Dark Room for Windows

Name: Dark Room
Rating: 4.2 (33 reviews)
Author: Dark Room Team

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Key Details of Dark Room

Write in a distraction-free environment with this text editor.
Last updated on November 13, 2024
There have been 7 updates
Virus scan status:
Clean (it’s extremely likely that this software program is clean)

Editors’ Review

Download.com staffNovember 13, 2024

Dark Room is a lightweight, free Windows application inspired by the minimalist Mac-based writing tool WriteRoom. Designed to eliminate distractions, it presents a writing environment that recalls the look of classic text-adventure games like Zork, with a black background and green CRT-style text.

Dark Room aims for a pure, straightforward writing experience, keeping the interface clear of any buttons, menus, or formatting tools that could interrupt your flow. Instead, users can simply start typing into a new document immediately or access customization options by pressing "Ctrl ,," if they want to tweak the app's settings.

Launching in full-screen mode by default, Dark Room blocks out external distractions and creates an immersive space for writing. To adjust settings, users need to exit full-screen mode by pressing "F11" and navigate to "View" > "Preferences." Here, options include altering font color and size, as well as changing the color and opacity of both the text background and surrounding screen area.

For a minimalistic app, Dark Room does allow some surprisingly advanced customization options, such as autosave, multi-monitor support, and the ability to open documents from the Windows context menu. You can even enable neutral highlighting, which subtly shades text, helping writers avoid being visually overwhelmed by blocks of prose.

Dark Room includes basic text-editing functions like "Copy," "Paste," and "Find." However, it lacks some advanced features you might expect in a more robust editor, such as a global search-and-replace tool. This simplicity, however, is part of its charm, stripping down the editing process to let writers stay deeply focused on their words without the distraction of a feature-heavy interface.

For those who want similar functionality with a few more editing tools, FocusWriter is another free app to consider. FocusWriter also provides a distraction-free interface but includes extra features like daily goals, progress tracking, and customizable themes. While FocusWriter offers more built-in tools, it doesn't match the extreme simplicity and nostalgia that Dark Room brings to the writing experience.

Bottom Line

Dark Room excels at providing a truly distraction-free, focused writing environment. With its straightforward setup, it’s ideal for writers who prefer a bare-bones interface that keeps them engaged in the flow of writing, without the temptation of complex options or design distractions. Dark Room's lack of excess truly defines its appeal—it’s a tool designed to help writers sink into their work.

What’s new in version 0.8

Version 0.8b adds neutral highlighting and cursor blink-rate control.