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Tutorial

Opening a document in Inkpad

Any plain-text file can be pulled into the editor and edited as a normal note. Here is how it works and what happens to the original file.

Import a file

1. Open the notepad.
2. Press Ctrl + O (Cmd + O on a Mac), or tap Open in the toolbar.
3. Pick a file in the dialog your browser opens.
4. The contents appear in a brand-new tab named after the file.

What gets imported

The file is read as UTF-8 text. Line breaks are preserved, so a file written on Windows, macOS or Linux will look correct. Tabs are preserved as tab characters rather than being converted to spaces — handy if you are editing configuration or source files.

Which file types work

The file picker suggests .txt, .md, .log, .csv, .json, .xml, .html, .css and .js. In practice any file the browser can decode as text will work, including files with unusual extensions.

Binary formats — .docx, .pdf, images, archives — will not produce readable text. Convert them to plain text first.

Your original file is untouched

Reading a file does not modify it. Inkpad copies the text into the editor and into local storage. If you want your changes written back to disk, use Save, which downloads a new file (your browser will normally avoid overwriting the original by adding a number to the name).

Imported notes behave like any other note

• They are autosaved to this browser about once a second.
• They appear as their own tab and stay there between visits.
• They can be renamed, duplicated, cleared or deleted like anything else.

Related

• Saving a document to your computer
• Complete list of keyboard shortcuts

Open the notepad