Nearly all Markdown applications support the basic syntax outlined in John Gruber's original design document. There are minor variations and discrepancies between Markdown processors — those are noted inline wherever possible.
To create a heading, add number signs (#) in front of a word or phrase. The number of number signs you use should correspond to the heading level. For example, to create a heading level three (<h3>), use three number signs (e.g., ### My Header).
| Markdown | HTML |
|---|---|
# Heading level 1 |
<h1>Heading level 1</h1> |
## Heading level 2 |
<h2>Heading level 2</h2> |
### Heading level 3 |
<h3>Heading level 3</h3> |
#### Heading level 4 |
<h4>Heading level 4</h4> |
##### Heading level 5 |
<h5>Heading level 5</h5> |
###### Heading level 6 |
<h6>Heading level 6</h6> |
Alternatively, on the line below the text, add any number of == characters for heading level 1 or -- characters for heading level 2.
| Markdown | HTML |
|---|---|
Heading level 1 |
<h1>Heading level 1</h1> |
=============== |
|
| -------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
Heading level 2 |
<h2>Heading level 2</h2> |
--------------- |
Markdown applications don't agree on how to handle a missing space between the number signs (#) and the heading name. For compatibility, always put a space between the number signs and the heading name.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
# Here's a Heading |
#Here's a Heading |
You should also put blank lines before and after a heading for compatibility.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
Try to put a blank line before... |
Without blank lines, this might not look right. |
# Heading |
|
# Heading |
Don't do this! |
...and after a heading. |
To create paragraphs, use a blank line to separate one or more lines of text.
{title="Markdown"}
I really like using Markdown.
I think I'll use it from now on.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<p>I really like using Markdown.</p>
<p>I think I'll use it from now on.</p>
The rendered output looks like this:
I really like using Markdown.
I think I'll use it from now on.
Unless the paragraph is in a list, don't indent paragraphs with spaces or tabs.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
Don't put tabs or spaces in front of your paragraphs. |
This can result in unexpected formatting problems. |
Keep lines left-aligned like this. |
Don't add tabs or spaces in front of paragraphs. |
To create a line break (<br>), end a line with two or more spaces, and then type return.
{title="Markdown"}
This is the first line.
And this is the second line.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<p>This is the first line.<br />
And this is the second line.</p>
The rendered output looks like this:
This is the first line.
And this is the second line.
You can use two or more spaces (commonly referred to as "trailing whitespace") for line breaks in nearly every Markdown application, but it's controversial. It's hard to see trailing whitespace in an editor, and many people accidentally or intentionally put two spaces after every sentence. For this reason, you may want to use something other than trailing whitespace for line breaks. If your Markdown application supports HTML, you can use the <br> HTML tag.
For compatibility, use trailing white space or the <br> HTML tag at the end of the line.
There are two other options I don't recommend using. CommonMark and a few other lightweight markup languages let you type a backslash (\) at the end of the line, but not all Markdown applications support this, so it isn't a great option from a compatibility perspective. And at least a couple lightweight markup languages don't require anything at the end of the line — just type return and they'll create a line break.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
First line with two spaces after. |
First line with a backslash after.\ |
And the next line. |
And the next line. |
With the HTML tag after.<br> |
With nothing after. |
And the next line. |
And the next line. |
You can add emphasis by making text bold or italic.
To bold text, add two asterisks or underscores before and after a word or phrase. To bold the middle of a word for emphasis, add two asterisks without spaces around the letters.
{title="Markdown"}
I love **bold text**.
I love __bold text__.
Love**is**bold
The HTML output of the first two examples is the same.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
I love <strong>bold text</strong>.
Love<strong>is</strong>bold
The rendered output looks like this:
I love bold text.
Loveisbold
Markdown applications don't agree on how to handle underscores in the middle of a word. For compatibility, use asterisks to bold the middle of a word for emphasis.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
Love**is**bold |
Love__is__bold |
To italicize text, add one asterisk or underscore before and after a word or phrase. To italicize the middle of a word for emphasis, add one asterisk without spaces around the letters.
{title="Markdown"}
The *cat's meow*.
The _cat's meow_.
A*cat*meow
The HTML output of the first two examples is the same.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
The <em>cat's meow</em>.
A<em>cat</em>meow
The rendered output looks like this:
The cat's meow.
Acatmeow
Markdown applications don’t agree on how to handle underscores in the middle of a word. For compatibility, use asterisks to italicize the middle of a word for emphasis.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
A*cat*meow |
A_cat_meow |
To emphasize text with bold and italics at the same time, add three asterisks or underscores before and after a word or phrase. To bold and italicize the middle of a word for emphasis, add three asterisks without spaces around the letters.
{title="Markdown"}
***Important*** text.
___Important___ text.
__*Important*__ text.
**_Important_** text.
Really***very***important text.
The HTML output of the first four examples is the same.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<strong><em>Important</em></strong> text.
Really<strong><em>very</em></strong>important text.
The rendered output looks like this:
Important text.
Reallyveryimportant text.
Markdown applications don’t agree on how to handle underscores in the middle of a word. For compatibility, use asterisks to bold and italicize the middle of a word for emphasis.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
Really***very***important text. |
Really___very___important text. |
To create a blockquote, add a > in front of a paragraph.
{title="Markdown"}
> Dorothy followed her through many rooms.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<blockquote>
<p>Dorothy followed her through many rooms.</p>
</blockquote>
The rendered output looks like this:
Dorothy followed her through many rooms.
Blockquotes can contain multiple paragraphs. Add a > on the blank lines between the paragraphs.
{title="Markdown"}
> This the first paragraph.
>
> And this is the second paragraph.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<blockquote>
<p>This the first paragraph.</p>
<p>And this is the second paragraph.</p>
</blockquote>
The rendered output looks like this:
This the first paragraph.
And this is the second paragraph.
Blockquotes can be nested. Add a >> in front of the paragraph you want to nest.
{title="Markdown"}
> This the first paragraph.
>
>> And this is the nested paragraph.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<blockquote>
<p>This the first paragraph.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>And this is the nested paragraph.</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
The rendered output looks like this:
This the first paragraph.
And this is the nested paragraph.
Blockquotes can contain other Markdown formatted elements. Not all elements can be used — you’ll need to experiment to see which ones work.
{title="Markdown"}
> ##### The quarterly results look great!
>
> - Revenue was off the chart.
> - Profits were higher than ever.
>
> *Everything* is going **well**.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<blockquote>
<h5>The quarterly results look great!</h5>
<ul>
<li>Revenue was off the chart.</li>
<li>Profits were higher than ever.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Everything</em> is going <strong>well</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
The rendered output looks like this:
- Revenue was off the chart.
- Profits were higher than ever.
Everything is going well.
For compatibility, put blank lines before and after blockquotes.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
Try to put a blank line before... |
Without blank lines, this might not look right. |
> This is a blockquote |
|
> This is a blockquote |
Don't do this! |
...and after a blockquote. |
You can organize items into ordered and unordered lists.
To create an ordered list, add line items with numbers followed by periods. The numbers don’t have to be in numerical order, but the list should start with the number one.
{title="Markdown"}
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
4. Fourth item
1. First item
1. Second item
1. Third item
1. Fourth item
1. First item
8. Second item
3. Third item
5. Fourth item
The HTML output of all three example lists is the same.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ol>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ol>
The rendered output looks like this:
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Fourth item
To nest line items in an ordered list, indent the items four spaces or one tab.
{title="Markdown"}
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
1. Indented item
2. Indented item
4. Fourth item
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ol>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item
<ol>
<li>Indented item</li>
<li>Indented item</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ol>
The rendered output looks like this:
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Indented item
- Indented item
- Fourth item
CommonMark and a few other lightweight markup languages let you use a parenthesis ()) as a delimiter (e.g., 1) First item), but not all Markdown applications support this, so it isn't a great option from a compatibility perspective. For compatibility, use periods only.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
1. First item |
1) First item |
2. Second item |
2) Second item |
To create an unordered list, add dashes (-), asterisks (*), or plus signs (+) in front of line items.
{title="Markdown"}
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Fourth item
* First item
* Second item
* Third item
* Fourth item
+ First item
+ Second item
+ Third item
+ Fourth item
The HTML output of all three example lists is the same.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ul>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item </li>
</ul>
The rendered output looks like this:
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Fourth item
To nest line items in an unordered list, indent the items four spaces or one tab.
{title="Markdown"}
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Indented item
- Indented item
- Fourth item
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ul>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item
<ul>
<li>Indented item</li>
<li>Indented item</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ul>
The rendered output looks like this:
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Indented item
- Indented item
- Fourth item
If you need to start an unordered list item with a number followed by a period, you can use a backslash (\) to escape the period.
{title="Markdown"}
- 1968\. A great year!
- I think 1969 was second best.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ul>
<li>1968. A great year!</li>
<li>I think 1969 was second best.</li>
</ul>
The rendered output looks like this:
- 1968. A great year!
- I think 1969 was second best.
Markdown applications don't agree on how to handle different delimiters in the same list. For compatibility, don't mix and match delimiters in the same list — pick one and stick with it.
| Do this | Don't do this |
|---|---|
- First item |
+ First item |
- Second item |
* Second item |
- Third item |
- Third item |
- Fourth item |
+ Fourth item |
To add another element in a list while preserving the continuity of the list, indent the element four spaces or one tab, as shown in the following examples.
T> If things don't appear the way you expect, double check that you've indented the elements in the list four spaces or one tab.
{title="Markdown"}
* This is the first list item.
* Here's the second list item.
I need to add another paragraph below the second list item.
* And here's the third list item.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ul>
<li><p>This is the first list item.</p></li>
<li><p>Here's the second list item.</p>
<p>I need to add another paragraph below the second list item.</p>
</li>
<li><p>And here's the third list item.</p></li>
</ul>
The rendered output looks like this:
-
This is the first list item.
-
Here's the second list item.
I need to add another paragraph below the second list item.
-
And here's the third list item.
{title="Markdown"}
* This is the first list item.
* Here's the second list item.
> A blockquote would look great here.
* And here's the third list item.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ul>
<li><p>This is the first list item.</p></li>
<li><p>Here's the second list item.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A blockquote would look great here.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li><p>And here's the third list item.</p>
</li>
</ul>
The rendered output looks like this:
-
This is the first list item.
-
Here's the second list item.
A blockquote would look great here.
-
And here's the third list item.
Code blocks are normally indented four spaces or one tab. When they’re in a list, indent them eight spaces or two tabs.
{title="Markdown"}
1. Open the file.
2. Find the following code block on line 21:
<html>
<head>
<title>Test</title>
</head>
3. Update the title to match the name of your website.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ol>
<li><p>Open the file.</p></li>
<li><p>Find the following code block on line 21:</p>
<pre><code><html>
<head>
<title>Test</title>
</head>
</code></pre>
</li>
<li><p>Update the title to match the name of your website.</p></li>
</ol>
The rendered output looks like this:
-
Open the file.
-
Find the following code block on line 21:
<html> <head> <title>Test</title> </head> -
Update the title to match the name of your website.
{title="Markdown"}
1. Open the file containing Tux, the Linux mascot.
2. Marvel at its beauty.
3. Close the file.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ol>
<li><p>Open the file containing Tux, the Linux mascot.</p></li>
<li>
<p>Marvel at its beauty.</p>
<p><img src="images/tux.png" alt="Tux" /></p>
</li>
<li><p>Close the file.</p></li>
</ol>
The rendered output looks like this:
-
Open the file containing Tux, the Linux mascot.
-
Marvel at its beauty.
-
Close the file.
You can nest an unordered list in an ordered list, or vice versa.
{title="Markdown"}
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
- Indented item
- Indented item
4. Fourth item
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<ol>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item
<ul>
<li>Indented item</li>
<li>Indented item</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ol>
The rendered output looks like this:
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Indented item
- Indented item
- Fourth item
To denote a word or phrase as code, enclose it in backticks (`).
{title="Markdown"}
At the command prompt, type `nano`.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
At the command prompt, type <code>nano</code>.
The rendered output looks like this:
At the command prompt, type nano.
If the word or phrase you want to denote as code includes one or more backticks, you can escape it by enclosing the word or phrase in double backticks.
{title="Markdown"}
``Use `code` in your Markdown file.``
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<code>Use `code` in your Markdown file.</code>
The rendered output looks like this:
Use `code` in your Markdown file.
To create code blocks, indent every line of the block by at least four spaces or one tab.
{title="Markdown"}
<html>
<head>
</head>
</html>
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<pre>
<code>
<html>
<head>
</head>
</html>
</code>
</pre>
The rendered output looks like this:
<html>
<head>
</head>
</html>
I> To create code blocks without indenting lines, use fenced code blocks.
To create a horizontal rule, use three or more asterisks (***), dashes (---), or underscores (___) on a line by themselves.
{title="Markdown"}
***
---
_________________
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<hr />
<hr />
<hr />
The rendered output of all three looks identical:
For compatibility, put blank lines before and after horizontal rules.
Do this:
{title="Markdown"}
Try to put a blank line before...
---
...and after a horizontal rule.
Don't do this:
{title="Markdown"}
Without blank lines, this would be a heading.
---
Don't do this!
To create a link, enclose the link text in brackets (e.g., [Duck Duck Go]) and then follow it immediately with the URL in parentheses (e.g., (https://duckduckgo.com)).
{title="Markdown"}
Use [Duck Duck Go](https://duckduckgo.com).
{title="HTML", lang=html}
Use <a href="https://duckduckgo.com">Duck Duck Go</a>.
The rendered output looks like this:
Use Duck Duck Go.
I> To link to an element on the same page, see linking to heading IDs.
You can optionally add a title for a link. This will appear as a tooltip when the user hovers over the link. To add a title, enclose it in parentheses after the URL.
{title="Markdown"}
Use [Duck Duck Go](https://duckduckgo.com "My search engine!").
{title="HTML", lang=html}
Use <a href="https://duckduckgo.com" title="My search engine!">Duck Duck Go</a>.
The rendered output looks like this:
Use Duck Duck Go.
To quickly turn a URL or email address into a link, enclose it in angle brackets.
{title="Markdown"}
<https://eff.org>
<[email protected]>
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<a href="https://eff.org">https://eff.org</a>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>
The rendered output looks like this:
https://eff.org
[email protected]
To emphasize links, add asterisks before and after the brackets and parentheses. To denote links as code, add backticks in the brackets.
{title="Markdown"}
I love supporting **[EFF](https://eff.org)**.
This is the *[EFF](https://eff.org)*.
See the section on [`code`](#code).
{title="HTML", lang=html}
I love supporting <strong><a href="https://eff.org">EFF</a></strong>.
This is the <em><a href="https://eff.org">EFF</a></em>.
See the section on <a href="#code"><code>code</code></a>.
The rendered output looks like this:
I love supporting EFF.
This is the EFF.
See the section on code.
Reference-style links are a special kind of link that make URLs easier to display and read in Markdown. Reference-style links are constructed in two parts: the part you keep inline with your text and the part you store somewhere else in the file to keep the text easy to read.
The first part of a reference-style link is formatted with two sets of brackets. The first set of brackets surrounds the text that should appear linked. The second set of brackets displays a label used to point to the link you’re storing elsewhere in your document.
Although not required, you can include a space between the first and second set of brackets. Also, the label in the second set of brackets is not case sensitive and can include letters, numbers, spaces, or punctuation.
This means the following example formats are all roughly equivalent for the first part of the link:
[hobbit-hole][1][hobbit-hole] [1][hobbit-hole][a][hobbit-hole][A]
The second part of a reference-style link is formatted with the following attributes:
- The label, in brackets, followed immediately by a colon and at least one space (e.g.,
[label]:). - The URL for the link, which you can optionally enclose in angle brackets.
- The optional title for the link, which you can enclose in double quotes, single quotes, or parentheses.
This means the following example formats are all roughly equivalent for the second part of the link:
[hobbit-hole]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle[hobbit-hole]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle "Hobbit lifestyles"[hobbit-hole]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle 'Hobbit lifestyles'[hobbit-hole]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle (Hobbit lifestyles)[hobbit-hole]: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle> "Hobbit lifestyles"[hobbit-hole]: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle> 'Hobbit lifestyles'[hobbit-hole]: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle> (Hobbit lifestyles)
You can place this second part of the link anywhere in your Markdown document. Some people place them immediately after the paragraph in which they appear while other people place them at the end of the document (like endnotes or footnotes).
Say you add a URL as a standard URL link to a paragraph and it looks like this in Markdown:
{title="Markdown"}
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a [hobbit-hole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle "Hobbit lifestyles"), and that means comfort.
{title="Markdown"}
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a [hobbit-hole][1], and that means comfort.
[1]: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle> "Hobbit lifestyles"
In both instances above, the HTML for the link would be identical:
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle" title="Hobbit lifestyles">hobbit-hole</a>
The output is also identical:
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
Markdown applications don’t agree on how to handle spaces in the middle of a URL. For compatibility, try to URL encode any spaces with %20.
Do this:
{title="Markdown"}
[link](https://www.example.com/my%20great%20page)
Don't do this:
{title="Markdown"}
[link](https://www.example.com/my great page)
To add an image, add an exclamation mark (!), followed by alt text in brackets, and the path or URL to the image asset in parentheses. You can optionally add a title after the URL in the parentheses.
{title="Markdown"}
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<img src="images/san-juan-mountains.jpg" alt="The San Juan Mountains are beautiful!" title="San Juan Mountains" />
The rendered output looks like this:
To add a link to an image, enclose the Markdown for the image in brackets, and then add the link in parentheses.
{title="Markdown"}
[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiprock)
{title="HTML", lang=html}
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiprock"><img src="images/shiprock.jpg" alt="An old rock in the desert"></a>
To display a literal character that would otherwise be used to format text in a Markdown document, add a backslash (\) in front of the character.
{title="Markdown"}
\* Without the backslash, this would be a bullet in an unordered list.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
* Without the backslash, this would be a bullet in an unordered list.
The rendered output looks like this:
* Without the backslash, this would be a bullet in an unordered list.
You can use a backslash to escape the following characters.
| Character | Name |
|---|---|
\ |
backslash |
` |
backtick (see also escaping backticks in code) |
* |
asterisk |
_ |
underscore |
{} |
curly braces |
[] |
brackets |
<> |
angle brackets |
() |
parentheses |
# |
pound sign |
+ |
plus sign |
- |
minus sign (hyphen) |
. |
dot |
! |
exclamation mark |
| ` | ` |
Many Markdown applications allow you to use HTML tags in Markdown-formatted text. This is helpful if you prefer certain HTML tags to Markdown syntax. For example, some people find it easier to use HTML tags for images. Using HTML is also helpful when you need to change the attributes of an element, like specifying the color of text or changing the width of an image.
To use HTML, place the tags in the text of your Markdown-formatted file.
{title="Markdown"}
This **word** is bold. This <em>word</em> is italic.
{title="HTML", lang=html}
This <strong>word</strong> is bold. This <em>word</em> is italic.
The rendered output looks like this:
This word is bold. This word is italic.
For security reasons, not all Markdown applications support HTML in Markdown documents. When in doubt, check your Markdown application's documentation. Some applications support only a subset of HTML tags.
Use blank lines to separate block-level HTML elements like <div>, <table>, <pre>, and <p> from the surrounding content. Try not to indent the tags with tabs or spaces — that can interfere with the formatting.
You can't use Markdown syntax inside block-level HTML tags. For example, <p>italic and **bold**</p> won't work.