# Lettera as a standalone editor **URL:** \ **Category:** Lettera feedback\ **Created:** [September 4, 2026, 8:51am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811 "2026-09-04T08:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cooperman](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/cooperman/32/8393_2.png) [@Cooperman](https://community.bear.app/u/Cooperman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 8:51am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811/1 "2026-09-04T08:51:02Z")
First impressions. The closest thing so far to a WYSIWYG markdown editor is Typora. Letterer looks much better and it has one massive advantage over Typora. It’s a good agent for dictation, whereas Typora cannot do dictation on the Mac. I would use Lettera as a standalone markdown editor because I already have an established folder system where I store various files. As it stands though it’s not easy to use like that. When I open it from the dock, I get the choice of a new file or a new folder within the iCloud default folder. I would probably never use the iCloud default folder so I have to specifically use shift+cmd+n And when I’m finished with that file, named it and stored it where I want it, I find an unwanted window that I have to click away. I would love to see a mode in the settings where it can be used simply as a standalone markdown editor. ---
**Author:** ![bearly-awake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bearly-awake](https://community.bear.app/u/bearly-awake)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811/2 "2026-09-07T04:11:11Z")
Yes, it’s been mentioned a number of times. It hasn’t changed. I think the developers are more focused on other things, which is their right. If you are interested in a standalone WYSIWYG markdown editor, check out reddit’s markdown and macapps sections. > [@Lettera: New file behaviour is very incorrect and broken](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-new-file-behaviour-is-very-incorrect-and-broken/19401): > > So if Lettera’s mission statement is to be a standalone Markdown file editor, its New File behaviour should be considered very broken. In the macOS document model (whether you use autosave or manual save), New File should always create a new Untitled file with an undetermined location until that file is closed / saved. Every well behaved Mac app that considers itself a document editor uses this model: TextEdit, Pixelmator, Pages, even Panda. But Lettera does NOT do this. It instead creates a n… > [@Lettera Feedback: New-File Behaviour, Quick Look, Dark Icon](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-feedback-new-file-behaviour-quick-look-dark-icon/19758): > > Hi! I have been using Lettera quite intensively during the last month, and really love it! So much, in fact, that I have migrated all my notes out of Bear to a fully on-disk files approach. And it is great in the age of AI agents, since they work seamlessly with this approach. My main concerns: New-File Behaviour: When no docs are open and you open Lettera, it always insists on re-opening the Lettera iCloud container. This is quite an annoying behavior and very much against the main reason fo… > [@Lettera browser keeps popping up](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-browser-keeps-popping-up/19752): > > This template is for bug report only: Lettera Version: 4266 macOS Version: 26.1 What were you doing: Clicked on the Lettera icon in the taskbar What feature did you use: What happened: The lettera browser window popped up showing “Lettera (iCloud)” What did you expect to happen: Nothing to pop up, because I didn’t have any document open My use case is that I am editing small AI markdown files from Finder. I never ever want to see the Letter browser. I use Finder for that type of thing. So … > [@Don't show Lettera folder when I launch the app by opening a file](https://community.bear.app/t/dont-show-lettera-folder-when-i-launch-the-app-by-opening-a-file/19400/3): > > Agreed, and a super frustrating bug. Every time I open a .md document, a window with the Lettera iCloud folder opens up on top of the document I’m actually trying to look at. > [@Lettera opens two windows - build 4091](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-opens-two-windows-build-4091/19511): > > This template is for bug report only: Lettera Version: 4091 macOS Version:26.5.1 What were you doing: Lettera not running. Then in Finder, selected a file, right clicked, open with Lettera.app What feature did you use: I wanted to edit a markdown file What happened: Lettera opened two windows: 1. the file I wanted to edit, 2. a window with a file browser showing iCloud and. What did you expect to happen: I just wanted the first window. I didn’t want the second window with the file browser. T… ---
**Author:** ![matteo](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/matteo/32/21_2.png) [@matteo](https://community.bear.app/u/matteo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 8:05am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811/3 "2026-09-07T08:05:51Z")
> [@Cooperman](#): > > When I open it from the dock, I get the choice of a new file or a new folder within the iCloud default folder. I would probably never use the iCloud default folder so I have to specifically use shift+cmd+n And when I’m finished with that file, named it and stored it where I want it, I find an unwanted window that I have to click away. We’re currently working on a set of preferences to customize this behaviour, which will let you make Lettera behave like a standalone editor. Shipping in the next beta update 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cooperman](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/cooperman/32/8393_2.png) [@Cooperman](https://community.bear.app/u/Cooperman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 8:47am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811/4 "2026-09-07T08:47:57Z")
Thanks, looking forward to it. Cooperman ---
**Author:** ![REZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@REZ](https://community.bear.app/u/REZ)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811/5 "2026-09-29T18:58:50Z")
I too would love to use Lettera as a stand alone markdown editor. And it would be great if I could use Lettera to **open** many types of documents, **edit** them in markdown – and **save** them as markdown files. Having to convert the files first, before using Lettera, is pain. Do the conversion for me, please. ---
**Author:** ![trix180](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/trix180/32/588_2.png) [@trix180](https://community.bear.app/u/trix180)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811/6 "2026-09-30T15:30:13Z")
> [@REZ](#): > > I too would love to use Lettera as a stand alone markdown editor. If I’m not missing something, we can already use Lettera as a stand-alone markdown editor. > [@REZ](#): > > nd it would be great if I could use Lettera to **open** many types of documents, **edit** them in markdown – and **save** them as markdown files. What kind of documents do you want to convert to Markdown? ---
**Author:** ![REZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@REZ](https://community.bear.app/u/REZ)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 10:10pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/lettera-as-a-standalone-editor/19811/7 "2026-10-01T22:10:43Z")
Yes, Lettera is potentially a great stand-alone markdown editor. A lovely lightweight focused-on-markdown editor! But it would be better if I could open **any** docs I have or receive, as markdown in Lettera. Especially PDFs… Complex, “nice looking” PDFs. With figure with titles and captions. And footnotes. Right now, I have to go through a conversion step first… and I have not found a best-in-class conversion app. I’m on macOS…