Markdown Editor

Local Markdown Editor:
Your .md Files Stay Local, Never in the Cloud

A local Markdown editor is one that keeps your .md files on your own computer's disk instead of sending them to a server. If you're looking for one, you're probably worried about one thing: that your files might be quietly shipped off somewhere.

NoteLoom is exactly that kind of editor. Pick a local folder in your browser and you read and write the .md files inside it directly; close the browser and the files are still in that folder, ready to open in VS Code, Notepad, or any other editor. It has no AI — it just helps you read, edit, and save your local .md files.

Open NoteLoom and keep your .md files on your own computer

Requires desktop Chrome, Edge, or Arc; Firefox, Safari, and mobile aren't supported yet.

What "local" really means: where the files live

Here, "local" means your .md files live in some folder on your own disk, and both reading and writing happen without going through anyone else's server. NoteLoom's approach: after you open the web page, it has you pick a local folder, and from then on all reading and writing lands in that folder. It sticks to three rules:

  • Files live in the local folder you chose, not in a NoteLoom database.
  • Every keystroke is written back to that .md source file in real time.
  • Nothing is uploaded to a NoteLoom server, and reading and writing work fine offline.

Real local files, still there after you close the browser

What you write is standard .md, not some private NoteLoom format. Close the browser, shut down the computer, go fully offline — the files are still in their original folder.

And the day you decide to stop using NoteLoom, VS Code, Notepad, or any other Markdown editor can open the same file and keep editing — no export, no conversion needed.

Whether you then put the files into iCloud, Dropbox, or Git is up to you — NoteLoom won't push them to the cloud for you, and it won't lock them away in a format only it can read, either.

source / live / reading: three ways to look at it

The same .md file, three ways to view it in NoteLoom, switchable anytime:

View What it shows
source Shows the full Markdown symbols — you can see the #, **, lists, and all
live Write and see it formatted at the same time; whichever line you change updates as you type
reading Tucks the symbols away, leaving only the formatted result, like reading a finished piece

If you first ran into .md through ChatGPT, Claude, or Kimi, you can start with reading to get through the document smoothly, then switch to one of the other two views when you want to edit. These three views are just three ways of looking at the same file — no automatic generation is involved.

No software to install, and files never go to any server

Open the web page, pick a folder, start reading and writing — no installer to download, no account to register. On that point it's no different from "open it in your browser and go."

But this page is about the other side: even as a web app, your files never go to any server — the whole time they stay in the local folder you chose. If you want to look at it from the "online, open-in-browser, nothing to install" angle, read NoteLoom's online Markdown editor page; here we focus only on the "files stay local, never in the cloud" side.

Local-first vs. cloud notes vs. plain text editor: where they differ

If you're torn between a local editor, a cloud note app, and a plain text editor, four things are all you need to look at: where the files live, whether you have to install anything, whether you have to register, and whether you can open the same file in a different editor.

Comparison Local-first (NoteLoom) Cloud notes Plain text editor
Where the files live The local folder you chose Their server On your computer
Need to install software? No, just open it in the browser Mostly need an app Built into the system
Need to register an account? No Almost always No
Open the same file in a different editor Yes — it's just plain .md Mostly proprietary formats; often need to export or convert first Yes, but you can't see the formatting

A plain text editor can open .md, but it only shows the symbols and no formatting; cloud notes look nicely formatted, but the files live on someone else's server and are often in a proprietary format, so you have to export or convert before switching tools. Local-first tries to give you both: the files stay with you, and you can still see the formatting.

Reading and writing local md with NoteLoom in 4 steps

You don't have to learn all of Markdown syntax first to get started — just follow this order:

  1. Open NoteLoom (right in your browser, nothing to install).
  2. Pick a local folder that holds .md files.
  3. Click open a file in the file tree and read through it in reading first.
  4. To edit, switch to live or source; your changes are written back to the original file in real time.

Once you've read through smoothly, there's still plenty of time to gradually learn symbols like #, ##, -, and **text**.

What NoteLoom can't do

Let's be clear up front, so you don't click through and find it's not what you expected:

  • No AI of any kind: it won't write for you, won't summarize for you, won't chat with your notes, and won't do semantic search.
  • No multiplayer collaboration or real-time co-editing.
  • No cloud sync — it's local-first, and by design it just doesn't do that.
  • Browser requirements apply: it currently supports desktop Chrome, Edge, and Arc; Firefox, Safari, and phones aren't supported yet.

It's simply an editor focused on reading and writing local .md files: open the files you already have, read them clearly, edit them well, and keep them local.

Related reading

Online Markdown editor The same NoteLoom, seen from the "open in your browser, nothing to install" side. What is NoteLoom? The local-first Markdown editor: what it does and what it isn't, explained in one page. Take notes with Markdown Keep your .md files in a local folder and write your first note from scratch. Organize local Markdown files As .md files pile up on your computer, a few ways to sort them out by folder.

FAQ

What's the difference between a local Markdown editor and a cloud note app?
The difference is where the files live. A local Markdown editor keeps your .md files in a folder on your own computer; a cloud note app stores your content on someone else's server, often in a proprietary format, so opening it in a different editor usually means exporting or converting first. NoteLoom is the former: pick a local folder and read and write the .md files inside it directly, with nothing uploaded to a server.
Do files I write with NoteLoom get uploaded to a server?
No. Once you pick a local folder, NoteLoom reads and writes the .md files inside it directly. Every keystroke is written straight back to that source file in real time, never uploaded to a NoteLoom server and never converted into another format.
If I close the browser or go offline, are my .md files still there?
Yes. The files live in a folder on your own disk to begin with, so it doesn't matter whether the browser is open or whether you have a connection. Close the browser, go offline, or even stop using NoteLoom entirely — the files stay right where they are, and VS Code, Notepad, or any other editor can still open them.
Does it count as an offline Markdown editor? Can I use it without internet?
You can think of it that way. Reading and writing both happen in your local folder, so even offline you can still open files, edit them, and save them back; it doesn't depend on a connection to save. The only exception is the very first visit, which still needs a connection to load the app.
source / live / reading — what do they correspond to?
They map to NoteLoom's three views: source (shows the full Markdown symbols), live (write and see it formatted at the same time), and reading (just the formatted result). Switch freely between all three views of the same .md file — no automatic generation is involved.
Does NoteLoom have AI features?
No. NoteLoom is simply an editor for reading and writing local .md files. There's no AI chat, no AI summaries, no auto-tagging, and it doesn't integrate with any AI tool.
Can I use it on my phone, or in Safari or Firefox?
Not right now. NoteLoom's ability to read and write a local folder directly relies on specific desktop-browser interfaces, so it currently supports desktop Chrome, Edge, and Arc; Firefox, Safari, and mobile browsers aren't supported yet.

Keep your .md files local — try it now

Pick a local folder that holds .md files, use NoteLoom in your browser to read through it, edit a line, and save it back to the original file — the files stay on your own computer the whole time.

Open NoteLoom and pick a local folder to start reading and writing