Anyone who creates websites on the Mac, regularly has to edit large scripts or develops software has probably come into contact with BBEdit more than once in the past few decades. The powerful text editor, which has a wide range of functions, is one of the best of its kind and was first released in 1992, back then for System 6. The most important features of the software are syntax highlighting for various programming languages and the possibility of expanding BBEdit’s capabilities with scripts. Manufacturer Bare Bones Software has now released version 16, which includes a number of new features. New in BBEdit 16: Powerful text search in images
BBEdit 16 brings, among other things, expanded support for shortcuts in macOS. With the help of a series of new actions that were implemented with app intents, text changes, for example, can be automated even more conveniently and quickly. This even works outside of BBEdit. In addition, the software allows you to find text in images. With this new function you can track down any words or sentences in graphic files. According to the announcement from Bare Bones Software, this works not only with individual files, but also with many files in one go if desired.
Among other things, BBEdit 16 has expanded support for macOS shortcuts.
Projects and notebooks with individual color schemes
Also new is the ability to assign individual color schemes to individual projects and so-called notebooks. You can use prefabricated and supplied sets, but you can also create your own. The integration of the official syntax check from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for HTML5 is likely to be important for web developers. BBEdit 16 also offers vi keyboard emulation, improvements to built-in Git support, and additional settings for website projects. In addition, the developers say they have made numerous optimizations, which should make the program feel noticeably more performant.
One-time purchase from the manufacturer, subscription version in the Mac App Store
Users who purchased BBEdit 15 after November 1, 2025 will receive the new version free of charge. Those upgrading from previous versions pay between $29.99 and $39.99 for the update. The new customer price for the full version is $59.99. There is also a free edition of BBEdit with limited functionality. The program is also available in the Mac App Store, but as a subscription version at a price of 5.99 euros per month or 59.99 euros per year.
