Markpad

What this editor supports

Headings, bold and italic, links and images, ordered and unordered lists, nested lists, blockquotes, inline code, fenced code blocks, tables, horizontal rules and strikethrough. That covers what README files, documentation and issue comments actually use.

It is a pragmatic subset, not a full CommonMark implementation — reference-style links and HTML passthrough are deliberately not supported, for the reason below.

Why raw HTML is not passed through

Most Markdown specifications allow raw HTML inside the document. This editor escapes it instead, so <script> in your source renders as visible text rather than executing.

That is a deliberate trade. Allowing HTML through would mean this page executes whatever is pasted into it, and Markdown is very often pasted from somewhere else. If you need raw HTML in the output, write it in the destination rather than here.

Getting the document out

Copy Markdown gives you the source back, useful after editing. Copy HTML gives you the rendered markup, ready to paste into a CMS, an email template or anywhere that wants HTML rather than Markdown.

Copy formatted is the interesting one: it puts rich text on the clipboard, so pasting into an email, Google Docs or Word arrives as real headings, lists and bold — not as Markdown symbols. That is the case for writing here rather than in the destination. Save .html writes a complete, self-contained page with its styling included, rather than a fragment you would have to wrap yourself.

Your draft is kept, on this machine

What you type is saved to your browser's own storage as you go, so closing the tab or reloading by accident doesn't lose the work — it is restored the next time you open the page, and the editor tells you when it has done that.

It never leaves your device: there is no account and nothing is uploaded. But a shared or borrowed computer doesn't know that, so Forget and stop at the bottom of the editor clears what has been saved and turns saving off for good.

Keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl/⌘ with B for bold, I for italic, E for inline code, and K to wrap the selection in a link. If what you have selected is already a URL, it becomes the link target and the cursor lands where the label goes.

Each one toggles, so pressing it twice returns the text to how it was rather than stacking another pair of asterisks around it.

Write Markdown on the left and watch it render on the right. Supports headings, emphasis, links, lists, tables, code blocks and blockquotes, with a live word count and one-click copy of either the source or the rendered HTML.

It's one of the free tools in the util.quest collection — nothing to install, and no account needed. Found a bug or want a feature? Reach out at [email protected].