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Privacy

Markdown to PDF without uploading your file

Most online Markdown-to-PDF tools upload your file to a server. For a draft proposal, an HR letter or a financial memo, that is a problem. The browser-only path solves it - without an account, the public flow does not move your text anywhere.

Elia Kuratli
By Elia Kuratli
·3 min read
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Why server-side converters are a privacy problem

When you paste Markdown into a server-based tool, the text passes through HTTPS to the server, sits in memory or on disk while the conversion runs, and may be logged. Even if the operator deletes everything after conversion, you cannot verify it.

For a hobby file this does not matter. For a draft contract, an unfinished pricing memo, an internal report, a legal letter - it is a real attack surface.

How browser-only conversion works

The page loads a Markdown parser, a font set and a PDF engine - all JavaScript. When you click Export, the engine builds a PDF blob in memory. The browser's download dialog hands that blob to you as a file. None of those steps require a server round-trip.

The trade-off: the engine has to fit in a JavaScript bundle, which means LaTeX-grade math typesetting and Pandoc-class custom filters are out. For 95% of documents - proposals, memos, resumes, reports, invoices - that's a fine trade.

What changes if you sign in

Accounts give you project sync. Your Markdown text plus your template / design / field choices save to our database so the same project opens on another device. We do not read those projects and do not train on them - but they are no longer just in your tab. If that matters for a specific document, work on it signed out.

How to verify nothing leaves your tab

  1. Open md2document.com in a normal tab, signed out.
  2. Open Developer Tools then the Network panel.
  3. Clear the network log.
  4. Paste your Markdown, pick a template, click Export.
  5. Look at the Network panel: font and asset requests during first load, and zero requests when you export.

FAQ

Does the tool work offline?

Yes - once the page has loaded, the converter works fully offline. The fonts, parser and PDF engine cache aggressively. Project sync requires a connection; the conversion itself does not.

Are images uploaded?

On the public flow, no. Drag-and-drop images are read with FileReader and embedded as base64 data URLs in the document state. The image bytes never leave the browser. Signed-in projects include those data URLs in the synced state.

Can I convert classified or PII-bearing documents?

Browser-only conversion gives you the technical guarantee that the text does not leave the tab on the public flow. Whether your organisation's policy allows that workflow on a given device is a separate question - check your IT policy.

Related

https://md2document.com/markdown-to-pdf-without-uploading/

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