WinForms.Markdown 2.0.0

.NET 6.0 .NET Framework 4.8

dotnet add package WinForms.Markdown --version 2.0.0

NuGet\Install-Package WinForms.Markdown -Version 2.0.0

This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package.

<PackageReference Include="WinForms.Markdown" Version="2.0.0" />

For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package.

<PackageVersion Include="WinForms.Markdown" Version="2.0.0" />
                    

                            Directory.Packages.props

<PackageReference Include="WinForms.Markdown" />
                    

                            Project file

For projects that support Central Package Management (CPM), copy this XML node into the solution Directory.Packages.props file to version the package.

paket add WinForms.Markdown --version 2.0.0

The NuGet Team does not provide support for this client. Please contact its maintainers for support.

#r "nuget: WinForms.Markdown, 2.0.0"

#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package.

#:package WinForms.Markdown@2.0.0

#:package directive can be used in C# file-based apps starting in .NET 10 preview 4. Copy this into a .cs file before any lines of code to reference the package.

#addin nuget:?package=WinForms.Markdown&version=2.0.0
                    

                            Install as a Cake Addin

#tool nuget:?package=WinForms.Markdown&version=2.0.0
                    

                            Install as a Cake Tool

The NuGet Team does not provide support for this client. Please contact its maintainers for support.

WinForms.Markdown

A native, lightweight, open-source Markdown control for Windows Forms. Markdown is parsed into a small AST and rendered directly onto the control using GDI+ (TextRenderer) — no web browser, no WebView2, and no HTML anywhere in the pipeline.

Target frameworks

The library targets net48, net6.0-windows, net8.0-windows and net10.0-windows. The sample application stays on a modern TFM.

Features

Renders Markdown natively with System.Drawing / GDI+.
Vertical scrolling via the built-in AutoScroll scrollbar, plus keyboard scrolling (arrows, Page Up/Down, Home/End) when the control has focus. A horizontal scrollbar appears only when a code block is wider than the control.
ForeColor, BackColor, Font, and Padding act as baseline styling.
LinkClicked event so the host can handle (or veto) link clicks.
Parsing, layout and painting are cleanly separated; the parser and layout engine have no GDI dependency.
Text is only re-parsed when MarkdownText changes; resizing only re-wraps, and painting only draws the visible lines.

Supported syntax

Element	Markdown
Headings	`# H1` … `###### H6`, optional closing hashes, and `Setext` (`===` / `---`)
Bold	`bold` or `__bold__`
Italic	`italic` or `_italic_`
Underline	`<u>underline</u>` or `~underline~`
Strikethrough	`~~strikethrough~~`
Inline code	`code` (use double backticks to include a single one)
Code blocks	Fenced with ``` or `~~~` (language tag is parsed, not highlighted)
Hyperlinks	`[text](url)` and `<https://example.com>`
Images	`![alt](url)` renders as a link showing the alt text (no image loading)
Lists	`-`, `*`, `+` and `1.` / `1)`; nested; tight and loose
Block quotes	`> quote`, nested, with lazy continuation
Horizontal rule	`---`, `***` or `___`
Paragraphs	Consecutive lines; a blank line starts a new paragraph
Line breaks	Two trailing spaces, a trailing `\`, or `<br>`
Escapes	`\*`, `\_`, `\[` … and entities such as `&`, `A`

Emphasis follows CommonMark's flanking rules, so snake_case_names and 2 * 3 * 4 are left alone.

By default a single newline inside a paragraph starts a new line. Set PreserveLineBreaks = false for CommonMark behaviour (a newline is a space).

Not supported: tables, raw HTML (other than <u> and <br>), reference-style links, indented code blocks, task-list checkboxes, image rendering, text selection / copy, right-to-left layout and screen-reader support.

Usage

Install the package, then drop a MarkdownControl onto a form:

using WinForms.Markdown;

var form = new Form
{
    Text = "Hello Markdown",
    ClientSize = new Size(720, 480),
};

var markdown = new MarkdownControl
{
    Dock = DockStyle.Fill,
    MarkdownText = "# Hello\n\nThis is **bold** and *italic* text.",
};

form.Controls.Add(markdown);
Application.Run(form);

Handling links

Without a handler, absolute http, https and mailto links open in the default application and everything else is ignored. To intercept links:

markdown.LinkClicked += (_, e) =>
{
    if (e.Url.StartsWith("app://"))
    {
        Navigate(e.Url);
        e.Handled = true;   // stop the control opening it
    }
};

Control properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
`MarkdownText`	`string`	`""`	The raw Markdown to parse and render.
`ForeColor`	`Color`	`SystemColors.WindowText`	Default text colour.
`BackColor`	`Color`	`SystemColors.Window`	Control background colour.
`Font`	`Font`	`SystemFonts.DefaultFont`	Base font; headings and inline styles derive from this.
`Padding`	`Padding`	`new Padding(10, 8, 10, 8)`	Margin around the rendered document.
`LinkColor`	`Color`	`Color.FromArgb(0, 102, 204)`	Colour used for hyperlinks.
`CodeBackColor`	`Color`	`Color.Empty`	Background of code spans/blocks. Empty derives a tint from `BackColor`/`ForeColor`.
`RuleColor`	`Color`	`Color.Empty`	Colour of horizontal rules and quote bars. Empty derives it likewise.
`PreserveLineBreaks`	`bool`	`true`	Whether a single newline in a paragraph starts a new line.
`AutoScroll`	`bool`	`true`	Enables the built-in scrollbars.

Event	Description
`LinkClicked`	A link was clicked. Set `e.Handled = true` to suppress the default action.

Licence

MIT

Product	Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET	net6.0-windows7.0 is compatible. net7.0-windows was computed. net8.0-windows was computed. net8.0-windows7.0 is compatible. net9.0-windows was computed. net10.0-windows was computed. net10.0-windows7.0 is compatible.
.NET Framework	net48 is compatible. net481 was computed.

Compatible target framework(s)

Included target framework(s) (in package)

Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.

.NETFramework 4.8
- No dependencies.
net10.0-windows7.0
- No dependencies.
net6.0-windows7.0
- No dependencies.
net8.0-windows7.0
- No dependencies.

NuGet packages

This package is not used by any NuGet packages.

GitHub repositories

This package is not used by any popular GitHub repositories.

Version	Downloads	Last Updated
2.0.0	94	10/8/2026
1.0.1	81	10/7/2026
1.0.0	102	10/5/2026

Adds lists, block quotes, code spans and blocks, horizontal rules, setext headings, escapes, entities and hard line breaks; a LinkClicked event; keyboard scrolling; and CodeBackColor, RuleColor and PreserveLineBreaks properties. Fixes double-subtracted padding, orphaned punctuation after styled text, non-wrapping headings, overflowing long words, broken underlines across spaces, and emphasis false positives such as snake_case_names. Parsing now happens once per text change and painting is clipped to the visible area. Breaking: MarkdownRenderer, TextRun and MarkdownLayout are now internal, and a newline inside a paragraph is a LineBreakInline in the AST instead of a "\n" in a TextInline.