Markdown Viewer (browser extension)

Markdown Viewer & Reader renders Markdown files directly in your browser with a clean reading mode and GitHub-style formatting.

Install

• Chrome Web Store (opens in a new tab)
• Firefox Add-ons (opens in a new tab)
• Microsoft Edge Add-ons (opens in a new tab)

No install option: use the Scratchpad (no login) (opens in a new tab).

What it’s for

• Reading Markdown (.md, README.md) without “raw text” pages
• Auto-rendering *.md URLs you open in the browser
• Previewing local Markdown files (file://) with one-time permissions

How it triggers

Web URLs (http:// / https://)

The extension auto-renders “raw” Markdown URLs (for example anything that ends in .md / README.md).

If you’re on GitHub, prefer the Raw view (or the raw file URL) for the cleanest results.

Local files (file://)

To render Markdown files opened from your computer:

1. Install the extension.
2. Chrome: open chrome://extensions/ → Markdown Viewer & Reader → Details → enable Allow access to file URLs, then refresh.
3. Edge: open edge://extensions/ → Markdown Viewer & Reader → Details → enable Allow access to file URLs, then refresh.
4. Firefox: open the extension popup → enable Automatic Preview. If auto-preview doesn’t trigger, use Preview This Tab from the popup.
5. Open a local .md file (drag it into a tab, or use your file manager “Open with…”).

Permissions & privacy

• The extension reads the current page to render a preview (and may fetch the Markdown from the URL you’re viewing so it can render raw Markdown cleanly).
• It does not upload your Markdown to mdedit.ai servers unless you click an explicit “open in mdedit.ai” link.

Screenshots

Troubleshooting (common issues)

1) Local file rendering doesn’t work

• Chrome/Edge: enable Allow access to file URLs, then refresh the tab.
• Firefox: enable Automatic Preview, or use Preview This Tab.

2) It doesn’t render a URL I opened

• Confirm the URL is a “raw” Markdown page (it typically ends in .md or README.md).
• If you’re on GitHub, click Raw and try that URL.

3) The page stays plain text

• Hard refresh the tab.
• Disable other Markdown viewer extensions that might be competing.

4) It renders the wrong theme or looks odd

• Toggle theme options in the extension popup and refresh.
• Confirm your system/browser theme settings (light/dark) are what you expect.

5) Conflicts with another Markdown extension

• Disable other Markdown viewer extensions and retry.
• If the issue disappears, re-enable extensions one by one to find the conflict.

Related

• Want preview inside an editor? Use the VS Code extension.
• Want full editing + export + sharing? Start with the Web App overview.