WriteRoom 4 Releases

WriteRoom 4 is in preview stage

• WriteRoom 4.0 (Preview) (409) 15 Oct 2026

  Rich Text that pastes as lists. Edit ▸ Copy ▸ Rich Text and File ▸ Export ▸ Rich Text now write real lists and task boxes, so TextEdit gets a list, not indented paragraphs. Right-to-left paragraphs keep their direction.

  Solarized. Solarized now colors Markdown the way the official Vim theme does: orange headings, body-colored lists and quotes, blue bullets and violet links.

  • Changed an unfocused selection to be fainter than a focused one
  • Changed links to color their text, not their brackets
  • Changed HTML blocks and tags to highlight as HTML
  • Changed unquoted YAML values to show as plain text
  • Fixed headings in lists and quotes outdenting into the margin
  • Fixed - under a list item turning its parent into a heading
  • Fixed spaces jumping when typing Hebrew into an English line
  • Fixed the block caret where text directions meet
  • Fixed ⌃Tab between split panes after a window hides
  • Fixed Settings forgetting typewriter position and focus unit
  • Fixed bracket matching after a reference link’s label
• WriteRoom 4.0 (Preview) (408) 14 Oct 2026

  Runs on macOS 15.6. WriteRoom 4 now runs on macOS Sequoia 15.6 and later.

  Folding and moving. Edit ▸ Fold and Edit ▸ Arrange now use Bike’s commands and shortcuts.

  Word (.docx) export. File ▸ Export ▸ Word Document and Edit ▸ Copy ▸ Word Document export and copy Word-formatted text.

  More per-window settings. The Settings window still sets the defaults. Use View ▸ Theme and Line Width to change just the front window.

  Clean Up Markdown. Format ▸ Clean Up Markdown… rewrites the selection or whole document in standard Markdown formatting. Format ▸ Check Document… lists broken links and other problems.

  Performance. I’ve spent much of this release with a giant, 1 GB Markdown file open. It’s fast now, so your documents should be too!

  Accessibility. VoiceOver, Zoom, Voice Control and other assistive apps can now access the editor.

  • Added Solarized Dark and Solarized Light themes
  • Added Edit ▸ Selection with Expand Selection (⌃⇧⌘→)
  • Added heading numbers (Settings ▸ Markdown ▸ Live Preview)
  • Added Rename Heading, which updates links to the heading
  • Added Renumber List and improved automatic list renumbering
  • Added Move Column, Sort Rows and Convert to Table
  • Added Go to Definition (⌃⌘J) and Previous/Next Link
  • Added pandoc definition list syntax
  • Added superscripts and subscripts (4^th^, H~2~O)
  • Added footnotes that fold and hold indented paragraphs
  • Added emacs keys: ⌃K kill, ⌃Y yank, ⌃T transpose
  • Added encoding and line ending conversion to Document Info
  • Added Edit ▸ Copy ▸ Link to Heading
  • Added option to check parent and subtasks together
  • Changed View menu settings to affect only the front window
  • Changed Mark as Done to Mark as Completed (⇧⌘C)
  • Changed Split Editor to ⌃⌘S
  • Changed heading overview from held Escape to ⌥⌘O
  • Changed Actual Size to ⇧⌘0 and Inline Code to ⇧⌘M
  • Changed Return to autocorrect the word before it, like Space
  • Fixed spelling marks waiting for the next edit to appear
  • Fixed autocorrect capitals after footnotes and markup
  • Fixed Escape not closing the find bar
• WriteRoom 4.0 (Preview) (407) 05 Oct 2026

  Split editor. View ▸ Split Editor (⌥⌘S) shows one document in two panes, so you can write in one while keeping another part in view.

  Export. File ▸ Export writes HTML and Rich Text, and Edit ▸ Copy ▸ HTML and Rich Text put the same on the clipboard.

  Tables. Format ▸ Table ▸ Insert Table starts one. Columns align as you type, Tab and Return move between cells, and the same menu adds and removes rows and columns.

  Right-to-left text. Arabic, Hebrew and Persian paragraphs now run right to left. Format ▸ Text Direction sets a document’s direction when the automatic choice is wrong.

  Footnotes and reference links. Add Footnote (⌥⌘K) inserts the next numbered note. Add Reference Link (⇧⌘K) does the same for links. Typing [^ or ][ completes labels. When things get messy, Format ▸ Clean Up ▸ Tidy Links and Footnotes renumbers them and gathers the definitions at the end.

  Hard-wrapped Markdown. Opening a file that looks hard-wrapped shows an alert pointing to Format ▸ Clean Up ▸ Unwrap Paragraphs. ⇧Return inserts a Markdown hard line break, and Settings ▸ Markdown ▸ Line Breaks keeps every break on export if that’s how you write.

  Smaller changes:

  • Added Open in New Tab and Open in New Window
  • Added Insert and Update Table of Contents
  • Added per-window Line Numbers, Sticky Headings, Minimap
  • Added pasting a URL over selected text to make a link
  • Added double-click on a bracket or quote to select its pair
  • Added option to float the word count over the editor
  • Added ⌥Return and ⌥Tab to insert raw characters
  • Added Background Brightness slider to DEC Terminal
  • Added anonymous daily usage count (Settings ▸ General)
  • Changed new documents to Markdown by default
  • Changed math, HTML and comments to a muted color (in progress)
  • Changed Move Up/Down to move by line (see Edit ▸ Move)
  • Improved text sharpness on non-Retina screens
  • Fixed occasional typing freezes
  • Fixed ⌥↑ ⌥↓ to move by paragraph
  • Fixed text below the caret disappearing after Return
  • Fixed zoomed system font and line numbers changing face
  • Fixed writeroom mcp reporting nothing open after an update
• WriteRoom 4.0 (Preview) (406) 24 Sep 2026

  Autocorrect on contractions now turns “i’m” into “I’m”, not “i’I’m”.

  • Fixed a crash on first launch under macOS 26
  • Fixed autocorrect on contractions
• WriteRoom 4.0 (Preview) (405) 24 Sep 2026

  Note: Typography > Indent Using Tabs & Tab width are not working properly yet.

  • Added licensing (WREARLYBIRD 50% Off)
  • Added writing goals & more count types
  • Added Go > Select Prev/Next Heading
  • Added Edit > Insert > Date, Time, and Date & Time
  • Added explicit File > New Plain and New Markdown
  • Added option to open documents in full screen
  • Added option for bracket matching and pairing
  • Added Edit > Move commands to move Markdown structure
  • Added Edit > Move commands (with ⌃) to move raw lines
  • Added Indent Using and Tab Width to Settings > Typography
  • Added Window > Cycle Through All Windows (includes fullscreen)
  • Fixed Show Tab Bar missing from the View menu
  • Fixed ⌘Tab to a full-screen window landing on another window
  • Fixed Settings opening on wrong Space over full-screen document
• WriteRoom 4.0 (Preview) (404) 21 Sep 2026
  • Added Beam Rise and Fall slider for the DEC Terminal theme
  • Added Help ▸ Acknowledgments for code and ideas
  • Fixed problems entering Markdown format mode
• WriteRoom 4.0 (Preview) (403) 17 Sep 2026

  First public preview release.