What features does ghostwriter offer for Markdown writing?

Updated

ghostwriter is a free, open-source Markdown editor for Windows, Linux, and Mac that centers on distraction-free writing. It suits writers who want to draft in Markdown now and handle formatting later, with live HTML preview, outline navigation, and export through Pandoc, MultiMarkdown, or commonmark. The features below are drawn from the project's own site (ghostwriter.kde.org).

Writing environment

  • Distraction-free writing: a clean interface plus a full screen mode. The site's framing is "No excuses. No distractions. Just write."
  • Focus Mode: click the "Focus" button in the lower right corner of the editor to highlight only the text around the cursor and fade the rest. You can configure it to highlight the current line, sentence, paragraph, or three lines.
  • Hemingway Mode: click the "Hemingway" button in the lower right corner to disable the backspace and delete keys, creating a typewriter experience that discourages editing while you write.
  • Themes: built-in light and dark themes, with the option to create your own.

Preview, navigation, and statistics

  • Live Preview: previews your Markdown document as HTML. You can copy the HTML to paste into a blog or export to another format. The site states the live preview is optimized for large documents so the application doesn't freeze as you type.
  • Navigation sidebar: provides a document outline that lets you jump to any section—including within the live preview—with a single mouse click. For a keyboard jump, press Ctrl + J, select the section name with the arrow keys, and press ENTER.
  • Document and Session Statistics: a live word count appears at the bottom of the window, with more live statistics in the Document Statistics and Session Statistics sidebar tabs.

Export and Markdown extras

  • Export to multiple formats via Pandoc, MultiMarkdown, and commonmark.
  • MathJax: use Pandoc to render equations in MathJax.
  • Drag and drop images: drag an image from your file system into the editor to create an image URL within your Markdown document.
  • Autosave and file backup: options intended to prevent losing work.
  • Built-in cheat sheet: press F1 to bring up the Markdown syntax cheat sheet in the sidebar.

Availability and licensing

ghostwriter has been distributed since 2015 and offers downloads for Windows, Linux, and Mac, plus other platforms. It is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. The site lists PayPal among its payment platforms, but the page itself does not state a price for the software; the license text is the reliable signal on cost and reuse terms.

If your priority is a minimal Markdown drafting tool with outline navigation and Pandoc-based export, ghostwriter covers those needs. If you need a specific export format or workflow not listed here, check the project's documentation before committing.