Muse is the minimal markup of Emacs Muse and Zim wiki — headings with asterisks, emphasis with underscores — designed for note-taking that stays readable for decades.
Typical use: Convert Muse notes when leaving Emacs or Zim behind, into Markdown, HTML or Word.
About the Muse format
Muse is the quietest markup in this list: an Emacs mode from the early 2000s (later adopted by the Zim desktop wiki) whose headings are leading asterisks, emphasis is underscore-wrapped, and that is most of the grammar. It was designed for personal notebooks that should still open cleanly in fifty years.
Muse files rarely hold anything more exotic than headings, lists and paragraphs, which makes conversion nearly lossless: Pandoc maps the small grammar onto Markdown, HTML or Word one-to-one. The only real work is deciding where the notes go next.
Strengths
- ✓ Extremely simple grammar — near-lossless conversion
- ✓ Future-proof plain text
- ✓ Native to Emacs Muse and Zim wiki users
Limitations
- ✗ Tiny ecosystem outside Emacs
- ✗ No tables or footnotes worth mentioning
- ✗ Effectively unmaintained as a format
- Structure
- Plain-text markup (* headings, _em_)
- Types / schema
- UTF-8 text
- Compatibility
- Emacs, Zim, Pandoc
- Best for
- Personal notebooks and wiki pages
Convert Muse to…
10 direct directions plus 1 workflows, sorted A–Z; 🔥 marks popular targets.
Cross-engine workflows
Frequently asked questions
What is a Muse file?
Muse is the minimal markup of Emacs Muse and Zim wiki — headings with asterisks, emphasis with underscores — designed for note-taking that stays readable for decades.
How do I convert Muse files online?
Pick a target format from the "Convert Muse to…" list below, drop your file and hit convert. Everything runs in your browser — no install, no upload, no watermark, no limits.
Is it safe to convert Muse files here?
Yes. Every conversion is performed by your own device inside the browser — files never leave for a server, and the page keeps working even offline.
Which formats can Muse convert to?
This page lists all 11 directions across documents, images, audio, video, spreadsheets and archives — each one is its own free converter page.