Windows' Notepad used to be my go-to for pretty much anything that needed typing. But since I’ve been working more with Markdown, it started to feel like Notepad isn’t built for the job. It only recently rolled out Markdown to Windows users, but it’s not fully cooked — there’s no support for tables, no split-view, and it misses some advanced syntax.

That’s when I stumbled across Dilliinger. It’s a browser-based Markdown editor that feels like a level up from Notepad, and it’s also free and open-source. It has that minimal interface that I enjoy in pretty much all of my software, but it sports way more features than Notepad — stuff that I actually rely on to make writing and organizing more effective. Here’s why Dillinger quickly became my go-to Markdown editor…

It’s cross-platform

And open-source

The Notepad app is exclusive to Windows, which, of course, means I can’t use it on anything other than my Windows computer. Dillinger is a browser-based Markdown editor and is optimized for all device types. I can use it on my PC, Chromebook, and iPhone browser, which instantly earns it the label of being more accessible.

It’s also open-source, and the developers encourage people to contribute to the app. As per their About section: “Dillinger is a 100% open source project so fork the code and contribute!”. One of the perks of open-source is knowing there’s an active community ready to step in with bugs or user requests.

Furthermore, you can self-host with Docker — the instructions are in the welcome document when you first open the editor.

There’s a live split-view

See different renders of your text at the same time

One of the biggest wins with Dillinger is the split-screen editor. On the left, you can write in the Markdown syntax. On the right, you immediately see how it renders to readable text — no need to export just to check what it looks like. So if I mistype something on the left, the right side immediately reflects it.

There’s also a toggle to switch the preview into HTML. This function is more so for developers, but I’d consider it to be quite useful for content creators, too, who need to ensure that their formatting meets the requirements of the platform they use. It’s a good way to check for things like the hierarchy of headers, and verify spacing and embeds.

Save your files in multiple formats

No need for extensions or converters

Unless you employ some workarounds, you can only save your work as plain text or Markdown files from Windows’ Notepad. Dillinger, on the other hand, lets you export as HTML, styled HTML, PDF, and Markdown. This makes Dillinger a multi-tool for text of sorts....

I can draft content and export straight to HTML to drop into a website without touching another editor. I can save my Markdown files in their clean and portable form, ready to open them in any other Markdown app. Or I can export my work as a ready-to-share PDF. Having this all built into one app keeps things smooth and streamlined.

Cloud integration

Import from anywhere, and back up your files as you work

Dillinger goes beyond being a standalone editor and integrates directly with your cloud of choice. You can import and export files directly to Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. And with Dropbox linked, you can drag images in to embed them. Notepad is good for a simple plain text stack, but Dillinger lets me avoid that constant “save as” and gets my work straight onto my Google Drive.

Moreover, there are options to save to GitHub and Medium. This means that you can import files from a GitHub repository, make changes, and save them back in. And the Save To Medium feature lets you export your file into your Medium account as a draft. It doesn’t publish instantly, but you still get to edit and preview your content.

There are lots of extras

Notepad’s features don’t hold a candle to Dillinger’s

The Settings dropdown is one of my favorite parts of Dillinger as it gives you some handy customization options. First, I always leave Auto Save toggled on. I also keep Word Count on, though I’ve never found much use for Character Count. Scroll Sync is actually the first time I’ve seen a toggleable sync feature for split-view editors — this scrolls both pages at the same time and position, which prevents you from losing your place when tracking both views. Notepad doesn’t have these extras; only a character count.

You can also select from three different keybinding modes: Ace, Vim, and Emacs. I just leave it on Ace since that's the shortcut combination I use across all my software. And then there's the Tab Size setting, which you can increase and decrease.

Moving beyond Notepad

Dillinger isn’t necessarily a fancier version of Notepad, it’s its own thing — a full-featured Markdown editor that you can use anywhere. Not only does it support way more formats plus cloud integration, it has one of the most functional split-view editors I’ve ever used. For anyone who drafts in Markdown, Dillinger is an upgrade that streamlines everything.