Dev.to

Building a Custom Markdown Editor in React With Live Preview

Building a Custom Markdown Editor in React With Live Preview A custom markdown editor is a powerful addition to any developer toolset. In this guide, we'll build one from scratch using React, with real-time preview functionality — perfect for blogs, note apps, or internal tools. Step 1: Set Up Your React Project Create your project with Vite or CRA, and install a markdown parser. We'll use marked: npx create-react-app markdown-editor cd markdown-editor npm install marked Step 2: Build the Editor Component Create a new component MarkdownEditor.js: import { useState } from "react"; import { marked } from "marked"; function MarkdownEditor() { const [markdown, setMarkdown] = useState("# Hello, Markdown!"); return ( setMarkdown(e.target.value)} className="w-full md:w-1/2 h-96 p-2 border border-gray-300" /> ); } export default MarkdownEditor; Step 3: Render in App Update your App.js to use the new editor: import MarkdownEditor from "./MarkdownEditor"; function App() { return ( Custom Markdown Editor ); } export default App; Step 4: Optional Enhancements Add syntax highlighting with highlight.js Support image uploads or export to Markdown files Save editor state in localStorage or a database Conclusion You now have a basic but functional Markdown editor with live preview in React. This is a great foundation to build more sophisticated writing tools for your personal projects or SaaS ideas. If this post helped you, consider supporting me: buymeacoffee.com/hexshift

Apr 13, 2025 - 15:28
 0
Building a Custom Markdown Editor in React With Live Preview

Building a Custom Markdown Editor in React With Live Preview

A custom markdown editor is a powerful addition to any developer toolset. In this guide, we'll build one from scratch using React, with real-time preview functionality — perfect for blogs, note apps, or internal tools.

Step 1: Set Up Your React Project

Create your project with Vite or CRA, and install a markdown parser. We'll use marked: 

npx create-react-app markdown-editor
cd markdown-editor
npm install marked

Step 2: Build the Editor Component

Create a new component MarkdownEditor.js: 

import { useState } from "react";
import { marked } from "marked";

function MarkdownEditor() {
  const [markdown, setMarkdown] = useState("# Hello, Markdown!");

  return (