Welcome to MarkChrome 2.0

What is MarkChrome?

MarkChrome is a writing app for creating clean, well-formatted documents — notes, reports, README files, blog posts or journals.

It uses a simple text format called Markdown. You add formatting (headings, bold, lists) with plain characters like #, ** and -. Your file stays small, portable and readable anywhere.

What's New in 2.0

Release 2.0 is a major upgrade. Here is everything that is new:

The Interface

The app has these main areas:

① Menu & Toolbar

The top row has Zen, Validate, New, Open, Save, Save As…, Copy Rich Text, Export HTML, Export PDF, Help and the language picker. The formatting row below inserts Markdown for you.

② Markdown Source (left pane)

This is where you type. Drag a file onto it, or paste text and screenshots.

③ Rendered Preview (right pane)

Shows the finished document live — with diagrams, math and highlighted code. Scrolling stays in sync with the left pane.

④ Outline sidebar & Status bar

The ☰ Outline button opens a list of your headings. The bottom bar shows line, word and character counts and your cursor position.

Writing Your First Document

• 1
  Click New to start with a blank page. If you have unsaved changes, the app asks first.
• 2
  Click inside the left pane and type. The right pane updates as you write.
• 3
  Use the toolbar buttons to add headings, bold text, lists, tables, links or images. Place your cursor first, then click.
• 4
  Press Ctrl + S to save. The first time, you choose where to save it on your computer.

Toolbar Buttons

Every button inserts formatting at your cursor. If text is selected, it wraps that text.

Markdown Cheat Sheet

Prefer typing to clicking? Type these directly in the left pane.

Keyboard Shortcuts & Shortcodes

Shortcuts work when the left (Markdown) pane is active.

Shortcodes

Type one of these and press Space:

Working with Tables

Creating a table

Click ⊞ Table (or type //table and Space). You get this:

| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
| :------- | :------: | -------: |
| Cell 1   | Cell 2   | Cell 3   |

Editing

Click in the left pane and change the text between the | bars. The preview table updates instantly.

Adding rows and columns

To add a row, start a new line and type another row of | cells. To add a column, add a | cell to every row (including the header and the dashed line).

Aligning columns

On the dashed line: :--- left, :---: centre, ---: right.

Deleting

Select the table lines in the left pane and press Delete.

Diagrams & MathNew

Mermaid diagrams

Insert a code block and write mermaid after the backticks:

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Write Markdown] --> B[Live Preview]
    B --> C[Export PDF]
```

The preview turns it into a flowchart. Sequence diagrams, and other Mermaid types, work too.

Math formulas (KaTeX)

Inline: $E = mc^2$. Whole-line block:

$$
\int_0^1 x^2 \, dx = \frac{1}{3}
$$

Code highlighting

Put the language name after the opening backticks (for example ```python or ```javascript). Hover a code block in the preview to see its Copy button.

Outline, Find & Replace, and Zen ModeNew

☰ Outline

Click ☰ Outline (top-left) to see all your H1–H3 headings. Click one to jump straight to it in both panes.

🔎 Find & Replace

• 1
  Press Ctrl + F (or Ctrl + H).
• 2
  Type what to find, and what to replace it with.
• 3
  Click Find Next, Replace (one) or Replace All.

🧘 Zen mode

Click Zen to hide menus and focus on writing. Press Esc to come back — on a phone, tap the ✕ Exit Zen button.

Markdown ValidatorNew

Click Validate to scan your document. It looks for:

• 1
  Code blocks that were opened with ``` but never closed.
• 2
  A lone * that could break italic formatting.
• 3
  Table rows that don't start with |, with the line number shown.

Themes & LanguagesNew

🌓 Themes

Click Theme to cycle through three looks: the default, a dark preview, and a high-contrast mode (strong yellow-on-black) for easier reading.

🌐 Languages

Use the language picker in the top bar to switch the interface between English, Español and اردو. Urdu switches the layout to right-to-left.

YAML front matter

If your file starts with a block like this, MarkChrome shows it as a tidy metadata box:

---
title: My Post
date: 2026-10-23
tags: [notes, ideas]
---

Open, Save & Export

New document

Click New. You'll be asked first if there are unsaved changes.

Opening a file

Click Open and choose a .md or .txt file — or simply drag the file onto the window.

Saving

Click Save or press Ctrl + S. The first time you choose a location; after that it saves to the same file. Save As… makes a copy under a new name.

Export HTML

Creates one standalone web page you can open anywhere or send to others.

Export PDF

Creates a PDF of your formatted preview. (You can also press Ctrl + P to print.)

Copy Rich Text

Copies the formatted document — diagrams included — to your clipboard. Paste it into Word, Google Docs or an email and the formatting stays.

Pasting screenshots

Copy a screenshot and paste (Ctrl+V) in the left pane. It is embedded in your document.

Common Questions

Tips & Tricks

Select text before clicking toolbar buttons

Select a word, then click B and it is wrapped in bold. With nothing selected, a placeholder is inserted for you to replace.

Watch the status bar

Line, word and character counts update live at the bottom.

Use the Outline for long documents

Open ☰ Outline and jump between sections instead of scrolling.

Validate, then export

A quick Validate before Export PDF or Export HTML catches formatting slips.

Back up important files

Keep your .md files in a synced folder, or in a Git repository on GitHub.