My Note Taking Setup in Neovim

Markdown is my favorite format for notes. It's portable, readable, and powerful. I've tried several Neovim plugins for markdown editing. Some are too complex, some crash, some miss my wanted features.

After testing various combinations, I settled on two plugins that together give me exactly what I need: render-markdown.nvim for in-buffer rendering, and markdown-preview.nvim for browser preview.

What I want

• Markdown renders directly in the buffer (like Obsidian)
• GitHub-flavored markdown appearance
• Fast, no lag
• Tables render nicely
• Optional browser preview
• Minimal configuration

The plugins

• render-markdown.nvim

This plugin renders markdown syntax in the same buffer using Neovim's virtual text and extmarks. No split windows, no floating panels. It just shows formatted headings, bold, italic, code blocks, tables, math, etc., right where you type.

• markdown-preview.nvim

Simple browser preview as GitHub-flavored styling. Opens a browser window that updates as you edit.

Demo

My configuration

Full config: nvim/lua/plugins/markdown.lua

vim.pack.add({
  "https://github.com/MeanderingProgrammer/render-markdown.nvim",
  "https://github.com/iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim",
})

local renderOpts = {
  heading = {
    enabled = true,
    render_modes = true,
    sign = true,
    icons = { "󰲡 ", "󰲣 ", "󰲥 ", "󰲧 ", "󰲩 ", "󰲫 " },
    position = "overlay",
    signs = { "󰫎 " },
    width = "full",
    left_margin = 0,
    left_pad = 0,
    right_pad = 0,
    min_width = 0,
    border = false,
    backgrounds = {
      "RenderMarkdownH1Bg", "RenderMarkdownH2Bg", "RenderMarkdownH3Bg",
      "RenderMarkdownH4Bg", "RenderMarkdownH5Bg", "RenderMarkdownH6Bg",
    },
    foregrounds = {
      "RenderMarkdownH1", "RenderMarkdownH2", "RenderMarkdownH3",
      "RenderMarkdownH4", "RenderMarkdownH5", "RenderMarkdownH6",
    },
  },
  code = {
    enabled = true,
    render_modes = true,
    sign = true,
    style = "full",
    position = "left",
    language_pad = 0,
    language_name = true,
    disable_background = { "diff" },
    width = "full",
    left_margin = 0,
    left_pad = 0,
    right_pad = 0,
    min_width = 0,
    border = "thin",
    above = "▄",
    below = "▀",
    highlight = "RenderMarkdownCode",
    highlight_inline = "RenderMarkdownCodeInline",
  },
  checkbox = {
    enabled = true,
    render_modes = true,
    position = "inline",
    unchecked = { icon = "󰄱 ", highlight = "RenderMarkdownUnchecked" },
    checked = { icon = "󰱒 ", highlight = "RenderMarkdownChecked" },
    custom = {
      todo = { raw = "[-]", rendered = "󰗡 Todo", highlight = "RenderMarkdownTodo" },
    },
  },
  pipe_table = {
    enabled = true,
    render_modes = true,
    preset = "none",
    style = "full",
    cell = "padded",
    padding = 1,
    border = {
      "┌", "┬", "┐", "├", "┼", "┤", "└", "┴", "┘", "│", "─",
    },
  },
  callout = {
    note = { raw = "[!NOTE]", rendered = "󰋽 Note", highlight = "RenderMarkdownInfo" },
    tip = { raw = "[!TIP]", rendered = "󰌶 Tip", highlight = "RenderMarkdownSuccess" },
    warning = { raw = "[!WARNING]", rendered = "󰀪 Warning", highlight = "RenderMarkdownWarn" },
    caution = { raw = "[!CAUTION]", rendered = "󰳦 Caution", highlight = "RenderMarkdownError" },
    -- Obsidian-style callouts
    todo = { raw = "[!TODO]", rendered = "󰗡 Todo", highlight = "RenderMarkdownInfo" },
  },
}

require("render-markdown").setup(renderOpts)

That's it. No complicated setup. The defaults from render-markdown are already good; I only tweaked a few things.

Why I like this setup

render-markdown.nvim is fast and consistent

I tested markview.nvim. It supports multiple formats and a hybrid mode, but I found it disruptive because the preview disappears as soon as you move the cursor or start typing, which breaks the writing flow.

By contrast, render-markdown.nvim renders inline persistently using Neovim’s extmarks. It’s lightweight, only renders visible content, and stays consistent across modes, even in large files.

Most importantly, it doesn’t toggle rendering based on mode: formatted text stays visible while editing, with only the cursor line hidden (anti-conceal). This makes writing much more predictable and uninterrupted.

No floating windows

Some markdown plugins open floating preview windows. I find that distracting. render-markdown renders inline, so the buffer stays clean. The formatting is visual-only; the underlying file remains pure markdown.

GitHub-flavored tables

The pipe_table configuration renders GitHub-style tables with borders. This is important because plain markdown tables are hard to read. The border characters (┌┬┐├┼┤└┴┘│─) give that familiar GitHub look.

Callout support

I use Obsidian-style callouts ([!NOTE], [!TIP], [!WARNING], [!CAUTION], [!TODO]). render-markdown renders these as colored boxes with icons, just like Obsidian. This is great for notes with warnings, tips, and TODOs.

Checkboxes with custom todo

The checkbox configuration shows [ ] and [x] with Nerd Font icons. I also added a custom [-] → 󰗡 Todo for my personal todo marker.

Browser preview with markdown-preview.nvim

Sometimes I want to see exactly how GitHub will render it. :MarkdownPreviewToggle opens a browser window with GitHub's CSS. It's fast and updates live.

Keybindings

<leader>um  -- toggle render-markdown on/off
<leader>cp  -- toggle browser preview

I turn off rendering when I need to see raw markdown (e.g., for debugging formatting). The preview is handy for final checks.

My complete Neovim configuration: tduyng/nvim