Windows opens .md files in Notepad — as raw, unformatted text. The fastest way to actually read one is a browser-based viewer: no install, and the file never leaves your PC.

The quickest way: right here, in your browser

Use the viewer at the top of this page. It renders GitHub-flavored markdown — including Mermaid diagrams — entirely inside your browser. That means it's safe for work documents: your file is never uploaded anywhere. Bookmark it and .md files stop being a nuisance on Windows.

What you get by default: Notepad

Windows associates .md with Notepad, which shows raw markup — # headings, **bold** asterisks, pipe-drawn tables. Readable for a two-line note, painful for anything real. WordPad and Word don't render markdown either.

For developers: VS Code

If you have VS Code installed, open the file and press Ctrl+Shift+V for its markdown preview. It's solid for editing workflows, though it's a full IDE — heavy if all you want is to read a document someone sent you.

On your phone or Mac too?

Read.md has native reader apps for iPhone & iPad, Android, and Mac — same rendering engine as this page, with a file library, GitHub browsing, and offline reading: