Free & open source · Windows, macOS, Linux

The file stays
Markdown.
The editing doesn't
feel like it.

span is a thin, standalone WYSIWYG Markdown editor — edit rendered Markdown directly, Typora/Outline style, while the file on disk stays clean, portable Markdown.

Download span View source

it's yours —

span open on a Markdown file, dark theme, with the folder sidebar showing the project tree

span open on a Markdown file, light theme, with the folder sidebar showing the project tree

Local, not cloud

span doesn't sync, doesn't phone home, and doesn't ask you to sign in. It opens a Markdown file already on your disk, lets you edit it, and writes it back — offline, every time.

Offline Local files only No account

What it does

Six things it does well. Nothing it doesn't need to.

Live WYSIWYG editing

Rendered Markdown you edit in place — click into any line and start typing. What you write is saved as clean Markdown, so files stay portable and future-proof.

Tabs

Open many documents at once, each with its own undo history. CtrlTab switches most-recently-used, like a browser.

Folder sidebar

Open a folder, browse its Markdown tree, click to open, create new files in place.

Reopen closed tab

Keeps your last 10 closed tabs on hand — CtrlShiftT brings the last one back.

Export

Self-contained, styled HTML — or Print / Save as PDF straight from the editor.

Theming

Light, dark, or system — cycle with CtrlShiftL, no flash of the wrong theme on launch. Plus eight pickable accent colors — try one above.

See it running

Every shot below is the real app — nothing staged.

span's light theme, showing the folder sidebar and welcome document — Light, dark, or system — your call

The keyboard shortcuts help pane, opened with Ctrl+/ or F1, listing every shortcut grouped by category — Every shortcut, one press away

The accent color picker open, showing eight swatches: blue, indigo, teal, green, amber, orange, red, purple — Eight accent colors, all yours

Selected text revealing a floating formatting toolbar with bold, italic, heading, code, math, and link options — Select text for instant formatting

Syntax-highlighted fenced code blocks in JavaScript, Python, and Shell, matched to the light theme — Syntax-highlighted code blocks, theme-aware

A Markdown table rendered live in the editor, listing keyboard shortcuts — Tables, right where you write them

span's empty state after opening a folder, with no stray blank tab left behind — A clean empty state — no stray blank tab

Built for the keyboard

A sample of what's bound. Press Ctrl/ or F1 in the app for the full list.

New tab	`CtrlN`
Open file	`CtrlO`
Open folder	`CtrlShiftO`
Save	`CtrlS`

Switch tab (MRU)	`CtrlTab`
Toggle sidebar	`Ctrl\`
Cycle theme	`CtrlShiftL`
Shortcuts list	`Ctrl/`

Text formatting — bold, italic, headings, lists, links — uses the editor's own shortcuts and the / slash menu. Ctrl is Cmd on macOS.

Comfortable from a terminal, too

Once span is on your PATH, open files and folders straight from the command line.

$ span notes.md # open a file in a new tab

$ span ~/wiki # open a folder in the sidebar

$ span . # open the current folder

On Windows, right-click a folder in Explorer and choose Open with span.

Download & install

Grab the installer for your platform from the Releases page.

Windows .msi or .exe (NSIS) macOS .dmg (universal) Linux .AppImage or .deb

Builds aren't code-signed yet. That's expected for an unsigned app in early releases — code signing is planned for later. Your OS will show a first-run warning:

Windows — SmartScreen: click More info → Run anyway.
macOS — right-click the app → Open, or run xattr -cr /Applications/span.app.
Linux (AppImage) — chmod +x span_*.AppImage, then run it.

The file staysMarkdown.The editing doesn'tfeel like it.