Settings

Open Settings with ⌘, or from the Peekdown menu. Settings are organized into six tabs:

General

Configure where and how Peekdown windows appear.

  • Position — Choose where new windows appear (center, upper-right, lower-right, upper-left, lower-left)
  • Size — Default size for new windows (small, medium, large)
  • Reopen windows on launch — Reopen previously open documents on launch
  • Expand window when opening files — Automatically resize the window to fit content
  • Show dropzone — Show the drag-and-drop dropzone window at launch and when closing the last document
  • Window tabs — How new files open: automatic (system preference), always as tabs, or always in new windows

Behavior

Control how Peekdown renders documents and responds to file changes.

  • Copy code buttons — Show a copy button on fenced code blocks in the preview and Quick Look
  • Toggleable checkboxes — Allow toggling task list checkboxes in the preview. A toggle is a regular edit: ⌘Z undoes it
  • Auto-save on checkbox toggle — Automatically save the file after toggling a checkbox (requires Toggleable checkboxes). Undo only reverts the document — the file keeps what was auto-saved until you save again
  • Display JSX components in .mdx files — Show JSX syntax as code blocks in the preview and Quick Look
  • When a file changes externally — Show a notice (a banner offering Update and Show Changes) or reload automatically. With unsaved edits, you always get a notice instead of a silent reload.
  • Quick Look rendering — How Quick Look renders markdown in Finder:
    • Full preview — Render using GitHub-flavored markdown
    • Formatted source — Show syntax-highlighted markdown source
    • Plain text — Show markdown as plain monospace text
  • Dark mode background — The preview's background color in dark mode:
    • Match window — Blend the preview with the window
    • GitHub dark — Use GitHub's black background

Annotations

Configure how annotations appear in Quick Look previews.

  • Show annotations in Quick Look — Display annotation highlights when previewing files in Finder

Editor

Customize the editing experience.

  • Syntax highlighting — Enable or disable syntax coloring in the editor
  • Editor theme — Choose from 8 themes (GitHub Light, GitHub Dark, Dracula, Monokai, Solarized Light, Solarized Dark, One Dark, Nord)
  • Font — Choose a monospace font (SF Mono, JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, Menlo, Monaco, and more)
  • Font size — Adjust from 9pt to 32pt
  • Editor position — Place the editor on the left or right side of the split view
  • Spell checking — Enable or disable spell checking
  • Word count — Show a live word and character count under the editor while editing
  • Auto-pair brackets — Automatically close brackets and quotes as you type

Sidebar

Control when the sidebar appears and which sections it shows.

  • Show sidebar — Choose whether new windows open with the sidebar visible: Remember from last session, Always, or Never. This sets the starting state only — you can always open or close the sidebar with ⌃⌘S
  • Fit width to content — Automatically resizes the sidebar to its widest item as its contents change. Off by default; with it off you can still fit the sidebar once by double-clicking its divider
  • Show Favorites — Show or hide the pinned Favorites section in the sidebar (can also be hidden by right-clicking the section header in the sidebar)
  • Show Recents — Show or hide the pinned Recents section in the sidebar (can also be hidden by right-clicking the section header in the sidebar)
  • Keep folders on top — Sort folders above files in the sidebar
  • Show space backgrounds — Show or hide the tinted card behind each open space. When off, a space's color still tints its title and icon

Folders

Peekdown runs in a secure macOS sandbox. To display images referenced in your markdown files, Peekdown needs permission to access the folders containing those images.

  • Common folders — Toggle access to Desktop, Documents, and Downloads
  • Add Folder… — Grant access to any folder on your Mac
  • Remove — Revoke access to a previously granted folder

Once a folder is granted access, Peekdown remembers the permission across launches using security-scoped bookmarks. The preview reloads automatically when access is granted.