markitdown
Utility tool for converting various files to Markdown
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Low install friction, active maintenance, permissive MIT license, and no known vulnerabilities make this a safe choice. Install it if you need to convert files to Markdown for indexing, analysis, or documentation pipelines. Be aware that it runs with process-level privileges, so validate inputs in untrusted environments.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- File I/O operations run with the privileges of the current process; sanitize inputs in untrusted environments.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits commercial and private use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
last release 2026-07-29 (16 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-29 · 173,762 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 14,344,064 downloads/mo, #1,233 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install markitdown
from markitdown import MarkItDown
md = MarkItDown()
result = md.convert("test.xlsx")
print(result.text_content)- Which file formats are supported beyond PDF, Excel, Word, HTML, and images—full list not in excerpt.
- Performance characteristics and memory usage for large or batch conversions.
- Accuracy and fidelity of markdown output across different source formats.
What it is and what it does
MarkItDown is a utility for converting documents and files into Markdown format. It provides both a Python API and a command-line interface, making it useful for indexing, text analysis, or preparing documents for downstream processing. The package wraps six runtime dependencies—beautifulsoup4, charset-normalizer, defusedxml, magika, markdownify, and requests—to handle format detection, parsing, and conversion across multiple file types.
The package is actively maintained by Microsoft, recently released, and carries an MIT license. It operates with the privileges of the calling process, so users must sanitize inputs when working with untrusted data. The library is in Beta status but has strong adoption (top 5000 on PyPI) and no known security vulnerabilities.
Use it for
- Index documents for search or retrieval systems by converting them to searchable Markdown.
- Prepare PDFs and spreadsheets for text analysis, NLP pipelines, or AI model ingestion.
- Batch-convert office documents to Markdown for version control or documentation workflows.
- Extract structured content from web pages or HTML files into Markdown format.
- Automate document preprocessing in data pipelines that require plain-text or Markdown input.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Low install friction, active maintenance, permissive MIT license, and no known vulnerabilities make this a safe choice. Install it if you need to convert files to Markdown for indexing, analysis, or documentation pipelines. Be aware that it runs with process-level privileges, so validate inputs in untrusted environments.
Install
markitdown on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel. Active maintenance: released 16 days ago with 173762 repository stars and a recent commit on 2026-07-29. Supports Python 3.10–3.13 on CPython and PyPy.
Requires Python 3.10 or later. File I/O operations run with the privileges of the current process; sanitize inputs in untrusted environments.
License in practice
MIT license permits commercial and private use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
Quickstart
pip install markitdown
from markitdown import MarkItDown
md = MarkItDown()
result = md.convert("test.xlsx")
print(result.text_content)Verify before relying
- Which file formats are supported beyond PDF, Excel, Word, HTML, and images—full list not in excerpt.
- Performance characteristics and memory usage for large or batch conversions.
- Accuracy and fidelity of markdown output across different source formats.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 6 packagesbeautifulsoup4charset-normalizerdefusedxmlmagikamarkdownifyrequests |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 16 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 14,344,064 / month, #1,233 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPy |
Evidence: markitdown-0.1.7-py3-none-any.whl
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See also markitdown-mcp · markitdown-no-magika · pypandoc · datalab-python-sdk · markdown-pdf · md2pdf · strip-markdown · marker-pdf · mdx-include · markdownify