# Let the choice of the external markdown editor

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113>\
**Category:** Features\
**Created:** [13 April 2019 19:25 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113 "2019-04-13T19:25:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [13 April 2019 19:25 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/1 "2019-04-13T19:25:52Z")

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Hello,  
Love the last enhancements of Joplin, that make it become my main note app. The more I use it, the more I miss a little feature: Joplin can export the current file to an external markdown editor, _but only the default editor of the OS_. But several times, it could be good to choose another editor (for example, a specialised editor for academic works, like [Zettlr](https://www.zettlr.com/)). Is it possible to let the choice always open in the preferences ?  
Plus, though the current feature works, it freeze Joplin after opening the file in another editor.

Another way to the same result is to improve the markdown file export (don’t work on my mac with High Sierra), which helps to save the file anywhere and open it with another app. But the first solution is more elegant and avoid the steps of saving and reopening with another file.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [13 April 2019 20:43 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/2 "2019-04-13T20:43:57Z")

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I'm not really sure I understand your problem described in the first paragraph.  
You can set the editor of your choice in the settins screen. If that field is empty, the default editor associated with .md files is used.

> [@pat3](#):
>
> it freeze Joplin after opening the file in another editor.

This is a known problem with a module that Joplin uses to watch changes to the filesystem. I think Laurent is working on it.

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [15 April 2019 07:03 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/3 "2019-04-15T07:03:09Z")

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I setted the editor in the preferences; the problem is that you can only choose one, nor you setted it or you let empty the field; I would like to let the choice open to pick up the editor of my choice on the fly, because I choose between several different editors depending on the type of project I’m writing.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [15 April 2019 16:54 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/4 "2019-04-15T16:54:49Z")

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I see. In that case you have to remove the association of md files in your OS. Apparently you have associated the extension `.md` with an application, otherwise you would always be asked. So Joplin uses the OS setting. Therefore you have to fix this in your OS.

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [17 April 2019 18:52 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/5 "2019-04-17T18:52:14Z")

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Thanks ! I couldn’t think it was so simple…

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [17 April 2019 19:04 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/6 "2019-04-17T19:04:12Z")

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It’s finally not so simple: Mac OS ask for a prefered app for any kind of file; you have to choose one, there’s one by default, you can just change the default option.

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [17 April 2019 19:26 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/7 "2019-04-17T19:26:33Z")

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Sorry to busy this thread, but this option could help in my workflow (and I hope it could help others). After exploring the option of macOS, it seems it’s impossible to not choose a default app for a kind of file type. But I think about a possibility that could be included in Joplin: Open with, that let the choice of the app to open a file with.  
Is it possible to add this choice in the option of opening with an external editor ?

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**Author:** ![laurent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laurent](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/laurent)\
**Post date:** [17 April 2019 19:40 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/8 "2019-04-17T19:40:59Z")

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Why don’t you specify whatever editor you prefer in Joplin instead of changing your system defaults?

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [17 April 2019 21:09 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/9 "2019-04-17T21:09:09Z")

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Because I usually work with two or three different editors, depending on the type of work, and because I'm moving yet from paid to FLOSS editors, testing a lot of candidates (Joplin was in the first waves, and is barely adopted 😉.  
Joplin is useful for me before all of that, to store all my informal notes, thoughts, ideas, web quotes, etc., before they become formal and identified work. That's why I need it to let the choice of the editor open. The good option for me would be Open with…, as I often know which editor I need, but not only the same.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [18 April 2019 02:28 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/10 "2019-04-18T02:28:33Z")

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> [@pat3](#):
>
> It’s finally not so simple: Mac OS ask for a prefered app for any kind of file; you have to choose one,

I'm not sure what you are talking about, because this is not correct. You **don't have** to choose one that is used as the default. In the system there is also always the `Other...` item in the menu.

On my macOS I don't have an application associated with md files. So every time I double click on an md file, the OS asks me which app to use to open that file.

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [19 April 2019 19:30 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/11 "2019-04-19T19:30:43Z")

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When you open a file from the Finder, you can choose between a default app or another app with a right clic on a file. That’s not the case from Joplin’s external editor feature, which works as a double clic on a file.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [19 April 2019 19:37 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/12 "2019-04-19T19:37:01Z")

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Yes, this is why I told you to remove the default application association for `.md` files in macOS, in which case there’s no default app when you right click on an `.md` file.

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [19 April 2019 20:12 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/13 "2019-04-19T20:12:00Z")

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That’s what I try to do, but I don’t find a way to do it on macOS High Sierra. Every type of file as a default app in the system settings, the only way to get through this is to create a file with an extension ignored by the system (I try this, too); in this case, the system ask you to choose and app to open the file (when you double-clic on a file with an unkown extension, the Finder pops up a window which ask to choose an app or search an appropriate app on the AppStore).  
I just find [this 2013 hack](https://www.guidingtech.com/20779/set-remove-default-file-associations-mac/) to remove the default file association, but it seems the hack is too old to work on High Sierra.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [19 April 2019 21:02 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/14 "2019-04-19T21:02:27Z")

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Ok, then I’m at a loss and I don’t understand why I don’t have an association for md files on my system. Maybe I did something in the past, but I can’t remember what it was.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [19 April 2019 21:39 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/15 "2019-04-19T21:39:21Z")

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Yea, on my other machine I have the same problem. I can’t get rid of the association there either. Very weird. Ok, I guess in this case, we can’t use this workaround.

Hmm, I can’t believe such a simple thing is impossible.

Maybe someone wrote an application or AppleScript that does nothing else but asks which app you want to open it with. (An app that passes through the original request - an app proxy, so to speak.)

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**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [20 April 2019 10:54 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/16 "2019-04-20T10:54:18Z")

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Happy to see that I’m not the only one to have this issue 🙂 Though the problem still stands… your main computer claims that there’s a solution somewhere. What is your OS version ?

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [21 April 2019 19:41 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/17 "2019-04-21T19:41:04Z")

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It was not my main computer, but the one I was using at the time when I was writing the posts.  
It is a macOS 10.9 (migrated from 10.6). The other ones, where I experience the same issue as you, are macOS 10.13 and 10.14.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pat3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pat3](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/pat3)\
**Post date:** [21 April 2019 19:59 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/18 "2019-04-21T19:59:08Z")

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okay, this could be the reason why (my computer in on mac0S 10.13…

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**Author:** ![SYLG](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/sylg/32/18275_2.png) [@SYLG](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/SYLG)\
**Post date:** [17 September 2023 02:38 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/19 "2023-09-17T02:38:07Z")

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I am a new user of joplin and encountered exactly the same situation. I want to use sublime only when I take notes in course. The approach of _"removing file association"_ sounds attracting, but it got even worse on Windows -- I can't even remove the file association!  
Then I came up with a new approach: you see that when you click the button _"edit in external editor"_, joplin first create a temporary md file and just simply starts it, i.e. **starts your default md app and pass the file path as a parameter**. So, just write a simple script to choose the editor yourself should be a nice solution.  
As a test, I just tried to use python and do `print(sys.argv)`, then use pyinstaller to turn that script into executable file. It seemed to work pretty well on joplin as well as on original file explorer. I will try to finish the code and make a simple gui for that soon. If, I mean if anyone needs that simple code, where should I post it? just below here?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![laurent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laurent](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/laurent)\
**Post date:** [17 September 2023 07:09 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/let-the-choice-of-the-external-markdown-editor/2113/20 "2023-09-17T07:09:53Z")

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