How to open a code or text file online
Three steps, a few seconds, no software.
Open your .README file
Drop it on the box, choose it from your device, or paste the text straight in.
View it instantly
Your .README file opens neatly formatted with line numbers.
Search, copy or download
Search the text, jump to any line, then copy what you need or download a clean copy.
What is a .README file?
Plain text that programs, servers and people write every day.
A .readme file is a plain text documentation file shipped with software to explain what it does, how to install it, and how to use it. Open it with any text editor: Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on macOS, gedit or a terminal on Linux. Windows may not recognize the extension, so right-click and choose Open With.
Programs that open .README files
| Full name | README Text File |
|---|---|
| Developer | N/A — convention, no single developer; originated in Unix/software distribution culture |
| First released | 1970s Unix tradition; .readme as a distinct extension less common than plain README or README.txt |
| Category | Text & Code |
| MIME type | text/plain |
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Frequently asked questions
Is my .README file uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read and highlighted for you.
Why do some characters look wrong (é, ł)?
That usually means the file was saved in one encoding and opened in another. We detect UTF-8, UTF-16 and the Windows-1250/1252 code pages automatically and show which one was used.
Can it handle huge log files?
Yes, up to 50 MB. Only the lines on screen are drawn, so scrolling stays smooth. Syntax colours are switched off for files over 1.5 MB to keep things fast.
How do the log level filters work?
We find levels like ERROR, WARN, INFO and DEBUG on each line. Lines without a level, such as stack traces, stay with the entry above them, so filtering to errors keeps the full trace.
Can I edit the file?
This is a viewer. To change code, download it or copy it into your editor. Converting encodings and line endings is planned.
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