You can make writing code as complicated as you want, but at the end of the day, all you really need is your favorite, trusty text editor. You can use a simple one like Microsoft’s Notepad, but oftentimes it’s helpful to have a text editor that has syntax highlighting/coloring, support for multiple languages, a robust find and replace feature, and other features and options that make writing code just a tad bit easier.
If you’re in search of a good, free text editor – you’ve come to the right place. Below you’ll find 12 first-class free text editors that are designed with coders’ needs in mind. Whether you use a Windows, Mac, or Linux machine – you’ll find a few options here that will satisfy your code-authoring needs.
It is an open-source text editor on macOS 10.14 that is free and offers a powerful user interface. Komodo Edit is a fantastic tool for writing code and carrying out other operations. The software provides many useful tools, which help you edit, like the capacity of tracking changes, multiple sections, autocomplete, and skin and icon sets.
An editor for huge text files Freeware: iA Writer: Proprietary: jEdit: A free cross-platform programmer's editor written in Java, GPL licensed. Free software: JOVE: Jonathan's Own Version of Emacs Free software: JuffEd: A lightweight text editor written in Qt4. Free software: Kate: A basic text editor for the KDE desktop. Free software: Kedit. Download text editor for macos for free. Productivity downloads - Plain Text Editor by AlphaOmega Software and many more programs are available for instant and free download. Top 10 Free Text Editors for macOS 10.15 1. This is one of the most popular text editors for Mac OS X 10.15 and the reason is very simple; it has a lot of very useful features. For example, it is a very easy to use, has features that allow for folding and syntax highlighting and it has a very high level of customization. 23 hours ago The speed and efficiency make it one of the best text editors for Mac. TextMate is a lightweight and minimalist app that’s still packed with the essential project management features. It also works with Xcode.
NOTEPAD++
(Windows)
NOTEPAD++ is the premier replacement for Microsoft’s Notepad. It has an auto-completion feature (for most supported languages) that guesses what you’re trying to write, a tabbed interface which is great for working with multiple files without cluttering your task bar, a powerful RegEx find-and-replace feature, code folding, support for a large array of languages (even Assembler!) and much more. These are just some of the features that make NOTEPAD++ my personal default text editor.
Bluefish Editor
(Mac, Linux)
Bluefish Editor is a robust, open source text editor geared towards programmers and web designers. It’s known as being a fast, lightweight text editor that can open 500+ documents with ease. It has a built-in function reference browser (for PHP, Python, CSS, and HTML) so you can quickly learn about with particular syntaxes. Check out the Screenshots section to find movies/screencasts (such as learning about working with remote files) and screen shots of Bluefish Editor.
TextWrangler
(Mac)
TextWrangler is a multi-purpose text editor for the Mac OS. It is a programmer-friendly text editor and Unix/Server Admin text editor. It has a useful “plugin” system allowing developers a way for extending TextWrangler’s built-in features. It also has a function browser so that you can quickly find and jump to the function you’re looking for (very helpful for those really long files).
Smultron
(Mac)
Smultron is an easy-to-use text editor. Its simple interface makes it perfect for the minimalist coder. It has the basic features you’d expect from a text editor such as syntax highlighting/coloring but also has cool, helpful features such as the ability to split the viewing pane in two so that you can view files side-by-side, a code snipplet library to allow you to store your often-used code blocks, and a full-screen mode that’s intended to make you focus on the task at hand.
Caditor
(Windows)
Caditor is an open source portable text editor written in the .NET framework (C#) that puts speed and performance at the forefront of its design. It has a convenient search box built into the tool bar of the text editor’s interface so that you don’t have to open another dialog box to perform a search. It has other handy features common to developer-oriented text editors such as line numbering, a compiler feature to allow you to hook it up with your compiler, and FTP feature.
gedit
(Linux)
gedit is the official text editor of the GNOME desktop. Unlike Microsoft’s built-in text editor (Notepad), gedit is a more feature-packed text editor geared towards usage for programming and mark-up. With its syntax highlighting, tabbed interface for editing multiple files, and spell-checking feature – gedit is an excellent, free text editor for coders.
GNU Emacs
(Windows, Mac, Linux)
GNU Emacs (more commonly referred to simply as Emacs) is a cross-platform, extendable text editor geared towards programmers. One of its defining features is Emacs’s ability to be extended – offering you the ability to use it as your project planner and debugger, among other things. It has a file-comparison feature (M-x ediff) that highlights differences between two files (useful for figuring out changes in a file made by coders who don’t document/comment their revisions).
Crimson Editor
(Windows)
Crimson Editor is a lightweight text editor for Windows that supports many languages. It has a “Macros” features which lets you record a sequence of tasks so that you can reuse the sequence with a click of a button. It has a built-in FTP feature, allowing you to upload/download files from your FTP server. Crimson Editor is a solid option for Windows users.
ConTEXT
(Windows)
ConTEXT is another excellent, light-weight, freeware (meaning it’s free – but close-sourced) text editor for Windows. It has countless of handy features such as text sorting (helpful when you need to sort things in alphabetical order, for example), the ability to export configuration options so that you can share your configuration or import it into several machines, and a macro recorder for repeating a sequence of tasks. In 2007, ConTEXT development was turned over to David Hadley but continues to be freeware.
SciTE
(Windows, Linux)
SciTE, written on top of the open source Scintilla code-editing component, is a speedy text editor aimed for use in source code editing. It has a standalone .exe version which you can use for portable storage drives (i.e. USB flash drives) so that you can conveniently carry it around and use it on any computer without having to install it. SciTE is compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems and has been tested by the developer on Windows XP and on Fedora 8 and Ubuntu 7.10.
Komodo Edit
(Windows, Mac, Linux)
Komodo Edit is a freeware, cross-platform text editor created by ActiveState. It is a simple text editor based on the popular integrated development environment – Komodo IDE. It has a convenient and flexible Project Manager feature to help you organize and keep track of your project files.
jEdit
(Windows, Mac, Linux)
jEdit is a text editor that specifically caters to programmers. It’s written in Java and runs on any operating system that supports You can download a ton of plugins (check out the Plugins Central on jEdit’s website) to extend its built-in features. jEdit was designed to combine the best features of Windows, Mac, and Unix text editors.
Additional Resources
- Comparison of text editors (Wikipedia)
- Hive Five: Best Text Editors (Lifehacker)
What do you think?
Find one that you like the best and stick to it, as everything down to the text can influence your clients’ web reputation whether they are a golf course or a restaurant. There’s a ton of text editors out there so be sure to share your experiences and opinions on the text editors above, and if your favorite isn’t on the list – please tell us about it in the comments.
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Have you wondered often how to find the best PDF editors for Mac? When it comes to Mac systems, it is often a bit challenging to find apps that can work best for your Macbook.
So, here we are with the best & free PDF solution for Mac in our blog that can help you easily read and edit your PDFs, fill up PDF forms, and do countless other tasks effortlessly.
Create, convert, combine, split, and export text as well as pages to process and manage them better with the help of a PDF file editor.
11 Best Free PDF Editor Software For Mac in 2020:
So, let’s find out the 11 best PDF file editors for Mac computers in 2020.
1. Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is one of the most well-renowned PDF file editor software that offers the best desktop PDF solution including a mobile version to fill, sign, and share PDFs from any device.
It comes with an attractive UI with touch functionality. There is an option for trying the tool for free for 7-days before purchasing it.
You can edit files anytime anywhere with Acrobat. The tool does support lots of advanced features; however, it is slightly complex for beginners.
Key Features:
- Compares documents swiftly.
- Recognizes form fields automatically.
- Transform MS Office files effortlessly into PDF.
- Supports automatic formatting.
- Includes an in-built spellcheck.
- Add digital signatures with this tool.
Read More: How To Convert PDF To Excel (Online & Offline)
2. PDFelement
Another excellent PDF file editor software is PDFelement. With this program, you can easily edit and convert files in PDF format. Additionally, it also supports OCR, annotation, form processing, and digital signature features.
It is an amazing one-stop solution for Mac systems and gives a competitive edge to other software products in this category owing to its data extraction technology.
Key Features:
- Edit PDFs smoothly with superior annotation tools and editing features.
- Convert and create PDFs easily.
- Simple design and user interface.
- Supports OCR and batch processing tools.
Text Editors For Mac Free Download
3. Skim
Skim is a free Mac PDF editor that has an easy design. Read PDFs effortlessly in addition to editing PDFs and creating as well as converting texts. You can even improve the text of a PDF with the superb editing feature.
It offers a note-taking tool, text highlight feature, magnification tool, and a lot more. Let’s look at the prime features in detail below:
Key Features:
- Add bookmarks easily with this tool.
- Take screenshots of the PDF files for future reference.
- Supports Apple Remote Control.
- Extensively supports AppleScript.
4. Preview
When it comes to discussing the best Mac PDF editing software, then how can we leave behind Preview which is the in-built free application of Mac?
Mac Preview opens a plethora of possibilities to edit PDF files. Wondering what you can do with the Preview app?
Using this program you can merge PDfs, split it, zoom the PDFs as well as secure your PDFs. The best features of this app are mentioned below:
Key Features:
- Supports text highlighting feature.
- Easily export your PDF file to other formats.
- Add a digital signature to the PDFs with this app.
- Read a PDF quickly with this app.
5. PDF Buddy
Our next pick is PDF Buddy that is an online tool for editing PDFs. All you need to do is drag and drop a PDF file in the tool and begin editing the PDF. Sounds pretty simple, right?
It is indeed simple and absolutely safe to edit PDFs with this tool. You can utilize extensive features of this app to edit a PDF according to your choice. Here are some of the important features of this app:
Key Features:
- The tool comes with SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) and AES-256-bit encryption to protect the PDF files.
- You can edit upto 3 PDFs each month with this tool for free.
- This tool is accessible from everywhere.
Read More: How to Convert PDF into Word
6. Master PDF Editor For Mac
If you want to explore more PDF editor apps for macOS, then you can look forward to picking Master PDF Editor as it allows you to smartly convert PDF files to multiple file formats.
You can also edit any portion of your PDF file with the help of this tool; however, it has a slightly complex interface. Although a free version is available, yet it has a limited scope of functions and features.
Key Features:
- It is compatible with Linux based systems.
- It allows you to edit both texts and images in a PDF file.
- The tool is also enabled with OCR, scanning, and printing abilities.
- Comes with powerful annotation tools like Sticky Note, Strikethrough, Measuring tools, etc.
7. PDFescape
Did you know that PDFescape is compatible with all major web browsers, which is why we have included this tool in our list of best PDF editors for Mac computers?
This application is a free PDF editor for Mac that helps to create PDF forms and perform a myriad of actions with its compelling features. It’s a completely online tool and to get started you just need to hit the free online button on the web app.
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Key Features:
- Read and edit PDFs.
- Various tools to add text, rotate a PDF view, zoom a file, etc.
- You can even password protect your PDF files.
- This app also lets you share PDFs easily.
8. Smallpdf
This is another online tool for editing PDFs. This cross-platform tool lets you add texts and fill forms. With a simplified interface, you can easily modify PDFs.
All you have to do is drag and drop your files or browse and select the file from your Macbook, Dropbox, or Google Drive to get started with the editing process. Here are some important features of this app:
Key Features:
- Does not require installation or registration.
- Convert a PDF into various file formats.
- With state-of-the-art SSL encryption, it secures your PDF.
9. PDFpenPro
PDFpenPro is another Mac PDF editor that can be used for professional purposes. Similar to the Preview app, this tool has a simple UI and is therefore great for beginners.
Key Features:
- Has intuitive annotation properties.
- Helps to convert PDFs to Word, Excel, Powerpoint formats.
- Enabled to perform OCR on scanned documents.
10. PDF Expert
Our next pick is PDF Expert that is undoubtedly another best PDF editor for Mac. It’s a fast, robust and beautiful PDF editor that has been recognized as the “App of the Year” in the Mac App Store.
With this app, you can enjoy advanced reading experience as it facilitates smooth scrolling function, fast search, and many interesting layouts. It comes with a state-of-the-art Search feature. Other interesting features include:
Key Features:
- Add annotations to documents.
- Merge files and split view with this app.
- Fill PDF files and include digital signatures.
- Reduce the size of the file too with this app.
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11. PDF Editor Mac
Edit PDF content easily with this application. This can be designated as a good Mac PDF editing software as it is completely compatible with the macOS. You can easily add text and images, rotate PDF files, erase unwanted content, and watermark PDF files with this tool.
Key Features:
- Permanently save an edited PDF.
- Draw lines easily for annotation purposes.
How to Edit a PDF file?
Here is an overview of how to edit PDF files with the help of Adobe Acrobat tool:
- Open the file with the Acrobat DC tool.
- Then, click on the “Edit PDF” option that you can find in the right-hand side pane.
- After this, you can add or edit text, images, paragraphs, etc.
- Several additional tools available are “Link,” “Header and Footers,” “Watermark,” and “Background” for further editing purposes.
- Finally, rename your file and save it.
Wrapping Up
With this, we come to the concluding point of this article. Hopefully, you have found the best PDF editor for Mac from this article. Edit your PDFs easily now with an ideal tool.
Do share your thoughts by leaving a comment in the comments section below.