How to use the Typora markdown editor on Linux
In need of a slick, minimalistic markdown editor for your Linux PC? Try out Typora. It’s a minimal markdown editor packed with features. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get the app going.
Installing Typora on Linux
The Typora markdown editor is an excellent tool to use for writing markdown. However, it is not pre-installed on any Linux distribution. As a result, before we can go over the basics of the app, we must demonstrate how to install the program on Linux.
As of now, Typora officially supports Debian and Ubuntu via a downloadable DEB package. However, there’s also a downloadable script that you can use to get the app working on other distributions. Additionally, there’s an unofficial Snap package and Arch Linux AUR release as well. To start the installation process, open up a terminal window on the desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. After that, follow the command-line installation instructions outlined below that corresponds with the distribution you currently use.
Ubuntu/Debian
On both Ubuntu and Debian, Typora is officially supported via a repo. Strangely, these operating systems are the only ones to enjoy the support, and there doesn’t seem to be a plan to provide packages for other distributions.
To start the installation of Typora on your Ubuntu or Debian PC, start by using the wget command to add the Typora repo key to your system.
wget -qO - https://typora.io/linux/public-key.asc | sudo apt-key add -
After adding the repo key to your system, make use of the add-apt-repository command to set up the Typora software repository on your computer.
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://typora.io/linux ./'
Once the Typora repository is set up on your computer, run the update command. The update command will refresh your Debian or Ubuntu PC’s software sources and allow access to the new Typora repo.
sudo apt update
Finally, install Typora.
sudo apt install typora
Arch Linux AUR
Although there isn’t any official support for Typora on Arch Linux, there is an AUR package. Here’s how to get it working on your system. To start, use the Pacman command to load up the latest “Base-devel” and “Git” packages.
sudo pacman -S base-devel git
After installing the two packages, use the git clone command to grab the Trizen AUR tool. This program will make setting up Typora much easier on Arch.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git
Install the Trizen AUR helper tool using the makepkg command.
cd trizen
makepkg -sri
Finally, install Typora.
trizen -S typora
Snap
There’s an unofficial Snap release of Typora available in the Ubuntu Snap Store. So, if you like Snaps and want an easy way to install Typora, do the following. First, follow our guide to enable Snapd on Linux. After that, run the snap install command below.
sudo snap install typora
Generic Linux
There’s a generic binary file for Typora on their official website. Here’s how to install it. First, download the binary using wget.
wget https://typora.io/linux/Typora-linux-x64.tar.gz
Next, extract the contents of the archive file.
tar xvf Typora-linux-x64.tar.gz
Run Typora using the following commands.
cd ~/bin/Typora-linux-x64 ./Typora
Use Typora markdown editor
Typora is an interesting markdown editor. Instead of placing all of the advanced formatting buttons front-and-center, they’re hidden from view. Here’s how to use the app to write beautiful markdown text.
Note: all markdown code generated in Typora while using the editor is viewable by clicking on the “code” button in the bottom-left portion of the app window.
Normal text
To write normal text, just start typing into the text box. Typora will automatically code it for you in the editor.
Bold text
Need to write some bold text? Type out text using the keyboard. Then, highlight it with the mouse. After highlighting your text, right-click on it and click on B to create bold text.
Italic text
Want italic text in Typora? Do the following. First, write out the text you wish to italicize. Once it is written out, highlight it using the mouse. Then, right-click on the text with the mouse. In the right-click menu, select I.
Quotes
To create a quote in Typora, do the following. First, write out the text you wish to turn into a quote. When done, highlight the text. Then, click on the “ button.
Creating checklists
Did you know that Typora can create checklists? Here’s how to do it. First, right-click in Typora and select the checklist button. After selecting it, a checkbox will appear. Write out the checklist item, and press Enter to create new checklist items.
Changing paragraph types
Looking to change paragraph types in Typora? Here’s how. Right-click in Typora. After right-clicking, locate the “Paragraph” menu. Once in the menu, choose one of the paragraph options available.
Interesting app. Still, I will never understand how having a toolbar at the top with all your tools available is a distraction. I use FocusWriter, but WITH the toolbar always visible. While I do use the right click options quite extensively, I think there is way too much right clicking in Typora to get the job done. With FocusWriter, to bold text, I simply reach up, toggle bold on, keep writing, reach up, toggle bold off, keep writing. None of this stopping your train of thought to go back and highlight the phrase/word you want to bold, right click to bold it and then go back to writing. THAT would be a distraction. Quotation marks… just use the keys while typing the actual quoted phrase/word.