Help · MarkdownBeautiful
MarkdownBeautiful Support
Cannot find it here? Email us with your macOS version and, if you can, the Markdown file that shows the problem. A real person reads every message.
Requirements
macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
Images next to my document do not show
macOS lets an App Store app read only the file you opened. When a document uses local images, MarkdownBeautiful shows a banner: click Allow Access… and confirm the folder it suggests. The app remembers your choice. To review or remove folders, open MarkdownBeautiful → Settings… → Folder Access.
Stop documents from loading images from the web
Open MarkdownBeautiful → Settings… → Rendering and turn off Load images from the web. Documents then can't contact any website, and their web images show as placeholders. Quick Look previews follow the same setting, and Finder thumbnails never use the network.
A large document shows as plain text
Markdown files over about 3 MB are shown as plain text rather than formatted, and very large text files show their first 12 MB, so the app stays responsive. A note at the top says when this happens. Quick Look previews use smaller limits.
The Spacebar preview in the Finder looks different
If another app's Markdown Quick Look extension is turned on, macOS may use that one. Open Apple menu → System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions, scroll to Quick Look, turn MarkdownBeautiful on, and turn the other Markdown preview off. Or type "Quick Look" into System Settings' search box to jump there.
Finder icons do not show a page preview
Since macOS 26.4, macOS draws its own icons for Markdown and other text
files. MarkdownBeautiful's page-preview icons still appear for Mermaid
(.mmd) files.
Live reload
Keep a document open while you, another editor, or an AI agent changes it. The page updates in place and keeps your reading position. File → Reload (⌘R) refreshes it by hand.
Exporting and printing
File → Export as PDF… makes a paginated PDF in your current theme. Export as HTML… makes a single self-contained web page. Print… prints on white paper. Collapsed sections are expanded in PDFs and printouts so nothing is left out.
A link does nothing when I click it
For your safety, only web, email, and phone links, local files, and links to a short list of note apps such as Obsidian, Bear, and DEVONthink open. A note-app link opens only when it shows a note, list, or search; links that would create, change, or delete something in that app, or run a script, are ignored. A link to an app, installer, or script on your Mac shows that file in the Finder instead of opening it.
Learn every feature
Choose Help → MarkdownBeautiful Tour in the app. It is an ordinary Markdown document that shows everything the reader can do.