Bold
Two asterisks or two underscores on each side.
You write
This is **important**. This is __also important__.You see
This is important. This is also important.
Italic
One asterisk or one underscore on each side.
You write
A word in *italics*, or in _italics_.You see
A word in italics, or in italics.
Inside a word, use asterisks. Underscores in the middle of a word are left
alone, so snake_case_names stay as they are:
You write
un*believ*able, but snake_case_names stay plain.You see
unbelievable, but snake_case_names stay plain.
Bold and italic together
Three asterisks, or mix them: two for bold around one for italic.
You write
***Both at once***, or **bold with *italic* inside**.You see
Both at once, or bold with italic inside.
Strikethrough
Two tildes on each side. GitHub also accepts one tilde, but many apps, MarkdownPaper included, need two.
You write
The meeting is ~~Monday~~ Tuesday.You see
The meeting is Monday Tuesday.
The rest needs HTML
These have no Markdown symbol. Most Markdown apps, GitHub and MarkdownPaper among them, accept these simple HTML tags.
| You want | Write | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Underline | <ins>text</ins> | text |
| Highlight | <mark>text</mark> | text |
| Superscript | x<sup>2</sup> | x2 |
| Subscript | H<sub>2</sub>O | H2O |
| A keyboard key | <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>C</kbd> | Ctrl + C |
You write
Press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>S</kbd> to save. Water is H<sub>2</sub>O.
The area is 9 m<sup>2</sup>, and the <mark>deadline is Friday</mark>.You see
Press Ctrl + S to save. Water is H2O. The area is 9 m2, and the deadline is Friday.
You may see ==highlight==, ^superscript^ and ~subscript~ in some notes
apps. They are not standard and show as plain text in most places, GitHub
included.
Inline code
Backticks show text in a code font, and nothing inside is formatted.
You write
Run `npm test` before you push.You see
Run npm test before you push.
Common problems
- Asterisks show as plain text. There is a space just inside them:
** bold **does not work,**bold**does. - Only part of a word is bold. Use asterisks inside words, not underscores.
- A real asterisk turns text italic. Put a backslash before it:
\*. See how to escape characters.
Questions
How do I make text bold in Markdown?
Put two asterisks on each side of the text, with no spaces inside:
**bold**.
Can I change the font size in Markdown?
Not directly. Headings are the Markdown way to make text larger. The app reading the file decides the font and size.
Is there a shortcut for bold in Markdown editors?
Most editors use Ctrl + B, or Cmd + B on a Mac, to add the asterisks for you. Plain text editors do not.
How do I underline text in Markdown?
Markdown has no underline. Use <ins>text</ins>. See
how to underline text in Markdown.
Next
- How to underline text in Markdown.
- Read formatted Markdown as a page in the free reader.