Markdown Reading View

Markdown Reading View gives VS Code's built-in Markdown preview a calmer, more readable layout inspired by Medium and Substack.

Install from the VS Code Marketplace

It contributes a Markdown preview stylesheet through VS Code's markdown.previewStyles extension point. There is no runtime activation code and no need to add markdown.styles to your user or workspace settings.

What It Does

• Narrows Markdown preview content to a comfortable reading measure.
• Uses serif body copy with generous line height for long-form reading.
• Polishes heading scale, weight, and spacing.
• Improves paragraph, list, blockquote, code, table, and image spacing.
• Respects your active VS Code color theme.

Before And After

Before: VS Code's default Markdown preview is functional, but it can feel wide and dense for prose-heavy documents.

After: Markdown preview reads more like a clean article page, with a centered column, comfortable typography, and more deliberate spacing.

Before	After

How To Use

1. Install the extension.
2. Open a Markdown file in VS Code.
3. Open the Markdown preview with Cmd+Shift+V on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows/Linux.

The extension applies automatically to VS Code's built-in Markdown preview.

Theme Compatibility

Markdown Reading View does not define custom visible colors for the page background, body text, headings, links, inline code, code blocks, or other theme-colored elements.

Colors continue to come from your active VS Code light, dark, or high-contrast theme.

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Package a VSIX:

npm run package