computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

, a full-screen writing program or distraction-free editor is a

text editor A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. Such programs are sometimes known as "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be ...

that occupies the full display with the purpose of isolating the writer from the

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

(OS) and other

applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

. In this way, one should be able to focus on the writing alone, with no distractions from the OS and a cluttered interface. Often, distraction-free editors feature a dark background and a text field, with lighter colored text. However, most distraction-free editors include customisable user interfaces. Some editors support rich text editing.

List of full screen editors

Free and open-source

Freeware

Proprietary

Features

Rich text support

Some distraction-free editors support

rich text Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated comm ...

editing. These include CreaWriter, TextRoom, and WriteRoom. In some cases, this feature turned off per default and must be set by a user.

Syntax highlighting

Currently, only a few distraction-free editors support

syntax highlighting Syntax highlighting is a feature of text editors that are used for programming, scripting, or markup languages, such as HTML. The feature displays text, especially source code, in different colours and fonts according to the category of terms ...

. CodeRoom is an open source project with the purpose of creating a distraction-free code editor with customisable highlighting schemes. The latest version of Marave supports syntax highlighting. Sublime Text supports a distraction-free full-screen view. Packages exist for

GNU Emacs GNU Emacs is a free software text editor. It was created by GNU Project founder Richard Stallman, based on the Emacs editor developed for Unix operating systems. GNU Emacs has been a central component of the GNU project and a flagship project of ...

that turn off various features and reformat the display to a distraction-free layout while retaining syntax highlighting and other features familiar to Emacs users.

Aids to writing

Word count is a common feature in these editors. Other aids can include spell checkers, auto-corrections and quick text templates.

Other Features

Many of the programs include timers to pace writing. FocusWriter and WriteMonkey, among others, include typewriter sound effects.Comparison of Fullscreen text editors

References

{{reflist Text editors