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Discord Markdown Cheat Sheet

Every Discord text formatting trick in one place. 23+ features with copy-paste syntax and live previews.

23+ featuresCopy-paste readyUpdated 2026Free forever

Quick Reference

All Discord markdown syntax at a glance.

Feature	Syntax	Notes
Bold	`text`	Double asterisks
Italic	`text`	Single asterisks or underscores
Bold Italic	`*text*`	Triple asterisks
Underline	`__text__`	Double underscores
Underline Italic	`__text__`	Double underscores + asterisks
Underline Bold	`__text__`	Double underscores + double asterisks
Underline Bold Italic	`__*text*__`	All combined
Strikethrough	`~~text~~`	Double tildes
Subtext	`-# text`	Smaller, muted text
Header 1	`# text`	Largest heading
Header 2	`## text`	Medium heading
Header 3	`### text`	Smallest heading
Masked Link	`[text](url)`	Clickable link with custom text
Non-Embedded Link	`<url>`	Suppresses embed preview
Inline Code	`code`	Single backticks
Code Block	```\ncode\n```	Triple backticks
Syntax Highlighting	```js\ncode\n```	Language after backticks
Blockquote	`> text`	Greater-than sign
Multi-line Quote	`>>> text`	Triple greater-than
Unordered List	`- item`	Dash or asterisk
Ordered List	`1. item`	Number + period
Spoiler	`\|\|text\|\|`	Double pipes
Timestamp	`<t:unix:F>`	Dynamic timestamp

Text Formatting

Discord supports 9 inline text styles. Mix and match for emphasis.

Bold

Make text bold

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

bold text

Italic

Make text italic

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

italic text

Bold Italic

Combine bold and italic

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

bold italic text

Underline

Underline text (Discord-specific)

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

underline text

Underline Italic

Combine underline and italic

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

underline italic

Underline Bold

Combine underline and bold

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

underline bold

Underline Bold Italic

All three styles combined

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

underline bold italic

Strikethrough

Cross out text

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

strikethrough text

Subtext

Smaller, muted text

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

This is small subtext

Headers & Links

Discord supports 3 heading levels and two link formats.

Headers

Three heading sizes (h1, h2, h3)

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

Big Header

Medium Header

Small Header

Masked Link

Custom link text

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

Click here

Non-Embedded Link

Suppresses link preview

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

https://example.com

Code

Inline code, code blocks, and syntax highlighting.

Inline Code

Highlight code within a sentence

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

inline code

Code Block

Multi-line code block

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

const hello = 'world'\nconsole.log(hello)

Syntax Highlighting

Add language name after ```

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

function greet(name) {\n  return `Hello, ${name}!`\n}

Blockquotes

Quote text with single-line or multi-line blockquotes.

Single-line Blockquote

Quote a single line of text

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

This is a quote

Multi-line Blockquote

Quote multiple lines at once

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

This quotes
everything after it
in the message

Lists

Discord supports unordered, ordered, and nested lists.

Unordered List

Bullet point list

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

• Item one
• Item two
• Item three

Ordered List

Numbered list

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

1. First
2. Second
3. Third

Nested List

Indent with two spaces for sub-items

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

• Parent item
• Child item
• Child item
• Another parent

Special Features

Discord-specific formatting including spoilers, emoji, and timestamps.

Spoiler

Click to reveal hidden text

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

spoiler text

Emoji

Standard and custom emoji

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

👍 ❤️ 🔥

Timestamp

Auto-converts to viewer's timezone

general

MarkdownUserToday at 4:20 PM

January 1, 2023 12:00 AM
3 years ago

Unsupported in Discord

Standard markdown features that Discord does not render.

Tables

Markdown tables render as plain text in Discord

Images

Use file attachments or embeds instead

Footnotes

Not supported in Discord's markdown parser

Task Lists

Checkboxes (- [ ]) render as plain text

Horizontal Rules

--- renders as plain text, not a line

Nested Blockquotes

Only one level of quoting is supported

HTML Tags

HTML is stripped, not rendered

Pro Tips

1Escape Formatting

Use a backslash before any special character to display it literally instead of applying formatting.

\*not italic\*
\*\*not bold\*\*
\~\~not strikethrough\~\~

2Combine Styles

Stack multiple formatting markers to apply bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough simultaneously.

~~***strikethrough bold italic***~~
__***underline bold italic***__

3Large Emoji

Send a message with only emoji (1-3) and no other text. Discord will display them at 3x the normal size.

4Timestamps Adapt

Discord timestamps automatically convert to each user's local timezone. Use hammertime.cyou to generate them.

<t:1672531200:F>
→ "January 1, 2023 12:00 AM"

5Empty Lines in Code

Inside code blocks, blank lines are preserved exactly as-is. Useful for formatting multi-line code snippets.

```
line 1

line 3
```

6Suppress Embeds

Wrap a URL in angle brackets to post it without Discord generating a link preview embed.

<https://example.com>

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know.

Does Discord support markdown?

Yes. Discord uses a simplified version of markdown for text formatting. You can use bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, code blocks, blockquotes, headers, lists, spoilers, and more. However, Discord doesn't support all standard markdown features — tables, images, footnotes, and HTML are not rendered.

Does Discord support markdown?

How do I bold text in Discord?

Wrap your text with double asterisks: **bold text**. This works in regular messages, channel topics, and embed descriptions. You can combine it with other formatting like ***bold italic*** or __**underline bold**__.

How do I use code blocks in Discord?

For inline code, wrap text with single backticks: `code`. For multi-line code blocks, use triple backticks on separate lines. Add a language name after the opening backticks for syntax highlighting: ```js followed by your code and closing ```.

What languages does Discord syntax highlighting support?

Discord supports most common programming languages for syntax highlighting including javascript (js), python (py), typescript (ts), css, html, json, bash, sql, java, c, cpp, csharp (cs), go, rust, ruby, php, swift, kotlin, and many more. Use the language abbreviation after the opening triple backticks.

How do spoiler tags work in Discord?

Wrap text with double pipes: ||spoiler text||. The text appears as a dark bar that users must click to reveal. This works with images too — mark an image as a spoiler when uploading. Spoilers are commonly used to hide game endings, answers to puzzles, or sensitive content.

How do I make headers in Discord?

Use hash symbols at the start of a line: # for large headers, ## for medium, ### for small. Headers only work at the start of a line and require a space after the hash. Discord supports up to three heading levels — h4 through h6 (#### etc.) are not supported.

Can I use markdown in Discord on mobile?

Yes. All markdown formatting works identically on Discord's iOS, Android, and desktop apps. The syntax is the same — type the formatting characters directly in your message. Mobile doesn't have a formatting toolbar, so you need to know the syntax.

How do Discord timestamps work?

Discord timestamps use Unix time wrapped in a special syntax: <t:UNIX_TIMESTAMP:STYLE>. Styles include t (short time), T (long time), d (short date), D (long date), f (short date/time), F (long date/time), and R (relative). The timestamp automatically converts to each viewer's local timezone.

What's the difference between > and >>> in Discord?

A single > creates a single-line blockquote — only the text on that line is quoted. Triple >>> creates a multi-line blockquote — everything after it in your message is quoted, including multiple paragraphs. Use > for quoting one line and >>> for quoting large blocks of text.

How do I type markdown symbols without formatting?

Put a backslash (\) before any formatting character to escape it. For example, \*not italic\* will display the asterisks literally. This works for all special characters: asterisks, underscores, tildes, backticks, pipes, and angle brackets.

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