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What is an .md file, and how do you open one?

An .md file is a Markdown file: plain text, with a few symbols that mark up the formatting. A pound sign starts a heading, two asterisks make bold, a hyphen starts a bullet point. Any text editor can open it. The real question is whether you see ## Budget with the symbols, or an actual heading.

Here is a short one, as it sits in the file:

# Q3 plan

Revenue is **up 12%** on last quarter.

- Hire two engineers
- Ship the mobile app

Rendered, that is a heading, a sentence with two bold words, and a two-item bulleted list. The full list of symbols is in why ChatGPT answers are full of asterisks.

Open a .md file on any devicePaste your answer here

The quickest way on any device

Open the file in a browser-based viewer. MDMelt opens .md files on the page itself: drop the file on the box or use Choose file, and it shows up formatted. The file isn't uploaded anywhere, and it works on phones. From there you can download a Word file or save a PDF.

If you'd rather use what is already on your device, the options below are built in or free.

Windows

Notepad. Windows 11's Notepad has been picking up Markdown support. Microsoft started rolling out a formatting toolbar and a formatted Markdown view to Windows Insiders in May 2025, and later Insider builds added tables. If your Notepad has the formatting toolbar, open the .md file and switch between the formatted view and the Markdown syntax view from the View menu or the button in the status bar. If it doesn't, you'll see the raw text with the symbols.

Word. On October 30, 2026, Microsoft announced Markdown support in Word, including converting between .md and .docx on the web. In Office-Watch's tests a few days later, results depended on the account and the platform: Word for the web with a business account opened .md files and converted them, while desktop Word on Windows brought them in as plain text. Try Word for the web first if you have it.

Mac

TextEdit will open an .md file, but as plain text, symbols and all.

Notes. On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, Apple Notes can import Markdown. In Notes, choose File, then Import Markdown, and pick one or more .md files. Apple says Notes converts the Markdown syntax to formatted rich text. The import is a copy, so edits in Notes don't go back to the .md file.

iPhone and iPad

Notes, through the Files app. On iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, Apple's instructions for importing Markdown point to the share sheet. Open the Files app, touch and hold the .md file, tap Share, then tap Notes.

OneDrive. Microsoft's OneDrive app for iOS gained Markdown support in July 2026. It opens .md files in a formatted view without downloading them first, and lets you edit them.

Android

OneDrive. The same July 2026 update came to OneDrive for Android, with the formatted view and editing.

A browser. Any web-based viewer works, including MDMelt, and so does Google Docs on the web (below), though Google's help page for Markdown import describes the steps on a computer.

In a web browser, on any computer

Google Docs. Choose File, Open, then Upload, and select the .md file. It opens as a Google Doc. If the file is already in Google Drive, right-click it and choose Open with, then Google Docs. Google added Markdown import in July 2024, and it is on by default.

OneDrive and SharePoint. Since April 2026, OneDrive and SharePoint on the web show .md files with headings, tables, checkboxes, links and code blocks formatted, and have a built-in Markdown editor.

Turning an .md file into Word or PDF

  • Through Google Docs. Import the file as above, then use File, Download, and pick Microsoft Word (.docx) or PDF.
  • Through Word for the web, if your account has the .md to .docx conversion.
  • In MDMelt. Open the file, choose Word, and download a .docx. Headings come through as Word heading styles, so they appear in the Navigation pane, and tables become real Word tables. For a PDF, choose PDF and use your browser's print window with "Save as PDF".

Where Markdown came from

John Gruber published Markdown in 2004. His stated design goal was that a Markdown document "should be publishable as-is, as plain text", which is why the symbols are so light. CommonMark later wrote down exact rules so different programs would read the same file the same way, and GitHub's version added tables. The file extension is usually .md, sometimes .markdown.

Because it is plain text, an .md file is not a program and can't run anything by itself. Treat links inside it the way you would treat links in an email.

Why AI tools keep handing you .md files

Chat answers are already written in Markdown. OpenAI's Model Spec, in its December 2025 version, says assistant outputs "should be formatted in Markdown" unless told otherwise. When the answer is saved as a file, .md keeps the headings, lists and tables without any conversion step.

A few specific places they come from:

  • Claude. Artifacts can be downloaded from the artifact panel, and Anthropic's help page lists Markdown among the export formats for documents.
  • Coding agents. Claude Code reads its project instructions from CLAUDE.md files. AGENTS.md is a shared format read by OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot's coding agent, Cursor and others. Project README files on GitHub are usually .md too.
  • Exports and notes apps. Many tools export notes and conversations as Markdown because nearly every editor can open it.

If you want a Word file and not an .md file, say so when you ask. Claude can create .docx files directly when file creation is turned on in Settings, under Capabilities.

Menu names and features in this guide were checked on November 15, 2026.

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