Characters you can escape
A backslash works before any of these:
| Character | Name |
|---|---|
\ | Backslash |
` | Backtick |
* | Asterisk |
_ | Underscore |
{ } | Curly brackets |
[ ] | Square brackets |
( ) | Round brackets |
# | Hash |
+ - . | Plus, minus, full stop |
! | Exclamation mark |
| | Pipe |
< > | Angle brackets |
$ | Dollar sign |
Before any other character, the backslash is shown as it is.
A line that starts with a number and a full stop
1986. A great year. would become a numbered list. Escape the full stop.
You write
1986\. A great year for music.You see
1986. A great year for music.
A pipe inside a table
A | splits a table cell, so write \| for a real one.
You write
| Shortcut | Means |
| -------- | ------ |
| `a \| b` | a or b |You see
| Shortcut | Means |
|---|---|
a | b | a or b |
Square brackets that are not a link
Text in square brackets followed by round brackets becomes a link. Escape the first bracket to stop it.
You write
\[Note](not a link)You see
[Note](not a link)
Dollar signs
In apps that support maths, text between two dollar signs can turn into a formula. MarkdownPaper keeps prices like $5 and $10 as text, but a price next to real maths in the same paragraph is safest escaped.
You write
The plan costs \$5 a month. The formula is $x^2$.You see
The plan costs $5 a month. The formula is .
When a backslash is not enough: code
Inside backticks, nothing is formatted and nothing needs escaping. It is often the clearest way to show symbols.
You write
Type `**bold**` to make text bold.You see
Type **bold** to make text bold.
Questions
How do I show an asterisk in Markdown?
Put a backslash before it: \*. Or put it in backticks, which shows it as
code.
How do I show a backslash in Markdown?
Write two: \\ shows one backslash.
How do I escape a backtick inside inline code?
Wrap the code in two backticks with a space inside each end:
`` `code` ``. See
Markdown code blocks.
Why does my backslash show on the page?
The character after it is not one that can be escaped, so the backslash is shown as a normal character.
Next
- Markdown text formatting, the symbols you will most often need to escape.
- Paste your Markdown into the reader to see what each backslash does.