Google Docs now edits Markdown files directly, without converting them to its own format

Google announced on October 26, 2026, that Google Docs can now open, edit, and share Markdown files without converting them. Markdown is a plain-text format that marks headings, lists, and tables with simple symbols, and it is the usual format for documentation kept alongside code. A .md file edited in Docs remains a .md file, and Google says it stays usable by developer tools and git repositories.

What changes in Docs and Drive

Google says the feature removes the manual file conversions that working with Markdown in Docs used to require. A .md badge in the document header shows that the open file is native Markdown.

Editing works as in any other document: several people can work at once, leave comments on individual lines, and propose changes as suggestions. Version history records every revision, and Google says that includes changes made by AI agents as well as by people.

In Drive, a Markdown file now gets a formatted preview with tables and links, and a toggle shows the raw text without a separate viewer.

Why Google ties it to AI agents

Google presents the feature as a place where people and AI agents work on the same documents. Language models use Markdown widely, and Google says Markdown use in Drive has grown sharply year over year, without giving a figure. The announcement does not explain how an agent gets edit access to such a file, for example through which API.

To use it, a .md file is uploaded to Google Drive and opened in Google Docs. Google says the feature is available to anyone with a Google or Workspace account.