Markdown editor for Ubuntu

Markdown notes, native on Ubuntu.

A fast GTK 4 and libadwaita app with a live preview. Open the folder of .md files you already have and start writing.

Install from the PPA

Free · Version 0.5.0 · Ubuntu 24.04 or later

No account · Works offline · Plain .md files

MarkdownMate on Ubuntu with a note and its live preview side by side

Follows your GNOME style

No account, works offline

Your files stay yours

Keep ownership simple

Plain text is a great place to think.

MarkdownMate opens and saves standard .md files right where you keep them. Organize them in Files, version them with Git, or sync them with Syncthing, Nextcloud or Dropbox — no database to import or export. Written in Rust, it starts fast and stays light.

What you get in 0.5.0

Everything essential.
Nothing in the way.

Shortcuts use Ctrl. MarkdownMate for Ubuntu is in early development, and new features arrive with each release.

Write, preview, or both

  • Edit, Preview and Side by side (Ctrl+1/2/3), with scroll sync both ways
  • Markdown highlighting and inline styling as you type
  • Find & Replace (Ctrl+F, Ctrl+H) and Go to Line (Ctrl+L)
  • Word and character count in the status bar

Writing that flows

  • Smart lists and to-dos; Toggle Task with Ctrl+Enter
  • Tables that line up their columns, with row and column commands
  • A format bar for headings, bold, links, lists, quotes and code
  • Paste a URL over text for a link; web text pastes as Markdown
  • Images you paste or drop, saved next to your note
  • Spreadsheet cells paste as a table; code block languages pop up as you type
  • Footnotes, Move Line and Duplicate Line

A preview that does more

  • GitHub-flavored Markdown, code highlighting (now with TypeScript) and footnotes
  • KaTeX math formulas and Mermaid diagrams, in light and dark
  • Find in the preview, copy-code buttons, clickable to-dos
  • Front matter shown as a small dimmed block
  • Keeps up with multi-megabyte notes: only the blocks you change are redrawn

Notes that link up

  • Wiki links with completion, and links that jump to a heading
  • #tags with a tag tree in the sidebar
  • A live outline, backlinks (fast even with 10,000 notes) and Unlinked Mentions
  • Click a link to a note that doesn't exist yet to create it
  • Links that update when you rename or move a note

Find your next thought

  • Open Quickly (Ctrl+P), with your recent notes first
  • Find in Folder (Shift+Ctrl+F) across every note
  • A folder sidebar: create, rename, drag to move, Trash
  • Bookmarked and recent folders
  • Today's Note (Ctrl+D) opens or creates today's daily note

Your look, your way out

  • Four styles in light and dark, your font and size, zoom
  • Line numbers and typewriter scrolling
  • Export as HTML, PDF, RTF or plain text; Print
  • Copy as HTML or as Rich Text for LibreOffice, Thunderbird and web mail
  • Preferences ▸ Default App makes MarkdownMate the app for .md files
  • Auto-save and session restore
  • markdownmate:// links and a command line for scripts

A clear view of your work

See it on Ubuntu.

The note folder in the sidebar, tags below it, and the Markdown editor
Your folders and tags, right beside the editor.
The preview of a recipe note with an image, a tag and a table
A clean preview with images, tags and tables.
Open Quickly listing the notes that match what you type
Open Quickly: any note, a few keys away.
The notes tagged #work, listed after clicking the tag in the sidebar
Click a tag to see its notes.
The dark style with highlighted code and a table in the editor and the preview
Dark style, with highlighted code.
The Solarized Light style, showing a recipe note and its preview
Styles for the editor and the preview.
A note with a math formula and a Mermaid diagram, beside its preview
Math and diagrams in the preview.

Install

Install from the PPA.

Early development New features arrive with each release. 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:homielab/markdownmate
sudo apt update
sudo apt install markdownmate

Free · Version 0.5.0 · Ubuntu 24.04 or later · Launchpad PPA · Source on GitHub

  1. Run the three commands above in a terminal. Updates then come with your usual system updates.
  2. Open MarkdownMate from Activities, or run markdownmate ~/Notes to open a folder.
  3. Pick the folder that holds your notes. Nothing is imported: the files stay where they are.

Private by default

Your notes stay on your machine.

No account, no cloud and no telemetry. The app keeps one small settings file for itself; your notes are plain Markdown in your own folders, readable by any editor, today and in decades.

Any file sync works: keep the folder in Syncthing, Nextcloud, Dropbox or Git, and changes from another device show up as you work.

Read the privacy policy.

Also on the Mac

The same notes, on both desktops.

MarkdownMate for Mac opens the same folders. Free on the Mac App Store.

MarkdownMate for Mac macOS 15.6 or later