What Is a .md File? .md Format, MIME & How to Open

Quick facts

Extension.md

File typeMarkdown Document

MIME typetext/markdown

CategoryData & Text

Charset—

CompressibleYes

Format familymarkdown

What is .md

What is a .md file?

A .md file is a Markdown Document — Lightweight markup for formatted plain text.

In the mime-db registry it maps to text/markdown, and it is marked as compressible. When serving .md over HTTP, set the Content-Type header as shown in Developer info below.

Related entities: it maps to text/markdown and is used by GCC Machine Description, Markdown among others — and is delivered over HTTP via the Content-Type header.

How to open .md files

Use VS Code or Typora to open and edit .md files.
Any text editor (Notepad, VS Code) can inspect the raw content as text.

Developer info

When served over HTTP, responses should set the following header:

Content-Type: text/markdown

Common software that reads/writes .md:

VS CodeTyporaGitHub

Relation chain

.mdextension of

format

markdownserved as

mime type

text/markdownsent via header

http header

Related extensions

Related MIME types

Related programming languages

GCC Machine Description

.md

Markdown

.md .livemd .markdown

Common uses

Documentation and README files
Blog posts and notes
GitHub repositories

How to edit .md files

Open the file with VS Code, make your changes and save.
Most editors preserve the original formatting and encoding — avoid changing the charset.

How to create .md files

Create a new file and save it with the .md extension, or export this format from VS Code.

Example

# Heading

A paragraph with **bold** and a [link](https://refnet.dev).

Frequently asked questions

What programs can open .md files?

Common options include VS Code, Typora, GitHub. You can also open many of these files with built-in viewers or a browser.

How do I create a .md file?

Create a new file in any text editor or the app that owns the format and save it with the .md extension.

What is the relationship between .md and the text/markdown MIME type?

text/markdown is the media type identifier used for .md files during network transfer (for example in the HTTP Content-Type header).

Sources & standards

Updated 2026-08-18

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