Common questions
What is free, and what costs money?
Reading, Quick Look, the outline sidebar, live reload, Save as PDF and Copy as HTML are free and stay free. Edit mode, split view and export to HTML and Word are a one-time $4.99 purchase. There is no subscription and no account.
What does nicemd need to run?
macOS 14 or later. Rendering, diagrams and math are bundled with the app, so nothing needs a network connection.
I pressed Space in Finder and still see plain text.
Open nicemd once so macOS registers its Quick Look extension, and keep the app in your Applications folder. If Space still shows source, check System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Quick Look and confirm nicemd is enabled. Settings inside the app has a button that opens that pane for you.
How do I make .md files open in nicemd by default?
Open nicemd's Settings and click Set as default under Markdown files. You can also do it in Finder: select any .md file, press Command-I, choose nicemd under Open with, then click Change All.
I bought editing but it is locked on my other Mac.
Open Settings and click Restore purchases, signed in with the same Apple Account you bought with. The unlock is a one-time purchase tied to that account, not to a single machine.
Does nicemd send my documents anywhere?
No. Documents are opened and rendered on your Mac, and nicemd has no analytics and no telemetry. Two things reach the network: an image a document links to on the web, loaded when you open it, and a once-a-day check with Apple for a newer version, which you can turn off in Settings. Neither carries anything about you or your files.
How does nicemd update?
Through the App Store, like every other app you installed from it. Turn on Automatic Updates in App Store → Settings and new versions install on their own. If you would rather they did not, nicemd asks Apple once a day whether a newer version is out and shows a line in the window when there is; Settings turns that check off.
How do I save a Markdown file as a PDF?
Choose File → Export as → PDF, or press Command-P and use Save as PDF in the print dialog. Both are free. Export as HTML and Export as Word are part of the paid unlock.
How do I share a Markdown file with someone who uses Word?
Choose File → Export as → Word (Option-Shift-Command-E) and you get a .docx that opens in Word, Pages or Google Docs. Headings, lists, tables, code, links and footnotes come through as native Word formatting, so the other person can edit it, not just read it. Export as Word is part of the paid unlock.
My document updated on disk but the window did not change.
nicemd reloads when another program rewrites the file, including when a coding agent replaces it. If a document ever looks stale, closing and reopening it will always show the current version.
Shortcuts
| Read | ⌘1 |
|---|---|
| Edit | ⌘2 |
| Split | ⌘3 |
| Markdown Source | ⌘4 |
| Outline | ⌃⌘S |
| Copy as HTML | ⇧⌘C |
| Export as HTML | ⇧⌘E |
| Export as Word | ⌥⇧⌘E |
| Export as PDF | File menu |
| ⌘P | |
| Bigger, smaller, actual size | ⌘+ ⌘− ⌘0 |
| Start screen | ⇧⌘1 |
| Settings | ⌘, |
Edit, split view, Export as HTML and Export as Word need the one-time unlock. Everything else works in the free version.
Guides
Longer walkthroughs live in the guides, including getting a rendered Quick Look preview in Finder and reading Markdown written by a coding agent.
Contact
Email support@nicemd.app. Include your macOS version and, when a file misbehaves, the file or a snippet that reproduces it.
Anything you send is covered by the privacy policy.