diff --git a/ElectronClient/app/gui/NoteText.jsx b/ElectronClient/app/gui/NoteText.jsx
index 0b635eb31..ffa6baa94 100644
--- a/ElectronClient/app/gui/NoteText.jsx
+++ b/ElectronClient/app/gui/NoteText.jsx
@@ -846,7 +846,11 @@ class NoteTextComponent extends React.Component {
 	}
 
 	async commandStartExternalEditing() {
-		this.externalEditWatcher().openAndWatch(this.state.note);
+		try {
+			await this.externalEditWatcher().openAndWatch(this.state.note);
+		} catch (error) {
+			bridge().showErrorMessageBox(_('Error opening note in editor: %s', error.message));
+		}
 	}
 
 	async commandStopExternalEditing() {
diff --git a/ReactNativeClient/lib/models/Setting.js b/ReactNativeClient/lib/models/Setting.js
index 081cb8212..64f650c9d 100644
--- a/ReactNativeClient/lib/models/Setting.js
+++ b/ReactNativeClient/lib/models/Setting.js
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ class Setting extends BaseModel {
 		this.metadata_ = {
 			'activeFolderId': { value: '', type: Setting.TYPE_STRING, public: false },
 			'firstStart': { value: true, type: Setting.TYPE_BOOL, public: false },
-			'editor': { value: '', type: Setting.TYPE_STRING, public: true, appTypes: ['cli'], label: () => _('Text editor'), description: () => _('The editor that will be used to open a note. If none is provided it will try to auto-detect the default editor.') },
 			'locale': { value: defaultLocale(), type: Setting.TYPE_STRING, isEnum: true, public: true, label: () => _('Language'), options: () => {
 				return ObjectUtils.sortByValue(supportedLocalesToLanguages());
 			}},
@@ -116,6 +115,7 @@ class Setting extends BaseModel {
 			}},
 			'noteVisiblePanes': { value: ['editor', 'viewer'], type: Setting.TYPE_ARRAY, public: false, appTypes: ['desktop'] },
 			'sidebarVisibility': { value: true, type: Setting.TYPE_BOOL, public: false, appTypes: ['desktop'] },
+			'editor': { value: '', type: Setting.TYPE_STRING, public: true, appTypes: ['cli', 'desktop'], label: () => _('Text editor command'), description: () => _('The editor command (may include arguments) that will be used to open a note. If none is provided it will try to auto-detect the default editor.') },
 			'showAdvancedOptions': { value: false, type: Setting.TYPE_BOOL, public: true, appTypes: ['mobile' ], label: () => _('Show advanced options') },
 			'sync.target': { value: SyncTargetRegistry.nameToId('dropbox'), type: Setting.TYPE_INT, isEnum: true, public: true, label: () => _('Synchronisation target'), description: (appType) => { return appType !== 'cli' ? null : _('The target to synchonise to. Each sync target may have additional parameters which are named as `sync.NUM.NAME` (all documented below).') }, options: () => {
 				return SyncTargetRegistry.idAndLabelPlainObject();
diff --git a/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/ExternalEditWatcher.js b/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/ExternalEditWatcher.js
index 2e9164cab..745bb223a 100644
--- a/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/ExternalEditWatcher.js
+++ b/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/ExternalEditWatcher.js
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ const Setting = require('lib/models/Setting');
 const { shim } = require('lib/shim');
 const chokidar = require('chokidar');
 const EventEmitter = require('events');
+const { splitCommandString } = require('lib/string-utils');
+const spawn	= require('child_process').spawn;
 
 class ExternalEditWatcher {
 
@@ -115,6 +117,40 @@ class ExternalEditWatcher {
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	textEditorCommand() {
+		const editorCommand = Setting.value('editor');
+		if (!editorCommand) return null;
+
+		const s = splitCommandString(editorCommand);
+
+		const path = s.splice(0, 1);
+		if (!path.length) throw new Error('Invalid editor command: ' + editorCommand);
+
+		return {
+			path: path[0],
+			args: s,
+		};
+	}
+
+	async spawnCommand(path, args, options) {
+		return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+			const subProcess = spawn(path, args, options);
+
+			const iid = setInterval(() => {
+				if (subProcess && subProcess.pid) {
+					this.logger().debug('Started editor with PID ' + subProcess.pid);
+					clearInterval(iid);
+					resolve();
+				}
+			}, 100);
+
+			subProcess.on('error', (error) => {
+				clearInterval(iid);
+				reject(error);
+			});
+		});
+	}
+
 	async openAndWatch(note) {
 		if (!note || !note.id) {
 			this.logger().warn('ExternalEditWatcher: Cannot open note: ', note);
@@ -123,7 +159,14 @@ class ExternalEditWatcher {
 
 		const filePath = await this.writeNoteToFile_(note);
 		this.watch(filePath);
-		bridge().openExternal('file://' + filePath);
+
+		const cmd = this.textEditorCommand();
+		if (!cmd) {
+			bridge().openExternal('file://' + filePath);
+		} else {
+			cmd.args.push(filePath);
+			await this.spawnCommand(cmd.path, cmd.args, { detached: true });
+		}
 
 		this.dispatch({
 			type: 'NOTE_FILE_WATCHER_ADD',