TUMBLINGCAT / GUIDE

Markdown images not showing? Check paths, permissions, and URLs

Opening the Markdown text does not guarantee that an app can access its images. First identify local files versus remote URLs, then check paths, permissions, and formats.

Updated

Inspect the image link in Source

Find the ![Description](image-address) markup. A path such as assets/photo.png is relative to the document, while an https:// address normally points to a remote image. These need different checks.

Switch to Reader to confirm the result. Seeing image markup in Source alone does not indicate a broken attachment.

Check local files and their relative positions

  1. For ![Photo](assets/photo.png), confirm that assets/ is beside the .md file and contains photo.png. Check the filename, extension, and capitalization.
  2. If you recently moved or shared the note, make sure you copied the attachment folder too. Keep the relative folder structure intact.
  3. TumblingCat for Windows reads local images within the document directory and its subdirectories. Place the image in a nearby assets/ folder and use a relative path. Parent-directory paths, absolute paths, and symlinks outside the authorized directory are not read.

Authorize the document folder on Android

  1. Open the Markdown through the system picker. Choose More → Link Image Folder and select the folder directly containing that .md file.
  2. Grant the requested directory access and check the images again. Full-device storage access is not required.
  3. Some file providers do not support this folder association. Copy the note and attachments to an accessible directory, then reopen and link it, or convert the note to TextPack on your computer.

Check remote image URLs

Open the image URL in a browser. Confirm it still exists and is accessible without signing into the original website. Changed URLs or restrictions on external access can break old image links.

Native web pastes and image exports support public HTTPS PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP resources, with download size, count, and timeout limits. Display, paste, and export are separate operations; success in one does not guarantee success in another. Check the result messages.

Check the format and make future transfers easier

Local images support PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP, up to 32 MiB each. SVG is not supported. Convert unsupported images to a supported format and update the link.

Once local images display correctly, save the note as TextPack to bundle accessible attachments. Test the package on the receiving device. Existing remote links still depend on their original URLs.

Based on the project documentation for Windows v0.5.1 / Android v0.5.2. Documentation

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Markdown guides

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Open, edit, and read Markdown on Windows

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