OldWriter

A writing notebook
for the Macs of yesterday

OldWriter turns your old Mac into a typewriter. No internet connection required, no notifications, no distractions—just you and your imagination.

Download for OS X See the features
The OldWriter library: a notebook shown as a bound book on a wooden shelf.

Why OldWriter

Focus on writing

Many of us need a device for writing, free from the distractions of modern computers and their internet connections. OldWriter is designed for exactly that: it starts quickly, works entirely offline, and keeps your whole project in one place.

Offline

No accounts, no syncing, no internet connection. Your files are stored locally.

Made for older Macs

For OS X 10.7 Lion and later.

File management

Each “notebook” is simply a folder of .md files that you can open anywhere. You can export them to a USB drive.

The library

One book per notebook

Your projects are arranged on wooden shelves like books. View them from the front or from the spine, and give each one its own cover.

  • Cover view or spine view
  • Custom cover: drag an image onto a book.
  • Open a notebook stored anywhere on your drive or on a USB drive.
Wooden shelves holding a notebook titled “Monsieur Personne”, with New Notebook, Open Another and Open buttons.

The tabs

Your novel's framework, all in one place

Vous pouvez découper facilement votre roman en chapitres. À côté, ils vous est possible de créer des fiches pour vos personnages, vos lieux et tout ce que vous voulez suivre, ainsi que des notes de recherche.

  • Book
  • Characters
  • Places
  • Sheets
  • Research notes
  • Tags
  • Des tags pour relier vos notes entre elles et les organiser
A notebook window with its coloured tabs: Book, Characters, Places, Sheets, Research notes and Tags.

The editor

Markdown editor with preview

Write on the left and see your formatted page on the right. Use the toolbar to quickly apply formatting: headings, bold, italics, quotes, lists, links, and scene breaks.

  • Side-by-side preview, with the option to hide it
  • Word count
  • Interface in English or French
The OldWriter editor: the Markdown text of Chapter 1 on the left and its formatted preview on the right, with the formatting bar on top.

Your files

A clear folder structure

An OldWriter notebook is just a folder: one Markdown file for each chapter, character profile, or note. Copy it to a USB drive, open it on a newer computer with any text editor, and back it up however you like.

No database, no proprietary format. Chapter order is right there in the file names, even in the Finder.

My novel/
├── projet.md
├── couverture.jpg
├── Livre/
│   ├── 01 - Departure.md
│   └── 02 - The crossing.md
├── Personnages/
│   └── Jeanne Morel.md
├── Lieux/
│   └── The harbour house.md
├── Fiches/
│   └── The lost letter.md
└── Notes/
    └── Breton lighthouses.md

Compatibility

Made for old Macs

OS X 10.7 Lion and later (Rosetta on Apple Silicon). OldWriter is built first for the Macs of yesterday, but it also opens on a recent Mac, for instance to pick a notebook back up.

  • 10.7Lion, tested on 10.7.5
  • 10.8 → 10.10Mountain Lion to Yosemite
  • 10.11 → macOS 26Intel Macs
  • Apple Siliconvia Rosetta 2
Available

Download OldWriter

A signed and notarized version, ready to be dragged into your Applications folder.

Download the .dmg

Download the .dmg on another computer and copy it over with a USB stick on your old Mac.