The best minimalist text editors for distraction-free writing on Windows

Many of us have ever suffered from acute procrastination in front of our text editors. With lines still to be written, we end up losing concentration and consulting other windows or deviating from what we want to tell in the text. In situations like this, it is appreciated to have a clean and minimalist environment prepared solely and exclusively for writing

Windows is full of software to help us in that task. Covering everything is impossible, but in the following lines we will see some of the main options available, both for the classic desktop environment and for the most current Modern UI.

FocusWriter

The first of the editors is FocusWriter A gray screen and a blinking cursor make your intentions clear as soon as you run the program. This is about writing and for that it starts in full screen mode by default. The F11 key returns us to the traditional window in which we continue without having any type of distraction with the naked eye. In principle not even the margin lines are visible.

The options are displayed as soon as we move the mouse to the top of the screen. Of course, do not expect great possibilities for text editing, this is not a complete processor nor does it try. As in the rest of the editors that we are going to see, a good part of the configuration is focused on the presentation of the work environment, allowing us to edit our themes to find the combination of colors or the text format that best suits us.

FocusWriter includes typical and configurable key combinations for all the actions we need. We will be able to save the documents in txt, rtf, and even odt format. The application incorporates an alarm system to control our time of use, as well as the possibility of consulting the main statistics of our documents. It is available in Spanish for free and includes a spell checker.

Official Site | FocusWriter

WriteMonkey

Possibly my favorite minimalist text editor. WriteMonkey already shows a more convincing look from the start: large font and strong margins that help to focus on the text. Lower references to filename, word count, and time are also welcome, though they can be easily turned off in the comprehensive preferences window.

To access the WriteMonkey options, just click the right button on the text page. This brings up a menu with a number of options that may seem overwhelming at first but later turn out to be very useful. From the option of establishing sections in our document, to direct consultation on various websites of the selected text, including the possibility of increasing its potential with different plugins.

WriteMonkey also intelligently takes advantage of the side edges of the document so that they can be used as a note board. By right-clicking on the striped area we can access the different boards and create notes that help us with our writing. The application is free and is available in Spanish through an additional package, also integrating a spell checker.

Official Site | WriteMonkey

Q10

Q10 is perhaps the most particular text editor of those reviewed here. All of it tries to mimic the feeling of using a typewriter. The very sound when typing imitates the pulsation of the keys and the path of the carriage of one of those machines. If it weren't for the black background and the default yellow font, the imitation would be perfect. In any case, it costs nothing to access the options and configure the environment to our liking.

Access to the options in Q10 is done through key combinations. To consult them, just press F1 at any time. There are all the things expected in any editor, along with access to settings and options similar to those of other editors, such as alarms or note-taking. In addition, Q10 adds the possibility of setting a goal in terms of the number of words, pages, or whatever comes to mind.

Although the noise when pressing can initially throw more than one back, the truth is that over time you get used to it and it becomes another element that helps create that ideal atmosphere to sit down and write without thinking about anything else. The lower bar with information is also helpful to keep track of how much we have written and what time we are. It is still free, but the application is somewhat more basic than the previous ones and is not available in Spanish

Official Site | Q10

ZenWriter

ZenWriter is the payment alternative among the proposals. In return, it is the one that tries to build a more immersive environment by integrating music that aims to help us focus on writing. The program comes with five types of music so that we can choose the most appropriate one, having the option of deactivating it completely.These options appear on the right edge as soon as we move the mouse cursor.

The customization of the environment in ZenWriter is its great asset compared to other editors. Along with the music selection, we can easily change the background or the type of sound that is played when typing. The rest of the options allow you to modify the appearance and font, as well as the information displayed in the bottom bar: number of words, lines, pages, etc. It is also appreciated that it includes an autosave option.

ZenWriter is available on its website from 9.21 euros, although does not have Spanish version. For those who want to take a look, there is also a 15-day trial version that will help us decide.

Official Site | ZenWriter

MetroTextual

Before moving on to the Modern UI-style editors, there remains one desktop application worth reviewing because it tries to mimic the design lines promoted by Microsoft with Windows 8. MetroTextual It is still a very basic editor but it stands out from the rest due to its visual aspect.

The truth is that it does not have many options nor does it manage text formatting particularly well, but it is an option to take into account if we seek integration with the Modern UI environment without leaving the desktop. It also makes it easy to highlight the syntax of different types of code. It is available for free through the official website.

Official Site | MetroText

Write

Minimalist text editors fare no better when we finally move to Modern UI.In the absence of more and better options, it is worth pointing out two of the free applications currently available in the Windows Store The first to point out is Write, a very simple editor to focus exclusively on in writing.

Write has no other pretensions than to provide an environment adapted to Windows 8 where you can write free of distractions. In fact, in the lower drop-down bar we only have the options to open, save or create a new document. Neither possibility to configure the environment nor the format of the text. Write without distractions and period.

Download | Windows Store

Simply.Write

Simply Write represents the other option available in the Windows Store. And, again, the same thing that we have said about the previous one can be applied in this second Modern UI style editor.Text on screen and options to save and open document. The settings barely leave an option to increase the font size or writing space.

Download | Windows Store

"

Rome is not made in two days and much remains to be done to make Modern UI editors a serious alternative to their desktop rivalsThe Windows 8 environment seems conducive to this type of application so it would not be surprising if we see better options soon. But for now, it looks like the next great American novel >."

Surely other minimalist text editors to consider have been left out, such as OmmWriter, one of the pioneers whose version for Windows is currently not available for download. But among those that I have had the opportunity to try, WriteMonkey or Q10 are the best options if what we want is to dedicate ourselves to writing without anything bothering us.