Markdown preview

This guide shows you how to preview a Markdown file, and what the preview does with your math, images, and links.

For the compiled PDF of a LaTeX or Typst project, see PDF preview.

Markdown is a supporting format, not a project type. A project is LaTeX or Typst, and .md files live inside it as ordinary project files: a README.md, notes, or a to-do list. See What is Typeward.

Known limitations

The preview treats a Markdown file as untrusted content, which matters when the file came from someone else.

Raw HTML never renders. A tag such as <b> or <video> appears as literal text, and Typeward sanitizes the rendered output on top of that.
Remote images are blocked. An http or https image shows [image not shown: <alt text>] in its place, so a downloaded file cannot report to a server that you opened it.
A .md file never produces a PDF. SyncTeX jumping does not apply, and Reveal in PDF never appears in the editor context menu.
No language server attaches to Markdown, so language-server completion and diagnostics cover LaTeX and Typst sources only.
Visual editing covers .tex files only. A Markdown file always edits as source, with the rendered result in the preview pane.

Nothing in the preview reaches the network. See Privacy and network behavior.

Open the preview

The preview pane follows the active tab, so you never turn it on.

Select a .md file in the Files tab, and the preview pane shows the file rendered.
Switch back to a .tex or .typ tab, and the compiled PDF returns.

The Markdown preview appears wherever the PDF preview would, so the Layout menu applies unchanged. Editor only hides the preview pane, and Split view brings it back.

No compile runs, because the preview is display-only. Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on macOS) still compiles the project’s main file, never the Markdown file.

Check that it worked

The preview pane shows your headings, lists, and tables rendered. It refreshes about 80 ms after you pause typing, with no save needed.

Know what renders

Standard Markdown renders: headings, emphasis, strikethrough, lists, block quotes, tables, code blocks, and links.
Bare URLs become links without any markup.
Headings get anchor ids, so a link such as [details](#details) jumps within the file.
Math renders with KaTeX, $...$ inline and $$...$$ display. A formula with a typo renders as a best effort rather than breaking the page.
Images stored in the project render, and Typeward resolves a relative path against the .md file’s folder. An absolute path, or one that climbs out of that folder with .., does not resolve.
Quotes, dashes, and ellipses render exactly as you typed them, because the preview performs no typographic substitution.
The preview follows your editor theme, light or dark.

In the source, an escaped dollar sign (\$) stays a literal dollar sign, and a $ followed by a space never opens math.

Follow a link from the preview

The pane has no address bar and no back button, so it never navigates itself. What a click does depends on the target:

Link	What a click does
`#anchor`	Jumps to that heading in the rendered file. This is the only link that resolves in place.
`http` and `https`	Opens the URL in your system browser.
Relative targets such as `notes.md`, plus `mailto:` and `tel:`	Nothing happens. The target still looks like a link, but the click is intercepted.

If your browser does not open, a notification titled Link not opened shows the URL. A javascript: URL never becomes a link at all, and renders as plain text.

Edit a Markdown file

A .md file gets Markdown syntax highlighting, and Outline lists the headings written with # markers, skipping anything inside a fenced code block. The format toolbar stays available and writes Markdown syntax rather than LaTeX or Typst.

Tool	In a `.md` file
Bold (`Ctrl+B`), Italic (`Ctrl+I`)	`bold`, `italic`
Underline (`Ctrl+U`)	Hidden from the toolbar and the command palette, because Markdown has no underline construct. The shortcut does nothing.
Bulleted list, Numbered list	`-` and `1.` items. A multi-line selection converts line by line.
Insert Inline math, Insert Equation	$...$ and `$$...$$`, rendered live by the preview.
Insert Figure, Insert Table, Insert Link	`![]()`, a table skeleton, `[text]()`.
Insert Citation	Pandoc-style `[@key]`. The preview shows it literally, as any plain-Markdown tool would.
Toggle comment (context menu)	Wraps the selection in `<!-- ... -->`. Because HTML never renders, the commented text still shows in the preview as literal text.

The Refs tab inserts the project’s citation syntax, not the file’s. In a LaTeX project it writes \cite{key} even into a .md file, and in a Typst project it writes @key. See How references work.

Grammar checking is off until you turn it on. Once on, it covers Markdown and parses the file as Markdown rather than as plain text. See Grammar and spell checking.