MDTree for Mac

All your Markdown. From all your projects. In one Mac app.

MDTree brings the Markdown files from all your projects into one calm, fast app. Read, write and find them again. Sync with GitHub, without your code going along.

See what it does

Free to download · macOS 14 or later · Your files stay plain files

The MDTree window with the tree of projects and notes on the left, the Markdown source of the note Website roadmap in the middle, and the rendered preview with a task list and a table on the right

The problem

Your notes are everywhere. Except in one place.

Scattered across folders and projects. A README here, a plan there, a briefing five folders deep. Finder and code editors mostly show you code, folders and build files.

Their own vault, their own format. Many note apps want to import your files first. After that they live in a database that isn't yours.

GitHub through the Terminal. Pushing notes inside a code project to GitHub means typing commands, with the risk that half-finished code goes along.

Find

Only your notes. Not the rest.

Add a folder with twenty projects and MDTree shows exactly the Markdown files. No source code, no node_modules. Click a project and you see all its notes in one list, with the subfolder next to each. Or press ⌘P and type a few letters.

A tree that shows only notes. Folders without notes don't appear. Folders in between collapse into one row, like src/content/blog.
All notes of a folder. From every subfolder, with the subfolder shown. Sort by last modified, name or folder.
Search as you type. Across the full text, with a snippet and the match highlighted. Works in Chinese and Japanese too. Filter with tag:, in:, ws: and is:task.
Quick open. ⌘P, a few letters, Enter.

The list of all notes in the North Studio folder, each note with its subfolder underneath, such as Projects/Website and Projects/App/docs

Searching for the word website: the sidebar lists four notes with a snippet each, and the match is highlighted in yellow in the open note

Write

An editor that gets out of the way.

The text sits in a readable column and the Markdown marks fade into grey. Next to it you see right away how it looks. Tick off a task right there in the preview.

Saves automatically. Lists and tasks continue after Enter. ⌘B, ⌘I, ⌘E and ⌘K for bold, italic, code and link.
Text only, preview only, or both. The preview scrolls along. Tables, code blocks, callouts, images, tags and front matter.
Typewriter mode. The line you're typing stays in the middle.
Daily note and Inbox. A quick note in an Inbox folder, and a template for new notes with title and date.
Safe against outside changes. A warning if a file changed outside the app while your edits aren't saved yet.

The editor with the Markdown text in a centred column, the markup in light grey, and next to it the preview with heading, task list and table

Organise

Drag a note to another project.

Copying or moving between folders and projects is a drag. Hold Option to copy. "Copy to…" and "Move to…" list the folders of all your projects.

Links between notes

Connect them with [[double brackets]]. ⌘-click opens the note, and creates it if it doesn't exist yet. The inspector shows which notes link to this one.

Tags, favourites, recent

An overview of all tags, and your favourite and recent notes. Every folder gets its own colour, and every folder shows how many notes it holds.

Several notes open

As tabs side by side. Rename right in the row, Command-Delete moves to the Trash, and the tree follows changes on disk immediately.

GitHub without worries

Sync, without touching your code.

MDTree recognises every git project, even inside a folder full of projects, and shows what has changed. If the project is on GitHub, one button syncs your notes.

Commit

MDTree commits the changed notes. Only Markdown. Never code or other work in progress.

Pull

It fetches what's new on GitHub in the meantime and merges it.

Push

Your notes go to GitHub. A project without a GitHub remote simply gets a local commit.

If something conflicts, MDTree stops. It puts everything back the way it was and explains in plain words what's going on. You resolve the conflict in your own git tool or in the Terminal.

MDTree has its own git engine on board and syncs over HTTPS; the git on your Mac isn't needed. You sign in once with a GitHub personal access token. It stays in your Mac's keychain, and MDTree never asks for your GitHub password. Projects with an SSH remote work too. If you'd rather not think about it, the project of the open note syncs automatically, every 5, 15 or 60 minutes.

The inspector on the Git tab: the project App on the main branch, a field for the commit message, the buttons Commit Notes and Sync, the changed note Decisions.md and the history of that note with two earlier versions

Pro

For those who want more.

Reading, writing and finding is free, without limits. With MDTree Pro you sync with GitHub, look at every earlier version of a note and export to HTML.

Feature	Free	Pro
Folders and the treeAs many folders as you like, each with its own colour	✓	✓
All notes per folder	✓	✓
Writing with live previewEditor, tasks, daily note, Inbox, typewriter mode	✓	✓
Search, quick open, tags, favourites and links	✓	✓
Recognise git projects and see what changed	✓	✓
Sync with GitHubCommit, pull and push with one button, or automatically	–	✓
History per noteEarlier versions, diffs and undoing changes	–	✓
Export as HTML	–	✓

MDTree Pro

GitHub sync, the history of every note and HTML export. You choose how to pay.

€9.99per year

€29.99one-time

The free version keeps working in full
Purchases go through the Mac App Store
Restore an earlier purchase inside the app

Prices in euro, VAT included. Prices may vary by country.

Fast, and yours

A real Mac app. With real files.

Because MDTree is native, it responds instantly, even with hundreds of notes. And your notes stay plain files in your own folders.

What	Time
Scan all projects	0.2 s
Build the search index for the first time	0.2 s
Git status of all 31 projects	0.25 s
Expand a folder	35 ms
Open a note	60 ms
Keystroke in the editor	0.4 ms

Measured on 13 September 2026 on a MacBook Air with M3 chip and 24 GB of memory, with a folder of 31 git projects and 374 notes.

No import, no own format, no account.
MDTree works with the files where they are now. Stop using MDTree and they simply stay where they were.
No cloud of its own.
Your notes, their names and their paths never leave your Mac through MDTree. The only network traffic is with GitHub, to sign in and when you sync.
Anonymous statistics, off by default.
Only if you switch them on in Settings › General does the app share which features are used and rough counts, never the contents of notes. Read the privacy policy.
In Apple's sandbox.
MDTree only opens the folders you choose yourself, and only reads .md, .markdown, .mdown and .mdx.

Light and dark

Follows your Mac.

MDTree in light mode, with tree, editor and preview side by side — Light

MDTree in dark mode, with the same tree, editor and preview on a dark background — Dark

Who it's for

For anyone with more notes than one folder can hold.

Developers and indie makers

Dozens of projects full of READMEs, plans, decisions and briefings. One tree, only the notes.

Anyone working with AI coding assistants

They produce more and more Markdown, scattered across your projects. MDTree brings it together and finds it again.

Anyone who keeps notes as plain files

No vault, no database, no proprietary format. Your .md files stay yours.

Frequently asked questions

Good to know.

Do I have to import my notes?

No. MDTree works with the files where they are now. You add a folder, and that's it.

Do I need GitHub?

No. Git and GitHub are optional. Without git, MDTree simply works as a tree, editor and search engine for your Markdown.

Do I have to give MDTree my GitHub password?

No. You create a personal access token on GitHub and paste it into MDTree. It stays in your Mac's keychain.

Do I need git on my Mac?

No. MDTree has its own git engine on board and syncs with GitHub over HTTPS.

Does my code go along when I sync?

No. MDTree commits only changed Markdown files and leaves the rest untouched.

What if there's a conflict?

Then MDTree stops, puts everything back the way it was and explains what you can do. You resolve the conflict itself in your own git tool or in the Terminal.

Which files does MDTree read?

.md, .markdown, .mdown and .mdx. In git projects it skips whatever .gitignore excludes.

Which Mac do I need?

A Mac with macOS 14 or later. MDTree is developed and tested on macOS 26.

Is there an iPhone version?

No. MDTree is a Mac app. There is no iPad, Windows or web version either.

Which languages is the app in?

English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. MDTree follows the language of your Mac.

Does MDTree collect data?

Only anonymous usage statistics, and only if you switch them on in Settings. They are off by default and never include the contents, names or paths of your notes. Everything is in the privacy policy.

What does MDTree cost?

The app is free. MDTree Pro, with sync, history and export, costs €9.99 per year or €29.99 one-time.

Where do I download MDTree?

On the Mac App Store. That's the only place: the app is reviewed by Apple, installs with one click and updates automatically.

I have a question or a problem.

Email [email protected]. Mention your macOS version and what you were doing.

Get MDTree

Free on the Mac App Store. Reading, writing and finding your notes costs nothing; MDTree Pro adds GitHub sync, history and export.

Native Mac app · macOS 14 or later · In ten languages