Free ยท Open source ยท Windows, Linux, macOS and Android ยท Spanish/English UI ๐Ÿ†•

The Markdown reader your Windows was missing

Open .md files instantly, without launching an IDE or a browser. ~14 MB, starts in under 200 ms. Lightweight installer with Windows' own rendering engine already built in.

Recommended on Windows 11: Microsoft Store, with auto-update and no SmartScreen warnings ยท Also Windows 10/11 (.exe) ยท Linux (.deb / .AppImage) ยท macOS (Uptodown or .dmg) ยท Android (Google Play) ยท No account, no ads, no telemetry

DBV Markdown Reader
Animated demo of dbv-md-reader: real syntax highlighting colors, switching between Light/Dark/Sepia themes, and Table of Contents navigation
~14 MBTotal size
<200 msInstant opening
<64 MBRAM at rest
MITFree license

No Electron. No extra Chromium.

Most Markdown readers are built on Electron: they bundle a full Chromium browser just to show you text, burning through hundreds of MB of RAM for a simple task. DBV Markdown Reader is written in Rust on top of Tauri v2 and uses the rendering engine your system already ships with (WebView2 on Windows, WebKitGTK on Linux) โ€” same result, a fraction of the weight.

Memory comparison in Windows Task Manager: Visual Studio Code 885.8 MB, Notepad++ 21.5 MB, dbv-md-reader 5.9 MB, with the same 2 files open

The same 2 .md files open at once โ€” memory usage according to Windows Task Manager. Not even Notepad++, the historical reference for lightness, comes close.

What about the Edit Mode added in v0.11.0? Same reproducible benchmark, before and after adding it: no code-editor library (it reuses the same renderer as reading mode), the measured cost is effectively zero.

+0.01 MBInstaller size
โˆ’0.3 MBPrivate RAM (own process)
ยฑ5 msStartup (measurement noise)
0%CPU at idle, unchanged

Full detail and methodology in the repository benchmark.

Everything you need to read Markdown, nothing you don't

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Edit Mode (new in v0.11.0)

Split code/preview pane synced by line, line numbers, resizable panels, and conflict handling โ€” with no measurable cost over reading mode.

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Recent files

The last documents you opened, one click away โ€” never dig around to find them again.

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Live auto-reload

Edit the file with your favorite editor and the view updates itself, without losing your scroll position.

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Remote documents

Paste the URL of a .md published online and open it directly, no manual download needed.

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Secure by design

All embedded HTML is automatically sanitized before rendering โ€” zero malicious scripts.

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Mermaid diagrams

```mermaid code blocks turn into interactive vector diagrams on the fly.

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Math equations

Inline LaTeX $...$ or block $$...$$, rendered instantly with KaTeX.

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Three visual themes

Light, Dark and Sepia for long reading sessions โ€” remembers your choice between sessions.

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Instant search

Ctrl + F highlights every match in the document as you type.

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Automatic index

Table of contents generated on its own from headings, with navigation and history.

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Spanish and English

Full interface in both languages, with automatic detection of your system language.

Light on the outside, complete on the inside

Pick the theme you want to see it in โ€” the app remembers your preference just like here.

dbv-md-reader in dark theme
Mermaid diagram rendered inside dbv-md-reader
Mermaid diagrams rendered on the fly
dbv-md-reader Recent Files panel
Recent files, always at hand

Ready to use in three steps

1

Download

On Windows 11, the easiest way is Microsoft Store. You can also use the .exe installer or the Linux package (.deb / .AppImage) from the Releases page. No Rust, Node or any development tools needed. On macOS? Download the .dmg from Releases or build it yourself โ€” instructions in the README. On Android? Get it on Google Play.

2

Install

Double-click, no admin rights required. You decide whether dbv-md-reader associates with .md, via a screen with checkboxes checked by default.

3

Open

Double-click any .md file, or open it from the app with Ctrl + O.

Try it โ€” it costs nothing

Free, open source and no strings attached. Windows (Microsoft Store or installer), Linux, macOS and Android (Google Play). If something breaks, open an issue on GitHub.