EasyMDE: A Drop-In JavaScript Markdown Editor with Autosave and Spell Checking

What EasyMDE Solves and Who It Is For

A plain HTML textarea accepts text but gives users no feedback about Markdown syntax. Writers who do not know Markdown may format headings or links incorrectly and not realize until preview. EasyMDE addresses this by rendering syntax visually in the editor itself: headings appear larger, emphasized text appears italicized, and links appear underlined while the user types.

EasyMDE targets web developers who need to embed a Markdown input into an existing page with minimal integration cost. It replaces any textarea element and requires only a few lines of JavaScript to activate. The README positions it for users who may be less experienced with Markdown and who benefit from toolbar buttons and keyboard shortcuts as learning aids alongside the rendered syntax.

EasyMDE as a Fork of SimpleMDE

EasyMDE began as a fork of SimpleMDE, an editor originally made by Sparksuite that is no longer actively developed. The repository README acknowledges this lineage and notes that EasyMDE exists to continue maintenance and add improvements to the SimpleMDE codebase.

The core dependencies are CodeMirror 5 for the editor engine and marked for Markdown rendering, both pinned in package.json. The package also bundles codemirror-spell-checker for in-editor spell checking. TypeScript definitions are shipped in `types/easymde.d.ts`, making it usable from TypeScript projects without a separate types package.

The current published version is 2.21.0. A v3-alpha and a v2-next are listed in the npm tags but are not the default install.

Installing EasyMDE and Loading the Editor

Install via npm:

npm install easymde

Or load directly from the UNPKG CDN:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/easymde/dist/easymde.min.css">
<script src="https://unpkg.com/easymde/dist/easymde.min.js"></script>

Or from jsDelivr:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/easymde/dist/easymde.min.css">
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/easymde/dist/easymde.min.js">
</script>

Once loaded, attach EasyMDE to the first textarea on the page:

<textarea></textarea>
<script>
const easyMDE = new EasyMDE();
</script>

To target a specific textarea by ID:

<textarea id="my-text-area"></textarea>
<script>
const easyMDE = new EasyMDE({element: document.getElementById('my-text-area')});
</script>

After the editor loads, read its content with `easyMDE.value()` and set it with `easyMDE.value('New input for EasyMDE')`.

Configuration Options Worth Knowing

EasyMDE accepts a configuration object on construction. The options cover a range of behavioral and display settings. The `autosave` option saves the editor content periodically and restores it on the next page load; it requires a `uniqueId` string to distinguish instances on the same page, and a `delay` value in milliseconds that defaults to 10000. The `spellChecker` option controls whether browser spell checking is active.

Block style options let you switch bold from `**` to `__`, code fences from backticks to tildes, and italic from `*` to `_`. The `hideIcons` option takes an array of icon names to remove from the default toolbar without fully replacing it. The `lineNumbers` option enables line numbering. The `previewImagesInEditor` option renders images inline in the editing view rather than requiring a separate preview.

A less obvious option is `autoRefresh`, which addresses a specific problem: if EasyMDE is initialized inside a hidden DOM element that is later revealed (a tab, modal, or accordion), CodeMirror may not render correctly. Setting `autoRefresh: { delay: 300 }` tells it to check visibility every 300 milliseconds and call CodeMirror's `refresh()` when the element becomes visible.

Toolbar buttons can be fully customized by passing an array to the `toolbar` option. Each button can define a name, action (a built-in function or a custom JavaScript function), class, and title. Keyboard shortcuts can also be remapped through the `shortcuts` option by providing key names paired with action strings.

Autosave Behavior and Its Constraints

The autosave feature stores content in the browser. The README specifies that it saves the text being written and loads it back in future page loads, but forgets the saved text when the form it is contained in is submitted. This behavior is appropriate for draft recovery but not for persistent storage across sessions. Each EasyMDE instance that uses autosave requires a `uniqueId` string; without it, multiple instances on the same domain will overwrite each other's drafts.

The `submit_delay` option handles a timing edge case. It sets how long the editor waits before assuming a form submission failed and re-saving the draft. It defaults to the value of `autosave.delay` or 10000 milliseconds if neither is specified.

Event Handling and Removing the Editor from a Textarea

EasyMDE provides event hooks for integrating the editor into form validation and save workflows. The README describes an `onChange` option that fires on every content change, which is useful for driving auto-save triggers, character count displays, or input validation outside the editor's built-in autosave.

The editor exposes a method for removing itself from a textarea and restoring the original element. This is relevant for single-page applications where the editor might be mounted and unmounted as the user navigates between views, since CodeMirror 5 does not clean up automatically when a parent element is removed from the DOM.

The `forceSync` option, when set to `true`, immediately propagates any changes in EasyMDE back to the original textarea element. This matters for forms that read the textarea value directly on submit rather than going through the `easyMDE.value()` method. The default behavior does not guarantee that the underlying textarea is updated on every keystroke, only when the editor blurs or the form submits.

The `lineWrapping` option controls whether long lines wrap within the editor viewport or require horizontal scrolling. The README lists `indentWithTabs` as defaulting to `true`, which affects how pressing the Tab key behaves in the editor. Setting it to `false` switches tab insertion to spaces, matching the preference of codebases that enforce space-based indentation through linters.

Limitations and Comparison with ProseMirror-Based Editors

EasyMDE is built on CodeMirror 5. CodeMirror 6 introduced a rewritten architecture that is more modular and performs better on large documents, but EasyMDE has not migrated. Teams that need CodeMirror 6 features, such as better mobile keyboard handling or per-character change tracking, will need a different editor.

Tiptap is a rich text and Markdown editor built on ProseMirror, a different editor engine entirely. The architectural difference is that Tiptap uses a structured document model where each node type is defined explicitly, enabling features like collaborative editing and fine-grained schema validation. EasyMDE represents the document as raw Markdown text stored in a textarea, which means it is simpler to integrate but cannot enforce document structure rules or support real-time collaboration without substantial additional work.

EasyMDE is also not a WYSIWYG editor. It renders Markdown syntax visually but stores and returns raw Markdown text. Applications that need to store HTML and render it later should process the Markdown through a renderer at submission time.

Maintenance and License

The last push was on 2026-08-11. The project is MIT-licensed. The test suite uses Cypress for end-to-end tests. The repository includes a live example at `example/index.html` and a variant at `example/index_sideBySideFullscreenFalse.html` that disables side-by-side and fullscreen modes. TypeScript types are tested via a separate tsconfig in `types/tsconfig.json`.

Editorial conclusion

EasyMDE is a solid choice for web applications that need a lightweight Markdown editor without integrating a full document editor framework. It works well for comment forms, blog post editors, and any context where the user may not know Markdown syntax and benefits from toolbar hints. It is not suited to applications that need advanced collaboration features, real-time multi-user editing, or deep integration with a content management workflow. Before choosing it, verify that your project can accept a CodeMirror 5 dependency, since EasyMDE 2.x pins to that version and a CodeMirror 6 migration has not been completed.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Ionaru/easy-markdown-editor on GitHub
2. Issues
3. License: MIT
4. Project website
5. README