What is Markdown Preview?
A Markdown preview renders your Markdown source into the formatted result in real time. That means you can check links, tables, images and code blocks before you commit or publish. This previewer implements GitHub-flavoured Markdown, the dialect used by GitHub, GitLab and most static site generators, so what you see here matches how your file will look once it is live.
Common Uses for Markdown Preview
- Checking a wiki or documentation page before saving it
- Verifying table and link formatting in a README
- Reviewing Markdown produced by an AI assistant
- Turning a Markdown note into readable HTML
Why Preview Before You Publish
Markdown is forgiving but not psychic. A missing blank line can merge two blocks, an unclosed backtick can swallow a paragraph into a code block, and a table missing a pipe will not render as a table at all. Previewing first turns a five-minute fix after publication into a five-second fix before it. It is especially worth doing for anything syndicated or indexed.
GitHub-Flavoured Markdown vs CommonMark
CommonMark is the strict core specification; GitHub-flavoured Markdown (GFM) extends it with tables, task lists, strikethrough and autolinks. Most modern tools build on GFM because it is what developers see every day on GitHub. This previewer targets GFM, so the output lines up with repositories, wikis and the majority of static site generators.