How to open an .md file on Windows

Short answer

There are two ways.

Notepad, which is already on your PC. Right-click the file, choose Open with, then Notepad. On Windows 11 it formats the basics, like headings, bold, and tables. Checklists, code, and quotes still show up as symbols, and switching Notepad’s view can rewrite parts of your file. On Windows 10 you get the raw text.
Italics, free for reading. It opens the whole file as a clean document, checklists, tables, and code included, and lets you edit it like you would in Word.

What an .md file is

A file ending in .md is a Markdown file. It’s plain text with a few symbols that stand in for formatting. A line starting with # is a heading, **word** means bold, a line starting with - is a bullet point, and - [ ] is a checkbox.

AI tools write this way all the time. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini format their answers in Markdown behind the scenes, so when you download or export something from them, there’s a good chance you get an .md file. Windows doesn’t always know what to do with one, which is why double-clicking it sometimes just asks you to pick an app.

Way 1: Open it in Notepad

Right-click the .md file and choose Open with, then Choose another app.
Pick Notepad.
Tick Always use this app to open .md files if you want double-clicking to work from now on.

On Windows 11, Notepad formats Markdown on its own, with formatting switched on by default. The button in the bar along the bottom of the window flips between Formatted and Markdown syntax, and so does the View menu.

Here’s what that looks like with a typical file from ChatGPT: a to-do list, a price table, a spreadsheet formula, and the text for a sign. I tested it in Notepad version 11.2607, the version on my PC as I write this.

Notepad on Windows 11 with formatting on. The headings are large and the table is drawn as a grid, but the checklist still shows [x] and [ ], both code sections keep their triple-backtick fences, the tip line still starts with > and **, and the sections are crammed together with no spacing. — Notepad on Windows 11, formatting on. The table works. The checklist is still `[x]` and `[ ]`, the code keeps its ``` fences, the tip keeps its `>` and `**`, and everything is jammed together.

On Windows 10, or with formatting turned off, there’s no formatting at all. You see every symbol:

The same file in Notepad's Markdown syntax view: hashes in front of every heading, the table drawn out of pipes and dashes, checkboxes written as bracket pairs, and code fenced with backticks. — The same file as raw text, which is what Windows 10 shows.

The warning worth taking seriously

When a file has anything Notepad can’t format, switching views pops up this:

Notepad's Unsupported Syntax Detected dialog: This file contains syntax that isn't fully supported in formatted view. Some content may not render as intended, and switching views could modify parts of your original Markdown. Do you want to continue? — “Switching views could modify parts of your original Markdown.”

It means it. I clicked Continue, then switched back to the raw view without typing a single character. Notepad had already rewritten the file. The checklist items became \[x], which no app reads as a checkbox anymore. **Tip:** became \*\*Tip:\*\*, which shows up as literal asterisks instead of bold. The table got squashed, too.

The same file in Notepad after switching to formatted view and back, with nothing typed. The checklist lines now read * \[x] and * \[ ], the tip reads \*\*Tip:\*\* with escaped asterisks, and the table rows are compressed with no spaces around the pipes. — After one trip to formatted view and back, nothing typed. Look at the checklist and the tip.

Nothing is lost until you save. But if you do save, that rewritten version is what ChatGPT, Claude, and every other app will see from then on. My advice: if Notepad shows you that warning, click Cancel.

One more thing: if you see raw symbols on Windows 11 even with formatting on, your Notepad is probably out of date. Microsoft fixed formatting for .md files in a mid-2026 update. Open the Microsoft Store, click Library, then Get updates.

Way 2: Open it in Italics

This is the app I build, so weigh my opinion accordingly. I built it because of exactly what’s above. Here’s the same file:

The garage sale file in Italics: a bold title, real tickable checkboxes with two already ticked, and a clean three-column price table. — Real checkboxes you can tick, and a table you can click into.

Further down the same file in Italics: the spreadsheet formula and the sign text each in a shaded code box with no backticks, and the tip as a tidy callout with Tip in bold. — The formula and sign text in tidy boxes, with no backticks.

You never see a symbol, even while you’re typing. There’s a toolbar for bold, headings, lists, and tables, and when you save, it’s still an ordinary .md file, written cleanly, so ChatGPT and Claude read it exactly as you left it. Reading is free with no account. Editing is a paid upgrade.

Open your .md files like documents

Italics runs on Windows. Reading any file is free, forever.

Download Italics

Make an app the default for .md files

If you skipped the checkbox earlier, or you want to switch apps later: open Settings, go to Apps, then Default apps. Type .md into the search box at the top, click the result, and choose the app you want. Microsoft gives the same steps for Windows 10 and 11.

Other ways to open it

VS Code

If you write code, you probably already have it. Open the file and press Ctrl+Shift+V for a formatted preview, or Ctrl+K then V to see the preview next to the raw text. It’s excellent at this. It’s also a programmer’s editor, which is a lot of app to install just to read a garage sale plan.

Microsoft Word

Word doesn’t understand Markdown. You can open the file with it, but you get the same raw text Notepad would show, symbols and all.

Online Markdown viewers

Plenty of websites will show a pasted or uploaded .md file formatted. They work, but you’re handing your file to someone else’s server. Fine for a recipe. Think twice for anything with names, numbers, or work in it.