Show HN: Markpad – The Notepad Equivalent for Markdown
alecdotdev Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Built this for two reasons:
One: I've always wanted to be able to double click a Markdown file and see it like it appears on GitHub. Didn't want Obsidian or jumpy VS Code extensions just to view a README offline.
Two: Opening Microslop's Notepad lately shows how determined they are to add bloat to every aspect of Windows, so I needed a replacement.
Markpad is a simple Markdown file viewer and general text editor, rendered as close as possible to GitHub's markdown flavor. Features:
- Tabbed interface - Monaco editor (VS Code) - Syntax highlighting both in editor and code blocks - Image and YouTube embeds - Familiar GitHub styled markdown rendering - Tiny memory usage (~10MB) - No telemetry or bloat - Free and open-source - Lightweight native-feeling UI
Still in development, so I'd love some feedback on how to shape it to something more people can enjoy.
Cheers