Open your first Markdown file in Unmarked

Download Unmarked free (no account), then open any .md file with ⌘O. It appears rendered in Read mode right away. Press ⌘E to start writing. That's the whole first run.

Unmarked is a native Markdown reader and editor for macOS. It opens one file, renders it the way the text actually means it, and gets out of your way. From a fresh install to writing takes about two minutes.

Install Unmarked

1. Get Unmarked from the Mac App Store. It's free — no account, no sign-in, no trial clock.
2. Launch it from Applications or Spotlight (⌘Space, type "Unmarked").

The same app is also a direct download: a 5 MB disk image at untitledapps.dev/unmarked. Open it and drag Unmarked into Applications.

You need macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later. The app is universal, so it runs natively on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

Open a file

When Unmarked opens, you'll see the home screen with your recent files. To open something:

1. Press ⌘O, or choose File ▸ Open.
2. Pick a Markdown file. Unmarked opens .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, and plain .txt.
3. The document opens in place. Unmarked reads and saves the original file, not a copy.

You can also drag a file onto the Unmarked icon, or right-click a file in Finder and choose Open With ▸ Unmarked.

Don't have a Markdown file yet? Press ⌘N for a new untitled document and start from a blank page. New documents save once with ⌘S; after that, every change saves on its own.

Read it, rendered

The file opens in Read mode: the finished document, with no Markdown syntax in the way. Headings look like headings, lists are real lists, and code blocks have a copy button. Links are clickable. If the file has task list checkboxes, you can tick them, and the change saves straight to the file.

Read mode is the center of the app. The rendering is native and benchmarked against the best writing tools, so a real-world file looks right the first time you open it.

Almost everything you'll throw at it renders on the first open. A web-hosted image (https://...) is the one to know about: it shows as its alt text, since Unmarked has no network access to fetch it. Images saved next to your file render as pictures.

Switch to writing

Press ⌘E to toggle into Write mode. You get a clean source editor where the Markdown syntax dims and only reveals itself at your cursor. Write a ## heading and you see the ## while you're on that line; move away and it settles into a rendered heading.

A few things that help while you write:

• Press Enter inside a list and the next bullet continues for you. Tab indents, ⇧Tab outdents.
• Select text to get a floating format toolbar, or use shortcuts: ⌘B bold, ⌘I italic, ⌘K link.
• The + Insert menu adds tables, code blocks, dividers, and more.

Press ⌘E again to flip back to Read mode. Prefer to see both at once? Split mode puts the editor and the rendered view side by side, scroll-synced.

Make it yours

Open Settings with ⌘, to set the look.

• Themes: five to choose from (Default, Dusk, Tide, Grove, Ember), each with a light and dark variant. Set them to follow System, or lock to Light or Dark.
• Typography: reading and writing fonts are set separately, so you can read in serif and write in mono if that's your thing. Sizes, line spacing, and width are yours to tune.

Your exports keep a fixed, predictable style no matter which fonts you read and write in, so a PDF or Word file always comes out clean.

Install, open, read, write, and you're running. Everything else in the app is there when you reach for it.