> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://itsfoss.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Meet Lite XL: A Lightweight, Open-Source Text Editor for Linux Users - URL: https://itsfoss.com/lite-xl/ - Published: 2022-04-12T09:27:10.000Z - Updated: 2023-09-13T03:34:41.000Z - Description: Are you looking for a new text editor alternative? You should try this lightweight, simple, fast, feature-filled, and extremely extensible one. - Author: Marco Carmona - Tags: Applications Sure, there are [plenty of text editors or code editors](https://itsfoss.com/best-modern-open-source-code-editors-for-linux/) that you can use. Some popular ones include Eclipse, [Visual Studio Code](https://itsfoss.com/install-visual-studio-code-ubuntu/), [PyCharm](https://itsfoss.com/install-pycharm-ubuntu/), [Atom](https://itsfoss.com/install-atom-ubuntu/), [IntelliJ](https://itsfoss.com/install-intellij-ubuntu-linux/), and [Sublime Text](https://itsfoss.com/sublime-text-3-linux/). But do you want to try something interesting that’s entirely focused on giving you a minimal experience? Meet ***Lite XL*** editor. To be honest, I had no idea about it until last week. But, it managed to surprise me with its **minimalist design** and how **fast it was at coding**, but the most important fact was its similarity with Visual Studio Code. So, before everything, let me tell you that if you’re a [Visual Studio Code fan](https://itsfoss.com/visual-studio-code-vs-atom/), you should try ***Lite XL***. It may not be an absolute replacement, but a lite edition of something that resembles the use case. ![lite xl editor screenshot](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/04/lite-xl-editor-screenshot.png) Showing how Lite XL looks ## Lite XL: Lightweight Text Editor Written in Lua Lite XL is an interesting open-source text editor written in Lua (particularly tailored to build lightweight applications). It is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS as well. But, with all the available [modern text editors available](https://itsfoss.com/best-modern-open-source-code-editors-for-linux/), why Lite XL? ![lite xl screenshot 2](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/04/lite-xl-screenshot-2.png) Lite XL Customize Configuration Normally, we aren’t concerned about the resources that a text editor can consume on our system most of the time. However, at the time of creating bash, python, or any other type of script, you rely on a text editor, and the more resource-efficient it is, the better. Of course, a text editor isn’t as resource-hungry as some other applications. But, if it matters to you, here’s what I observed: Lite XL only uses **three megabytes** in your disk and consumes around **twenty megabytes** of physical memory, compared with the almost five hundred fifty megabytes (\~550 MB) that Visual Studio Code uses. **Can you see this wonderful difference between these similar editors?** Not just the resource usage, it is highly customizable as well. Note that the resource usage stats can vary for different system configurations. ## Features of Lite XL ![lite xl screnshot 1](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/04/lite-xl-screnshot-1.png) As per the official information available, some of its most popular features include: - **Cross-Platform*:*** It currently works on Windows, Linux, and macOS. - **Lightweight:**As we described before, its usage hardly ever exceeds 10 MB in RAM. - **Extensible**: Being a minimal offering doesn’t mean not being customizable. Lite XL can extend its functionalities thanks to several plugins available, for example, [VSC-like intellisense](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl-lsp?ref=itsfoss.com). - **Multi-cursor editing**: It’s as wonderful as it sounds, inside Lite XL you can work with multiple cursors. - **Integrated terminal**: Like Visual Studio Code, Lite XL implements its terminal. - High DPI display support. - Additional color themes are available. - Supports hardware-accelerated rendering. ## How to Install Lite XL in Linux Lite XL offers an AppImage file for Linux distributions. You can follow our[ AppImage guide](https://itsfoss.com/use-appimage-linux/) to get started. You can find the AppImage file on its [GitHub repository](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl?ref=itsfoss.com). Once you head to its GitHub releases section, go directly to the Assets section and download the ***LiteXL\_x86\_64.Appimage*** file. ![downloading appimage file](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/04/Downloading_Appimage_file-800x447.png) Downloading Appimage file An AppImage file will be downloaded into your download directory, so, before double-clicking on the file, verify it is allowed to execute as a program. ![verifying execution permissions](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/04/Verifying_execution_permissions-800x535.png) Verifying execution permissions That’s right! Now you can double-click on the file and start using ***Lite XL*** in your system. [Lite XL](https://lite-xl.com/?ref=itsfoss.com) If you’re interested in exploring Lite XL, you can get involved in its [GitHub repository](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl?ref=itsfoss.com), visit the official website, or join its [Discord community](https://discord.gg/RWzqC3nx7K?ref=itsfoss.com). *What do you prefer to edit text and code? Do you focus on using a lightweight program, or is it irrelevant for your use case? Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below.*