Zeal is an offline documentation browser that keeps the references you rely on right on your computer, ready the moment you need them — on a plane, off the grid, or just on flaky Wi-Fi. Instant search takes you straight to the right page before a browser tab would even finish loading.
Build your personal library from over 900 docsets in the same format Dash uses, covering programming languages, frameworks, and tools. Open results in tabs and summon Zeal from anywhere with a global shortcut.
Screenshots
Observed history
| App | Change | Version | When ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|
| updated | 0.9.0 | 15 Sept 2026 |
Upstream releases
Release notes supplied by the developer. These dates are not Flathub package publication times.
0.9.028 Jul 2026
- Added support for compressed docsets, read directly from the archive and taking far less disk space
- Added page zoom controls to the View menu and a setting for the default zoom level
- Added a Go menu with Back, Forward, tab switching, and focus actions, plus a Duplicate Tab command
- Added download sizes to docset tooltips, showing how much space a docset needs before fetching
- Added an option to hide tab close buttons and a View menu entry to toggle the sidebar
- Added a --port option to keep the built-in documentation server on a fixed port
- Changed the look with a new application icon, consistent icons, and redesigned built-in pages
- Changed fuzzy search to be enabled by default, so searches match even when letters are skipped
- Changed docset loading to run in parallel, making startup quicker when many docsets are installed
- Fixed docset removal freezing the window, and cleaned up files left by failed installs or removals
- Fixed docset installs reporting success on corrupt or incomplete downloads
- Fixed archives being able to write files outside the docset folder
- Fixed pages appearing too zoomed in on high-resolution displays
- Fixed documentation pages keeping the old light or dark style when the system theme changes
- Fixed searching with only a docset filter (python:), which now lists that docset's entries
- Fixed duplicate downloads when installing the same docset was requested twice
- Fixed search result highlighting that could be unreadable with some system themes
0.8.14 Apr 2026
- Added the ability to open search results in a background tab
- Fixed Zeal failing to start after a crash or unclean shutdown
- Fixed the global hotkey not working with some key combinations on X11
- Fixed a crash when updating docsets
- Fixed a brief white flash when the window opened
- Fixed find-in-page highlighting disappearing while searching
- Fixed documentation links not opening when their capitalization did not match
- Fixed keyword searches, including queries that begin with ::
0.8.028 Feb 2026
- Added support for viewing PDF files in the documentation view
- Added an option to hide the menu bar for more reading space
- Changed search fuzzy search to use a faster, more accurate algorithm
- Changed search match highlighting method, added support for multiple matches
- Changed docset loading to run in the background, so Zeal starts faster
- Fixed custom user stylesheets not being applied
- Fixed the color scheme not taking effect until the page was reloaded
- Fixed documentation pages appearing over-zoomed on high-resolution displays
0.7.28 Sept 2024
No release notes supplied.