Editing TextEdit

{{short description|Open-source word processor and text editor}}
{{about|a specific software title|text editors in general|Text editor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox software
| name = TextEdit
| logo = TextEdit icon.png
| screenshot = TextEdit 1.19 screenshot.png
| screenshot_alt=A text editor containing the text of Wikipedia's TextEdit article
| caption=Screenshot of TextEdit 1.19
| developer = [[Apple Inc.]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1996|07}} with the release of [[OPENSTEP]] 4.0<ref>{{cite web|title=Logiciels NeXT (Fr)|url=https://www.levenez.com/NeXTSTEP/Logiciels.html |access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref>
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|Q519774|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q519774|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}}}
| operating_system = Originally released for [[NeXTSTEP]], released for [[macOS]] after [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s purchase of [[NeXT]]; <br />Ported to all [[GNUstep]] systems (up to 1.6)
| genre = [[Text editor]], [[word processor]]
| license = [[BSD licenses|BSD-3-Clause]]
| website = {{URL|https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/samplecode/TextEdit}}
}}
{{macOS topics}}

'''TextEdit''' is an [[open-source software|open-source]] [[word processor]] and [[text editor]], first featured in [[NeXT]]'s [[NeXTSTEP]] and [[OPENSTEP]]. It is now distributed with [[macOS]] since [[Apple Inc.]]'s acquisition of NeXT, and available as a [[GNUstep]] application for other [[Unix]]-like operating systems such as [[Linux]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nongnu.org/backbone/apps.html |title=Backbone—A GNUstep based desktop environment |access-date=September 4, 2007}}</ref> It is powered by [[Apple Advanced Typography]].

== Implementation ==
TextEdit replaced the text editor of [[classic Mac OS|previous Macintosh operating systems]], [[SimpleText]]. TextEdit uses the [[Cocoa text system]] to read and write documents in [[Rich Text Format]] (RTF), [[Rich Text Format Directory]], [[plain text]], and [[HTML]] formats, and can open (but not save) old SimpleText files. It also has access to the operating system's built-in [[spell checker|spell-checking]] service. The version included in [[Mac OS X Panther|Mac OS X v10.3]] added the ability to read and write documents in Word format, and the version in [[Mac OS X Tiger|Mac OS X v10.4]] added the ability to read and write [[Microsoft Office XML formats|Word XML documents]]. The version included in [[Mac OS X Leopard|Mac OS X v10.5]] added read and write support for [[Office Open XML]] and [[OpenDocument|OpenDocument Text]]. The version included in [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard|Mac OS X v10.6]] added automatic spelling correction, support for data detectors, and text transformations. The version included in [[Mac OS X Lion|Mac OS X v10.7]] added versioning of files, and Autosave similar to iOS.

Formatted text, justification, and even the inclusion of graphics and other multimedia elements are supported by TextEdit, as well as the ability to read and write to different [[character encoding]]s, including [[Unicode]] ([[UTF-8]] and [[UTF-16]]). TextEdit automatically adjusts letter spacing in addition to word spacing while justifying text. TextEdit does not support multiple columns of text.

The high-resolution TextEdit 1.5 icon found in Mac OS X versions starting with 10.5 (Leopard) features an extract from Apple's "[[Think different]]" ad campaign. This was replaced by a blank sheet of notebook paper in 10.10 (Yosemite).

==Source code==
Apple formerly distributed TextEdit's [[source code]] as part of the documentation of its [[integrated development environment]] (IDE) [[Xcode]]. On the [[Internet]], the source code of TextEdit can be found in Apple's ''Mac Developer Library''.<ref>{{cite web |title=About TextEdit |url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/samplecode/TextEdit/Introduction/Intro.html |publisher=Apple, Inc. |date=August 26, 2013 |access-date=August 17, 2017}}</ref> The following quote is from the characteristic part of the [[BSD licenses|BSD-3-Clause]]-compliant license text included in the source code:

{{quote|[...] In consideration of your agreement to abide by the following terms, and subject to these terms, Apple grants you a personal, non-exclusive license, under Apple's copyrights in this original Apple software (the "Apple Software"), to use, reproduce, modify and redistribute the Apple Software, with or without modifications, in source and/or binary forms; provided that if you redistribute the Apple Software in its entirety and without modifications, you must retain this notice and the following text and disclaimers in all such redistributions of the Apple Software. Neither the name, trademarks, service marks or logos of Apple Computer, Inc. may be used to endorse or promote products derived from the Apple Software without specific prior written permission from Apple. Except as expressly stated in this notice, no other rights or licenses, express or implied, are granted by Apple herein, including but not limited to any patent rights that may be infringed by your derivative works or by other works in which the Apple Software may be incorporated.[...]}}

==See also==
* [[List of word processors]]
* [[Comparison of word processors]]
* [[Office Open XML software]]
* [[OpenDocument software]]
* [[TextEdit (API)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|TextEdit}}
* [https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/samplecode/TextEdit/Introduction/Intro.html TextEdit] in ''Mac Developer Library'' (with source code)
* [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TextEdit c2: TextEdit]
* [https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/samplecode/QuartzComposer_WWDC_TextEdit/Introduction/Intro.html Enhanced TextEdit from WWDC 2005 presentation]

{{Apple software}}
{{macOS}}

[[Category:Free word processors]]
[[Category:MacOS-only software made by Apple Inc.]]
[[Category:MacOS word processors]]
[[Category:MacOS text editors]]
[[Category:MacOS-only free software]]
[[Category:Software that uses GNUstep]]
[[Category:Software using the BSD license]]