → Open and File → New.

A new, empty document opens ready for writing. Any other document opens in the mode chosen under Open files in in Settings → General — the preview by default.

Preview, source, or both?

The same file is shown three ways. Preview is the formatted document, Source is the Markdown text with highlighting, and Both puts them side by side, with the preview scrolling along as you move through the source.

On Mac the three are in the segmented control in the toolbar, or ⌘1, ⌘2 and ⌘3. On iPhone and iPad they are at the bottom right of the window and in the “…” menu. Side by side needs width, so iPhone offers Preview and Source.

Which Markdown does it understand?

Standard Markdown with the widely used extensions: tables with column alignment, task lists, strikethrough, automatic links, footnotes, callouts (> [!NOTE], [!TIP], [!IMPORTANT], [!WARNING], [!CAUTION]), front matter at the top of the file, and inline HTML such as <details>. Code blocks are highlighted for more than twenty programming languages.

The built-in Markdown Guide shows every construct with its markup and its result. On Mac it is in the Help menu (⇧⌘/); on iPhone and iPad, in the “…” menu.

How do I find my way in a long document?

• The outline lists every heading and highlights the section you are in; tap one to jump there, or filter the list by typing. On Mac and iPad it is a sidebar (⌥⌘O on Mac); on iPhone it opens from the list button at the top.
• Links inside the document work: a link to #a-heading scrolls to that section, and links in a README's table of contents behave as you would expect. Links to websites open in your browser.
• The command palette jumps to any heading by a few letters of its name — see below.

Why are images missing from the preview?

Apps on Apple platforms may read only the files you give them. When you open a document, the app may read that file — but not the pictures stored next to it. If a document refers to such images, a strip above the preview says so: tap Show Images…, choose the folder that holds the document, and the images appear. The app remembers that folder, so documents from it or from its subfolders show their images from then on.

Images given by a web address (https://…) are loaded from the internet and need a connection.

How do I change how the preview looks?

In Settings → Appearance: the theme, the typeface (system, serif or monospaced), the text size, the line width and whether code blocks are highlighted. On Mac, ⌘+, ⌘− and ⌘0 change the text size directly. The status bar at the bottom shows the word count, the character count and the reading time.

What does the editor do for me?

• Highlighting of headings, emphasis, code, links, lists, quotes, tables and front matter. On Mac the source has line numbers, and the status bar shows the caret's line and column.
• Lists continue themselves. Return starts the next item — numbers go up, tasks start unchecked — and Return on an empty item ends the list. Tab and Shift-Tab nest and un-nest an item.
• Formatting commands are in the Format menu and in the formatting bar above the keyboard on iPhone and iPad. Applying a style a second time removes it.
• Spelling can be checked as you type: Settings → Editing → Check spelling.

Can I tick tasks without editing?

Yes. Tap a checkbox in the preview and the app changes [ ] to [x] in the file for you. It is a normal edit: undo takes it back.

Find and replace

⌘F opens the find bar (on iPhone and iPad it is also in the “…” menu), and every match is highlighted. Return or ⌘G goes to the next match, ⇧⌘G to the previous one, and Aa makes the search case-sensitive.

In the preview the app searches the text as you see it. Replacing works in the source: switch to Source or Both, then press ⌥⌘F or open the replace field with the arrow at the left of the find bar. Replace All is a single step, so one undo brings everything back.

The command palette

Press ⌘K (on iPhone and iPad, choose Command Palette in the “…” menu) and type a few letters. The palette finds every command — modes, find, export, themes, typeface, language and more — and every heading of the document. It is forgiving: letters may be scattered, and a word typed in the wrong keyboard layout is still found.

Export, print and copy

On Mac use the Export button in the toolbar; on iPhone and iPad, Export in the “…” menu.

• Export as PDF… lays the document out on A4 or US Letter pages with page numbers. Page breaks never cut through a line of text or a table row, and links still work.
• Export as HTML… writes a single self-contained file with the styles inside.
• Print… (⌘P), Copy as HTML and Copy Markdown.

Exports use the light Daylight theme, so paper stays white. To export in the theme you are using, turn off Use the light theme in Settings → Export, where you also choose the paper size.

Where are my files stored?

Wherever you save them. Markdown Master is a standard document-based app: it uses the system's file browser — Files on iPhone and iPad, Finder on Mac — including iCloud Drive and any other provider you have connected. On iPhone and iPad, the app's own folder is under Browse → On My iPhone (or On My iPad) → MD Master. Changes are saved automatically.

Make it the default app on Mac

Open Settings → General: under Markdown files it shows which app opens .md files, and Make Default switches them to Markdown Master. Or select a file in Finder, press ⌘I, choose Markdown Master under Open with and click Change All.

Quick Look previews

The app comes with a Quick Look extension: select a Markdown file in Finder and press Space, or preview it in Files, and it is shown formatted, with the same rendering as in the app. The preview is light or dark to match your system. If you still see plain text, open Markdown Master once so the system registers the extension, then try again.

Which files and encodings does it open?

Markdown files with the extensions .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, .mkdn, .mdwn, .mdtxt and .mdtext; on Mac, any plain text file through Open With. Text in UTF-8 (with or without a byte order mark), UTF-16, Windows-1251 and Latin-1 opens correctly, and line endings from any system are understood. Saving always writes UTF-8.

Settings and themes

On Mac, choose Settings in the app menu or press ⌘,; on iPhone and iPad, Settings is at the bottom of the “…” menu. It has five sections: General (language, the mode documents open in, the default app on Mac), Appearance (theme and preview typography), Editing (font size, line numbers, spelling, list continuation and scrolling together), Export (paper size and theme) and About.

There are four themes: Graphite, the default, Midnight, Amber CRT and Daylight, the light one. A theme colours the whole window — the interface, the source and the preview. Themes do not follow the system's light or dark mode: the one you pick is the one you get.

Can I change the language?

Yes. The app is available in English, German, French, Ukrainian, Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese. By default it follows your device language (falling back to English); you can change it any time in Settings → General, and it applies immediately, without a restart.

Keyboard shortcuts

On Mac, and on iPad with a hardware keyboard:

Does it need an internet connection?

No. Reading, editing, searching and exporting all happen on your device. The only thing that goes online is an image that a document loads from a web address.

System requirements

iPhone with iOS 18 or later, iPad with iPadOS 18 or later, or a Mac with macOS 15 or later.