The Markdown viewer for Mac
Quick Look never gave you
Your Mac previews photos, PDFs and videos beautifully — but hit the spacebar on a .md file and Quick Look shows raw # symbols as plain text. mdpeek is the missing piece: a 2 MB Markdown viewer that opens any .md file rendered like a webpage.
2 MB app · Zero config · 100% offline · Apple Silicon (M1+) only — Intel Macs not supported
Why reading Markdown on a Mac is still awkward
Markdown won. READMEs, documentation, AI answers from Claude and ChatGPT, exported notes — they all arrive as .md files. And if you code with an AI agent, your projects are now full of CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md files. Yet macOS still can't display one:
- ·Quick Look previews almost everything — except Markdown. Spacebar on a .md file shows the raw source as plain text.
- ·TextEdit opens it — as raw source. Headings stay
#, bold stays**. - ·QLMarkdown and similar plugins can patch Quick Look, but they're old, unsigned and a recurring hassle after every macOS update.
- ·Typora / Obsidian render beautifully — but they're full editors that take seconds to boot and hundreds of MB to install, just to read a file.
mdpeek is built for the 90% of times you just want to read. Install it once and .md files get a real default app: double-click, read, Esc to close. Think of it as Quick Look for Markdown, done right.
New to the format? Learn Markdown in 3 minutes · All the methods compared: how to open .md files, step by step
Every Mac option, side by side
| mdpeek | Quick Look | Typora / Obsidian | Browser | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rendered reading | ✓ Full window | ✕ Raw plain text | ✓ Inside an editor | ✕ Raw source / add-on |
| Double-click a .md file | ✓ Instant | ~ Spacebar only, unreadable | 3–5 s startup | ✕ Drag it in yourself |
| Install size | 2 MB | Built in | ~110–240 MB | Already installed |
| Works offline | ✓ 100% local | ✓ | ✓ | ~ Depends on add-on |
| Best for | Daily .md reading | Peeking at images & PDFs | Writing & note systems | Everything except .md |
They complement each other — keep your editor for writing, use mdpeek for reading. On Windows? See the Windows version. Comparing editors? Read mdpeek vs Typora.
A real reading experience, not a raw-text preview
Reads like a webpage
Headings, tables with alignment, footnotes with back-links, local images and syntax-highlighted code blocks — rendered full-window, with a floating outline that tracks your scroll.
Live refresh while AI writes
Claude, Cursor and Copilot all save Markdown. mdpeek watches the file and re-renders the moment anything saves it — scroll position intact. Reading what your agent just wrote becomes a glance.
Easy on the eyes
9 color themes plus dark mode, any installed font, Ctrl+scroll for font size, Alt+scroll for column width. Text truly reflows — no blurry bitmap zoom.
Export & share
One right-click exports a PDF exactly as styled on screen, or a single-file HTML that opens in any browser. Pro adds Mermaid diagrams, KaTeX math and two editing modes.
Three steps, ten seconds
Download the dmg
A 2 MB disk image. No account, nothing to configure.
Drag to Applications
The first launch trips Gatekeeper ("unidentified developer") — right-click the app and choose Open once. macOS remembers.
Double-click & read
Any Markdown file now opens rendered, like a webpage. Esc closes it.
Seeing an "unidentified developer" prompt? That's Gatekeeper flagging apps without an Apple Developer ID certificate — it says nothing about safety. Right-click → Open once, and mdpeek runs entirely locally from then on.
Markdown on Mac, answered
Does macOS have a built-in Markdown viewer?
# and bold stays **. Third-party Quick Look plugins like QLMarkdown exist, but they are old, unsigned and a hassle to keep working on modern macOS. mdpeek adds the missing piece: install once, then double-click any .md file to read it rendered like a webpage.Is mdpeek free on Mac?
macOS says the app is from an unidentified developer — is it safe?
Does mdpeek support Intel Macs?
Can I view Markdown files offline on Mac?
Quick Look for Markdown, finally on Mac
2 MB app, drag-to-Applications setup, zero configuration, 100% offline. Community Edition free forever, no ads.
macOS 11+ · Apple Silicon (M1+) · On Windows? Get the Windows version · Back to mdpeek home