diff --git a/book/src/editor.md b/book/src/editor.md
index 1e5c2a507..f521c393d 100644
--- a/book/src/editor.md
+++ b/book/src/editor.md
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
 | `end-of-line-diagnostics` | Minimum severity of diagnostics to render at the end of the line. Set to `disable` to disable entirely. Refer to the setting about `inline-diagnostics` for more details | "disable"
 | `clipboard-provider` | Which API to use for clipboard interaction. One of `pasteboard` (MacOS), `wayland`, `x-clip`, `x-sel`, `win-32-yank`, `termux`, `tmux`, `windows`, `termcode`, `none`, or a custom command set. | Platform and environment specific. |
 | `editor-config` | Whether to read settings from [EditorConfig](https://editorconfig.org) files | `true` |
+| `welcome-screen` | Whether to enable the welcome screen | `true` |
 
 ### `[editor.clipboard-provider]` Section
 
diff --git a/helix-term/src/application.rs b/helix-term/src/application.rs
index 16a26cb26..c8160ab62 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/application.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/application.rs
@@ -215,11 +215,11 @@ impl Application {
                 editor.new_file(Action::VerticalSplit);
             }
         } else if stdin().is_tty() || cfg!(feature = "integration") {
-            editor.new_file(Action::VerticalSplit);
+            editor.new_file_welcome(Action::VerticalSplit);
         } else {
             editor
                 .new_file_from_stdin(Action::VerticalSplit)
-                .unwrap_or_else(|_| editor.new_file(Action::VerticalSplit));
+                .unwrap_or_else(|_| editor.new_file_welcome(Action::VerticalSplit));
         }
 
         #[cfg(windows)]
diff --git a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
index 6be565747..55d289e91 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ use helix_core::{
     unicode::width::UnicodeWidthStr,
     visual_offset_from_block, Change, Position, Range, Selection, Transaction,
 };
+use helix_loader::VERSION_AND_GIT_HASH;
 use helix_view::{
     annotations::diagnostics::DiagnosticFilter,
     document::{Mode, SCRATCH_BUFFER_NAME},
@@ -33,7 +34,10 @@ use helix_view::{
 };
 use std::{mem::take, num::NonZeroUsize, path::PathBuf, rc::Rc};
 
-use tui::{buffer::Buffer as Surface, text::Span};
+use tui::{
+    buffer::Buffer as Surface,
+    text::{Span, Spans},
+};
 
 pub struct EditorView {
     pub keymaps: Keymaps,
@@ -74,6 +78,107 @@ impl EditorView {
         &mut self.spinners
     }
 
+    pub fn render_welcome(theme: &Theme, view: &View, surface: &mut Surface) {
+        #[derive(PartialEq, PartialOrd, Eq, Ord)]
+        enum Align {
+            Left,
+            Center,
+        }
+
+        macro_rules! welcome {
+            (
+                $([$align:ident] $line:expr, $(if $cond:expr;)?)* $(,)?
+            ) => {{
+                let mut lines = vec![];
+                let mut longest_left = 0;
+                let mut longest_center = 0;
+                $(
+                    let line = Spans::from($line);
+                    let width = line.width();
+                    lines.push((line, Align::$align));
+                    match Align::$align {
+                        Align::Left => longest_left = longest_left.max(width),
+                        Align::Center => longest_center = longest_center.max(width),
+                    }
+                )*
+                (lines, longest_left, longest_center)
+            }};
+        }
+
+        let (lines, longest_left, longest_center) = welcome! {
+            [Center] vec!["helix ".into(), Span::styled(VERSION_AND_GIT_HASH, theme.get("comment"))],
+            [Left] "",
+            [Center] Span::styled(
+                "A post-modern modal text editor",
+                theme.get("ui.text").add_modifier(Modifier::ITALIC),
+            ),
+            [Left] "",
+            [Left] vec![
+                Span::styled(":tutor", theme.get("markup.raw")),
+                Span::styled("<enter>", theme.get("comment")),
+                "       learn helix".into(),
+            ],
+            [Left] vec![
+                Span::styled(":theme", theme.get("markup.raw")),
+                Span::styled("<tab>", theme.get("comment")),
+                "         choose a theme".into(),
+            ],
+            [Left] vec![
+                Span::styled("<space>e", theme.get("markup.raw")),
+                "            file explorer".into(),
+            ],
+            [Left] vec![
+                Span::styled("<space>?", theme.get("markup.raw")),
+                "            see all commands".into(),
+            ],
+            [Left] vec![
+                Span::styled(":config-open", theme.get("markup.raw")),
+                Span::styled("<enter>", theme.get("comment")),
+                " configure helix".into(),
+            ],
+            [Left] vec![
+                Span::styled(":quit", theme.get("markup.raw")),
+                Span::styled("<enter>", theme.get("comment")),
+                "        quit helix".into(),
+            ],
+            [Left] "",
+            [Center] vec![
+                Span::styled("docs: ", theme.get("ui.text")),
+                Span::styled("docs.helix-editor.com", theme.get("markup.link.url")),
+            ],
+        };
+
+        // how many total lines there are in the welcome screen
+        let lines_count = lines.len();
+
+        // the y-coordinate where we start drawing the welcome screen
+        let y_start = view.area.y + (view.area.height / 2).saturating_sub(lines_count as u16 / 2);
+        let y_center = view.area.x + view.area.width / 2;
+
+        let x_start_left =
+            view.area.x + (view.area.width / 2).saturating_sub(longest_left as u16 / 2) + 2;
+
+        let has_x_left_overflow = (x_start_left + longest_left as u16) > view.area.width;
+        let has_x_center_overflow = longest_center as u16 > view.area.width;
+        let has_x_overflow = has_x_left_overflow || has_x_center_overflow;
+
+        // we want lines_count < view.area.height so it does not get drawn
+        // over the status line
+        let has_y_overflow = lines_count as u16 >= view.area.height;
+
+        if has_x_overflow || has_y_overflow {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        for (lines_drawn, (line, align)) in lines.iter().enumerate() {
+            let x = match align {
+                Align::Left => x_start_left,
+                Align::Center => y_center - line.width() as u16 / 2,
+            };
+            surface.set_spans(x, y_start + lines_drawn as u16, line, line.width() as u16);
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn render_view(
         &self,
         editor: &Editor,
@@ -178,6 +283,10 @@ impl EditorView {
 
         Self::render_rulers(editor, doc, view, inner, surface, theme);
 
+        if config.welcome_screen && doc.version() == 0 && doc.is_welcome {
+            Self::render_welcome(theme, view, surface);
+        }
+
         let primary_cursor = doc
             .selection(view.id)
             .primary()
diff --git a/helix-view/src/document.rs b/helix-view/src/document.rs
index 41c9ee1ef..a9a78d4fa 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/document.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/document.rs
@@ -207,6 +207,9 @@ pub struct Document {
     // NOTE: ideally this would live on the handler for color swatches. This is blocked on a
     // large refactor that would make `&mut Editor` available on the `DocumentDidChange` event.
     pub color_swatch_controller: TaskController,
+
+    /// Whether to render the welcome screen when opening the document
+    pub is_welcome: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Default)]
@@ -719,6 +722,7 @@ impl Document {
             jump_labels: HashMap::new(),
             color_swatches: None,
             color_swatch_controller: TaskController::new(),
+            is_welcome: false,
         }
     }
 
@@ -728,6 +732,11 @@ impl Document {
         Self::from(text, None, config)
     }
 
+    pub fn with_welcome(mut self) -> Self {
+        self.is_welcome = true;
+        self
+    }
+
     // TODO: async fn?
     /// Create a new document from `path`. Encoding is auto-detected, but it can be manually
     /// overwritten with the `encoding` parameter.
diff --git a/helix-view/src/editor.rs b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
index be2218997..2a8833cc6 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
@@ -247,6 +247,8 @@ where
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case", default, deny_unknown_fields)]
 pub struct Config {
+    /// Whether to enable the welcome screen
+    pub welcome_screen: bool,
     /// Padding to keep between the edge of the screen and the cursor when scrolling. Defaults to 5.
     pub scrolloff: usize,
     /// Number of lines to scroll at once. Defaults to 3
@@ -960,6 +962,7 @@ pub enum PopupBorderConfig {
 impl Default for Config {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
+            welcome_screen: true,
             scrolloff: 5,
             scroll_lines: 3,
             mouse: true,
@@ -1736,6 +1739,14 @@ impl Editor {
         self.new_file_from_document(action, Document::default(self.config.clone()))
     }
 
+    /// Use when Helix is opened with no arguments passed
+    pub fn new_file_welcome(&mut self, action: Action) -> DocumentId {
+        self.new_file_from_document(
+            action,
+            Document::default(self.config.clone()).with_welcome(),
+        )
+    }
+
     pub fn new_file_from_stdin(&mut self, action: Action) -> Result<DocumentId, Error> {
         let (stdin, encoding, has_bom) = crate::document::read_to_string(&mut stdin(), None)?;
         let doc = Document::from(