Free · No signup · Instant

Markdown Cheat Sheet

Every markdown syntax feature in one place. 35+ examples with copy-paste syntax and live previews — from basic formatting to advanced extensions.

Try the Editor

35+ examplesCopy-paste readyUpdated 2026Free forever

Quick Reference

All markdown syntax at a glance.

Feature	Syntax	Notes
Bold	`text`	Double asterisks
Italic	`text`	Single asterisks or underscores
Bold Italic	`*text*`	Triple asterisks
Strikethrough	`~~text~~`	Double tildes (GFM)
Highlight	`==text==`	Double equals (extended)
Heading 1	`# Heading`	Hash + space
Heading 2	`## Heading`	Two hashes
Heading 3	`### Heading`	Three hashes
Heading 4	`#### Heading`	Four hashes
Heading 5	`##### Heading`	Five hashes
Heading 6	`###### Heading`	Six hashes
Inline Link	`[text](url)`	Text in brackets, URL in parens
Reference Link	`[text][id]`	Define [id]: url elsewhere
Image	`![alt](url)`	Like link with ! prefix
Image with Title	`![alt](url "title")`	Title shown on hover
Inline Code	`code`	Single backticks
Code Block	```\ncode\n```	Triple backticks
Syntax Highlighting	```lang\ncode\n```	Language after backticks
Blockquote	`> text`	Greater-than sign
Nested Blockquote	`>> text`	Double greater-than
Unordered List	`- item`	Dash, asterisk, or plus
Ordered List	`1. item`	Number + period
Nested List	`- item`	Indent with 2-4 spaces
Task List	`- [ ] task`	Checkbox (GFM)
Basic Table	`\| A \| B \|`	Pipes + header separator
Horizontal Rule	`---`	Three dashes, asterisks, or underscores
Line Break	`two spaces + Enter`	Or use <br> tag
Footnote	`text[^1]`	Define [^1]: note at bottom
Definition List	`term\n: definition`	Colon + space (extended)
Abbreviation	`*[abbr]: Full`	Auto-expands in text (extended)
Escape Character	`\text\`	Backslash before special chars

Text Formatting

Inline styles for emphasis, strikethrough, and highlighting.

Bold

Make text bold with double asterisks or double underscores

Result

bold text

Italic

Make text italic with single asterisks or single underscores

Result

italic text

Bold Italic

Combine bold and italic with triple asterisks

Result

bold italic text

Strikethrough

Cross out text with double tildes (GFM extension)

Result

strikethrough text

Highlight

Highlight text with double equals (extended syntax)

Result

highlighted text

Headings

Six levels of headings from h1 (largest) to h6 (smallest). Always put a space after the hash.

Headings (h1–h6)

Use 1–6 hash characters for heading levels

Result

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Links & Images

Inline links, reference-style links, and images with alt text.

Inline Link

Clickable link with custom text

Result

MarkdownTools

Reference Link

Define link URLs separately for cleaner text

Result

MarkdownTools

Image

Embed an image with alt text

Result

Alt text

Image with Title

Image with hover tooltip

Result

Alt text (title: "Image title")

Code

Inline code spans, fenced code blocks, and syntax highlighting.

Inline Code

Highlight code within a sentence

Result

Use the printf() function

Code Block

Multi-line code in a fenced block

Result

function hello() {\n  console.log('world')\n}

Syntax Highlighting

Add a language identifier after the opening backticks

Result

def greet(name):\n    return f"Hello, {name}!"

Blockquotes

Quote text with single or nested blockquotes.

Blockquote

Quote a block of text

Result

This is a blockquote.
It can span multiple lines.

Nested Blockquote

Nest quotes inside quotes

Result

Outer quote

Inner nested quote

Third level

Lists

Unordered, ordered, nested, and task lists.

Unordered List

Use dashes, asterisks, or plus signs

Result

First item
Second item
Third item

Ordered List

Use numbers followed by periods

Result

First item
Second item
Third item

Nested List

Indent sub-items with 2–4 spaces

Result

Parent item
- Child item
- Child item
Another parent
1. Numbered child
2. Numbered child

Task List

Checkboxes for to-do items (GFM extension)

Result

Write the docs
Review the code
Deploy to production

Tables

Create tables with pipes and dashes. GFM extension supported on most platforms.

Basic Table

Columns separated by pipes with a header separator row

Result

Feature	Syntax
Bold	text
Italic	text

Table with Alignment

Use colons in the separator row to control alignment

Result

Left	Center	Right
A	B	C
D	E	F

Horizontal Rules & Line Breaks

Thematic breaks and explicit line breaks.

Horizontal Rule

Three or more dashes, asterisks, or underscores on their own line

Result

Some text above

Some text below

Line Break

End a line with two spaces or a backslash for a hard break

Result

First line
Second line
Third line

Advanced

Extended syntax supported by many markdown processors.

Footnotes

Add references that link to notes at the bottom

Result

Here is a statement^[1] with a footnote.

¹ This is the footnote content.

Definition List

Term followed by a colon-prefixed definition (extended syntax)

Result

Markdown: A lightweight markup language
HTML: HyperText Markup Language

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that auto-expand on hover (extended syntax)

Result

The HTML specification is maintained by the W3C.

Escaping Characters

Use backslash to display literal special characters

Result

*not italic*
# not a heading
[not a link]

Pro Tips

1Paragraph Spacing

Separate paragraphs with a blank line. Single line breaks within a paragraph are ignored — the text will flow together as one paragraph.

2Soft vs Hard Breaks

End a line with two spaces for a hard line break ( ). Or use a backslash at the end of a line. A single Enter key alone does not create a visible break in most parsers.

3Nesting Depth

You can nest lists, blockquotes, and other block elements multiple levels deep. Indent with 2-4 spaces (or a tab) per nesting level. Most renderers support at least 3 levels.

4Table Alignment

Control column alignment in the separator row: :--- for left, :---: for center, ---: for right. The default is left-aligned.

| Left | Center | Right |
| :--- | :----: | ----: |
| A    |   B    |     C |

5HTML Fallback

Most markdown renderers allow inline HTML. Use <details>, <summary>, <kbd>, , , and other tags when markdown syntax is insufficient.

<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>
Hidden content here.
</details>

6Combining Formatting

Stack inline styles freely: ***bold italic***, ~~**strikethrough bold**~~, or even `**code does not nest**`. Note that formatting does not apply inside code spans.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know.

What is markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber in 2004. It lets you add formatting — headings, bold, italic, links, images, code blocks, and more — to plain text using simple syntax characters like # * [] and ```. Markdown files use the .md or .markdown extension and are widely used for documentation, README files, blogs, and note-taking.

What is markdown?

Who created markdown?

Markdown was created by John Gruber with contributions from Aaron Swartz. Gruber published the original Markdown syntax specification and a Perl script to convert Markdown to HTML in December 2004. The goal was to create a format that is as readable as possible in plain text form, while still converting cleanly to valid HTML.

What are markdown flavors?

Because the original Markdown spec left some ambiguities, different implementations added their own extensions. The most common flavors are: CommonMark (standardized, unambiguous spec), GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM — adds tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks), MultiMarkdown (adds footnotes, metadata, cross-references), and Markdown Extra (adds definition lists, abbreviations, fenced code blocks). Most modern tools use CommonMark or GFM as their base.

What is CommonMark?

CommonMark is a strongly specified, highly compatible version of Markdown. It was created to resolve ambiguities in the original spec by providing a comprehensive test suite and detailed parsing rules. CommonMark is the foundation for many modern Markdown implementations including GitHub, GitLab, Reddit, Stack Overflow, and Swift Playgrounds.

What is GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM)?

GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) is a superset of CommonMark used on GitHub. It adds: tables with pipe syntax, task lists with checkboxes, strikethrough with ~~tildes~~, automatic URL linking, and fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting. GFM is defined in a formal spec maintained by GitHub and is one of the most widely used markdown flavors.

What are the best markdown editors?

Popular markdown editors include: VS Code (free, extensions for preview and linting), Obsidian (note-taking with bidirectional linking), Typora (live WYSIWYG preview), Mark Text (open source, distraction-free), iA Writer (minimalist, focused writing), and MarkdownTools (browser-based, instant preview with themes and PDF/HTML export). The best choice depends on your workflow — developers often prefer VS Code, writers prefer Typora or iA Writer, and note-takers prefer Obsidian.

How do I convert markdown to PDF?

You can convert markdown to PDF using: MarkdownTools (paste markdown, choose a theme, click Export PDF), Pandoc (command-line tool: pandoc file.md -o file.pdf), VS Code with the Markdown PDF extension, or browser print-to-PDF from any markdown preview. MarkdownTools is the fastest option for one-off conversions — no installation required.

Can I use HTML inside markdown?

Yes. Most markdown renderers allow inline HTML tags. This is useful for features markdown does not support natively, like <details> collapsible sections, <kbd> keyboard keys, superscript, subscript, and complex tables. Note: some platforms (like GitHub comments) sanitize certain HTML tags for security.

How do I learn markdown quickly?

Markdown takes about 10 minutes to learn the basics. Start with headings (#), bold (**), italic (*), links ([text](url)), and lists (- item). Practice by writing a README or notes in any markdown editor with live preview. This cheat sheet covers every feature — bookmark it and reference it as you learn.

Is markdown the same everywhere?

The core syntax (headings, bold, italic, links, images, code, lists, blockquotes) works the same everywhere. However, advanced features vary by platform: GitHub supports task lists and tables via GFM, Discord has spoilers and timestamps, Obsidian adds wiki-links and callouts, and Reddit uses its own markdown variant. Always check what your target platform supports.

Ready to format your markdown?

Paste any markdown into our editor. Preview with professional themes. Export to PDF or HTML in one click.

Open MarkdownTools