A markdown-like text editor designed for writing novels and larger projects of many smaller plain text documents.
It is designed to be a simple text editor that allows for easy organisation of text files and notes, with a meta data syntax for comments, synopsis, and cross-referencing between files, and built on plain text files for robustness.
Latest Release
Version 1.6.2 released on March 20, 2022.
Read the Release Notes.

Key Features
Download & Setup
Linux
Ubuntu: A PPA is available for easy installation and updating:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vkbo/novelwriter sudo apt update && sudo apt install novelwriter
Debian: Download the debian package and install it with:
sudo apt install ./path/to/downloaded/package.deb
The PPA will also work on Debian. See Getting Started for how to add the key.
Minimal: Download the Minimal Package file and extract it to a suitable location. Make sure dependencies are installed. On Ubuntu and Debian run:
sudo apt install python3-pyqt5 python3-lxml python3-enchant
You can install a launcher and icons by running:
python3 setup.py xdg-install
Further Details: Getting Started
Stable Version
Version: | 1.6.2 from Mar 20, 2022 | Release Notes |
Ubuntu: | Launcpad PPA |
Debian: | Debian Package | SHA256 |
Minimal: | Minimal Package | SHA256 |
Other: | Python Wheel | SHA256 | Full Source |
Testing Version
Version: | 1.7 Beta 1 from May 17, 2022 | Release Notes |
Ubuntu: | Launcpad PPA (Pre-Release) |
Debian: | Debian Package | SHA256 |
Minimal: | Minimal Package | SHA256 |
Other: | Python Wheel | SHA256 | Full Source |
Windows
Windows Installer: The simplest way to install novelWriter is to download the Windows Installer package and run it. Note that the installer is not signed, so you will get a warning that it is from an unknown publisher. This is normal for unsigned packages and you must select "Run Anyway" to proceed.
Alternative: You can also download and install the lastet version of Python from
python.org and then download and extract
the Minimal Package. You can extract it to where you want to keep the novelWriter program
files, and run the setup_windows.bat
file inside the extracted folder. This
will install the Qt libraries and a couple of other needed packages from PyPi, and set up
desktop and start menu icons.
Further Details: Getting Started
Stable Version
Version: | 1.6.2 from Mar 20, 2022 | Release Notes |
Installer: | Windows Installer | SHA256 |
Minimal: | Minimal Package | SHA256 |
Other: | Python Wheel | SHA256 | Full Source |
Testing Version
Version: | 1.7 Beta 1 from May 17, 2022 | Release Notes |
Installer: | Windows Installer | SHA256 |
Minimal: | Minimal Package | SHA256 |
Other: | Python Wheel | SHA256 | Full Source |
macOS
Pre-Requisites: Make sure you have Python installed. Version 3.6 or above is required. These instructions assume you're using the Homebrew version of Python. For further instructions, check the Python brew docs.
Install dependencies from PyPi with the following from command line:
pip3 install --user pyobjc -r requirements.txt
You should also install the enchant library for spell check support:
brew install enchant
Installation: There are no dedicated install scripts for macOS yet. It will be
added at some point. Contributins from Mac users would be appreciated. You can run
novelWriter by executing the novelWriter.py
script.
Further Details: Getting Started
Stable Version
Version: | 1.6.2 from Mar 20, 2022 | Release Notes |
Minimal: | Minimal Package | SHA256 |
Other: | Python Wheel | SHA256 | Full Source |
Testing Version
Version: | 1.7 Beta 1 from May 17, 2022 | Release Notes |
Minimal: | Minimal Package | SHA256 |
Other: | Python Wheel | SHA256 | Full Source |
For older versions, please check the Releases page.