Plain files, nothing else
Every document is a Markdown file on your disk. Open it with any other program tomorrow, or in ten years. Nothing is locked in a database.
extended memory for me
Markdown editor for Windows and Linux
Your notes stay files. On your own disk.
No account. No cloud. No subscription. EM4me edits the Markdown files you already have, in the folders where you already keep them.
Version 1.147.0 · Windows 11 and Linux · 64-bit · free
168Releases
51Manual pages
5Languages
15,208Automated checks
Works offline, always
There is no server to sign in to and no connection to lose. What you write never leaves the machine you write it on.
Open source, verifiable
The source code is public and every release ships with checksums, published in two independent places so you can actually check them.
What it does
Built for people who write a lot
Seven views, one keystroke apart
Read the rendered page, edit the raw source, put both side by side, or work in the live view where formatting appears as you type and only the current line shows its Markdown. Three more views serve special purposes: the mind map shows the structure of a document as a map, the canvas is an open surface with cards and connections, and the board holds tasks as cards in columns. These three can be switched on to suit the way you work.
Links that lead somewhere
Wiki links, headline and block anchors, embedded documents, tags and backlinks. Your notes become a connected set instead of a folder of loose files.
Tables that calculate and query
Data tables with typed columns calculate live: a totals row, computed columns, editing right in the rendered table. Queries embed file lists that keep themselves current, filtered by properties, tags or tasks. And all of it stays plain text inside your file.
Journals from day to year
Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly entries are created from your own folder and naming scheme, from a template if you want one. One click opens today's entry or creates it. Built-in navigation pages through the periods and connects the day to its week, its month and its year.
Many files become one book
Chapters remain ordinary Markdown files; the book sets their order and nesting, not the file name and not where they sit in folders. The table of contents shows the declared order, rearranges chapters by dragging or with the keyboard, and guided reading pages across chapter boundaries through the whole book. Rename or move a file, and links and contents follow.
Areas keep projects apart
Bind a window to a folder and it becomes a closed workspace. File dialogs, recent files and search stay inside it, so two projects never bleed into each other.
Every change kept, if you want it
Turn on document history and each save is recorded next to the file. Compare two versions line by line and restore any of them. Nothing is ever deleted.
Only the features you want
The feature set is large, but none of it is mandatory: extra functions are extensions with a switch of their own, and three working modes switch them in bundles, from Beginner to Full. What you turn off disappears from menus, commands and rendering instead of getting in your way. The program stays as lean or as powerful as you need it to be.
Download
Two platforms, two ways each
Windows
Installer
Sets up EM4me with a start menu entry and optional file association for Markdown files.
Download installerPortable
A single executable. Nothing is installed. EM4me saves only to the «Data» folder next to the program file and to the documents and areas you open. What Windows itself records about every program is listed in the manual. Also runs from a USB stick.
Download portableLinux
With installation (deb package)
Regular installation on Debian and Ubuntu systems, with an entry in the application menu, an icon and the file association for Markdown files.
Download package fileWithout installation (AppImage)
A single program file. Make it executable and start it, that is all it takes. Some systems no longer ship the libfuse2 library; without it the image does not start and says so.
Download application imageCurrent version 1.147.0, released October 10, 2026 · installer 86 MB · portable 86 MB · AppImage 113 MB · package 78 MB
The program is not code-signed. Here is why.
EM4me carries no code signature, so Windows flags it as coming from an unknown publisher. A certificate costs a yearly fee that a free program of this size cannot carry. Instead of asking you to simply trust it, here is what you can check.
- The full source code is public, so the program can be inspected and rebuilt.
- Every file has a SHA256 checksum, published here and in the source repository, at two places that would both have to be compromised at once.
- The publisher is a registered Swiss company with a postal address, not an anonymous account.
38a02625fc20b12d7f6781fdfb92e7d5a907365010efafdde5f8cd49733d3522 EM4me-1.147.0-Portable.exe
e81381b6537c8fe4f9d58b8a55363686905ebad6801f1eb4c33e4fc3ef6ed7eb EM4me-1.147.0-Setup.exe
57ac27d03dd594c723af48c9e5eb46c3f4160be5b7735e4276a9571789deb020 EM4me-1.147.0.AppImage
f76f6de7dad7ab8849ad83b2e83e0dabf81de3c718a60a067e8cf700226e0daf EM4me-1.147.0.deb
Windows 11 (Windows 10 should work too) · Linux 64-bit, verified on Ubuntu 24.04 with the XFCE desktop · no runtime required
Found something, missing something?
Bugs and requests for new features belong in the issue list next to the source code. There they stay visible to everyone instead of disappearing into a mailbox.
Go to the issue listNews
Recent releases
- 1.147.0 2026-10 The portable version to take along, nine bundled calendars, date conversion and more comfort in lists and tasks
- 1.146.2 2026-10 Creating folders in the bookmarks panel again
- 1.146.1 2026-10 Loading images safely — only from your own area