How to open an .md file (README)
A program’s folder or an archive holds a README.md, and in Notepad it looks like text full of hashes and asterisks. That is Markdown — it reads much better as a formatted page.
What Markdown is
Markdown is a way to write formatted text with ordinary characters: # at the start of a line makes a heading, **bold** makes bold text, - starts a list item. It is used for READMEs in software projects, for documentation and for notes in Obsidian and other apps. Such files end in .md.
Why Notepad shows symbols
An .md file is plain text, so any editor opens it. But an editor shows the markup as it is; the formatting appears only when a program renders it.
What to open it with
- Visual Studio Code — a free editor: open the file and press Ctrl Shift V to see a preview.
- Note apps such as Obsidian or Typora show Markdown formatted.
- GitHub renders README.md on a project’s page by itself.
- OsonKit — open the Markdown viewer in your browser, with nothing to install and no upload.
Read it as a page in the browser
Drop the file on OsonKit. Headings, tables, task lists and code blocks are rendered with GitHub Flavored Markdown, and one button switches to the source text. It works on a computer and on a phone.
- HTML and scripts in the file never run — they are shown as text.
- Pictures from the internet and from neighbouring files are not loaded; only pictures embedded in the file itself are shown.
- Files up to 10 MB; the formatted preview works up to 2 MB, larger files open as source text.