# Full-screen writing program

In computing, a full-screen writing program or distraction-free editor is a text editor that occupies the full display with the purpose of isolating the writer from the operating system (OS) and other applications. 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

| Name | License | Linux | Other supported operating systems | Programming language | Toolkit | Spell checker | Syntax highlighting | WYSIWYG | Notable aspects, references |
| Acme | LPL | Yes | Plan 9, Mac OS, Windows | | | | | | Mouse chording; supports sending selected text through pipelines of programs; extensible & scriptable via any language. |
| CodeRoom | GPLv3 | Yes | Mac OS, Windows | C++ | Qt | No | QSyntaxHighlighter | | Supports syntax highlighting. |
| GNU Emacs | GPLv3 | Yes | Unix, Mac OS, Windows | C, Emacs Lisp | curses, GTK+ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Supports syntax highlighting, programmable, several distraction-free packages available. |
| FocusWriter | GPLv3 | Yes | Linux, Mac OS Windows | C++ | Qt | Enchant | | | Highly customizable, has basic .odt format support. |
| gedit | GPLv2 | Yes | Cross-platform | C | GTK+ | Enchant | GtkSourceView | Unicode | Full-screen with F11; part of GNOME Core Applications. |
| KoalaWriter | GPLv3 | Yes | Mac OS, Windows | C++ | Qt | No | No | No | Clone of OmmWriter. |
| Marave | GPLv2 | Yes | No | Python | Qt | Enchant | GNU source-highlight | | Similar to OmmWriter, CreaWriter. |
| PyRoom | GPLv3 | Yes | Mac OS | Python | GTK+ | No | No | No | |
| QuiEdit | GPLv3 | Yes | Windows | Python | Qt | Hunspell | Yes | Markdown | Basic text formatting. |
| RubyRoom | GPLv2 | Yes | No | Ruby | GTK+ | No | No | No | Latest version from 2009. |
| TextRoom | GPLv3 | Yes | Mac OS, Windows | C++ | Qt (+GLib) | Hunspell | | | Supports rich text. |
| THE | GPLv2 | Yes | Mac OS X, OS/2, Unix, Windows | Rexx | | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Vim | Vim License | Yes | Cross-platform | C | | Yes | Yes | | Distraction-free plugins available. |

### Freeware

| Name | Operating system support | Notable aspects, references |
| Calmly Writer | ChromeOS, Google Chrome browser | WYSIWYG, image embedding, OpenDyslexic mode. |
| FORCEdraft | Windows | Text editor that won't exit until the user's goal is reached. |
| DarkRoom | Windows | Clone of WriteRoom for Windows .NET. |
| JDarkRoom | Linux, Mac OS, Windows | Clone of DarkRoom written in Java. |
| Poe | Windows 8 (only) | Word count goals, writing timers, auto-correct and resource links. |
| Q10 | Windows | Portable, has word count features. |
| Writemonkey | Windows | Supports Markdown Extra, Textile, WikiCreole. Donors can access plugins including corkboard, timer. |

### Proprietary

| Name | Operating system support | Notable aspects, references |
| Bloom Editor | Windows | Uses 3D rendering for special effects and dynamic visual themes. Has a free limited version. |
| CreaWriter | Windows | Clone of OmmWriter for Windows; has limited free version. |
| Frost | Mac OS, Windows | Plays thematic ambient music, free to use, live word counter, downloading option. |
| iA Writer | Mac OS, Windows, Android | Lightweight, has iCloud and Dropbox integration, iPad and iPhone version, Focus Mode, and Markdown support, light and dark writing modes, live rendering/preview, syntax highlighting, style check. |
| ISPF | MVS through z/OS, VM/SP through z/VM, z/VSE | Latest version of Structured Programming Facility (SPF). |
| Moopato | Mac OS and Windows | Markdown editor and e-book publishing app. |
| NaNoScriBe | Windows | Rich text, on-screen word count, goals and timers. Built-in NaNoWriMo stats page. |
| OmmWriter | Mac OS, Windows | Supports images as backgrounds, and a player for ambient music. |
| Prime Draft | Mac OS, Windows | Writing mode that ensures forward progress and the avoidance of pre-emptive editing. Built-in calendar and writing target tracking. |
| SPF | OS/VS2, VM/SP | Early full screen editor for IBM mainframes. Predecessor to ISPF. |
| Sublime Text | Linux, Mac OS, Windows | Customisable, for programmers, has free trial version. |
| WonderPen | Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| Write! | Windows | Markdown, spell-checker, cloud storage, sessions and folders scheme, RTL support. |
| Write Onward! | Windows | Fullscreen writing software disallowing editing, copying or pasting text to let writers focus solely on the writing process. |
| WriteRoom | Mac OS | Simple. |
| XEDIT | VM/SP through z/VM | Successor to EDGAR and current z/VM editor. |
| Xiosis Scribe | Windows | |
| ZenWriter | Windows | Simple, with background images and ambient music. |

## Features
### Rich text support

Some distraction-free editors support rich text 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. 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 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.