The JetBrains series of IDEs are obviously very powerful and have become essential development tools for many developers.

However, I encountered a minor issue while using them: I prefer to edit certain files using the system-associated editor rather than the built-in Markdown editor in JetBrains IDE. For instance, Markdown files.

When you want to use a system-associated editor instead of the built-in editor in JetBrains IDE for certain files, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open your JetBrains IDE (e.g., IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, etc.).
  2. Go to “File” -> “Settings” (or “IntelliJ IDEA” -> “Preferences” on macOS) from the menu bar.
  3. In the Settings window, navigate to the “Editor” section and select “File Types”.
  4. In the “File Types” tab, locate the file type for which you want to use the system-associated editor, such as Markdown files.
  5. After selecting the file type, you will see the file extensions for that file type listed in the “Registered patterns” text box below the “Registered patterns” list.
  6. Enter or edit the file extensions for the system-associated editor in the text box, separating each extension with a semicolon. For example, if you want the system-associated editor to handle Markdown files, you can enter *.md.
  7. Click the “Apply” or “OK” button to save your settings.

After completing these steps, the system will use the associated editor to open the specified file types instead of the built-in editor in JetBrains IDE.