Install leaftext on macOS, Windows, and Linux

leaftext ships pre-built binaries for macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows (64-bit), and Linux through the GitHub Releases page. There is no package manager step, no runtime to install separately, and no account required — download the file for your platform and follow the steps below.

Platform instructions

macOS
Windows
Linux

Requirements: Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later).

Go to the Releases page and download the latest .dmg file.
Open the DMG and drag leaftext.app onto the Applications shortcut in the window.
Eject the DMG.

First-launch gatekeeper warningmacOS quarantines applications downloaded from the internet and will block leaftext from opening if it was not installed through the App Store or signed with an Apple notarization certificate. If you see a dialog saying the app cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer, run the following command in Terminal after dragging leaftext to Applications:

xattr -cr /Applications/leaftext.app

This removes the quarantine extended attribute from the app bundle. After running it, open leaftext normally from Applications or Spotlight.

You only need to run the xattr command once. Subsequent launches will open without any warning.

Requirements: Windows 10 or later, 64-bit.

Go to the Releases page and download the latest .msi file.
Run the installer and follow the prompts. No additional runtime (such as .NET or Visual C++ Redistributable) is required.
leaftext will be available from the Start Menu after installation completes.

Default install location

C:\Program Files\leaftext\bin\leaftext.exe

WebView2 data pathleaftext uses the platform WebView2 engine to render documents. Browser profile data (cache, cookies for local content) is stored in your user profile — not beside the executable — so it stays writable even though the binary lives under Program Files:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\ryanallen\leaftext\data\webview2

Because WebView2 data is stored in %LOCALAPPDATA% rather than next to the executable, leaftext does not require administrator rights to run after installation, and the data directory is personal to each Windows user account.

Finding the installed executable pathIf you ever need the full path to leaftext.exe — for example, to create a custom shortcut or add it to your PATH — the quickest way to locate it is:

Right-click the leaftext shortcut in the Start Menu
Select More → Open file location
Right-click the leaftext shortcut that opens in Explorer
Select Properties → look at the Target field

Linux builds are published on the Releases page alongside the macOS and Windows packages.Download the build for your distribution, make the binary executable if needed, and run it directly:

chmod +x leaftext
./leaftext

leaftext uses WebKitGTK for rendering on Linux. If the app does not launch, ensure your system has a compatible WebKitGTK library installed. Most modern desktop Linux distributions include it by default.

After installing

Launch leaftext

Open leaftext from your Applications folder (macOS), Start Menu (Windows), or directly from the terminal (Linux). You will be greeted by the no-file view, which shows your recent files if any exist.

Open a Markdown file

Press Ctrl+O on Windows or Linux, or Cmd+O on macOS, to open the file browser. Navigate to any .md file and select it. leaftext will render it immediately.You can also drag and drop a .md file directly onto the leaftext window to open it.

Start reading

That’s it. leaftext renders your file with full CommonMark + GFM support, syntax highlighting, and a minimap for navigation. See the Quickstart for a tour of the interface.

WebView2 browser data on Windows is stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\ryanallen\leaftext\data\webview2, not beside leaftext.exe in Program Files. This is intentional: the user profile directory is always writable without elevated permissions, so leaftext can read and write its rendering data regardless of where the binary was installed.

​Platform instructions

​After installing

Platform instructions

After installing