The Complete Markdown Cheat Sheet

Markdown is a lightweight markup language that formats plain text using ordinary keyboard characters: # for headings, **asterisks** for bold, - for lists. A Markdown file stays readable as raw text and renders as clean HTML everywhere: GitHub READMEs, documentation sites, note apps like Obsidian, and AI tools, which use Markdown as their default output format.

The basics take about 20 minutes to learn. This page is built for the part that comes after: quickly looking up the syntax you forgot. Every example below is a pair: the raw Markdown on the left (You type), and the rendered result on the right (You get). Copy any example and paste it into the free live Markdown preview to experiment with it.

Everything here works in any CommonMark-compliant app. Elements that come from GitHub Flavored Markdown are marked GFM. They work on GitHub, GitLab, and most modern tools, but not in strictly minimal renderers.

Quick Reference

The condensed version: all common Markdown syntax in one table. Each element links to its full section with rules, edge cases, and extra examples.

print("hi")

Want to see any of these live? Paste them into the Markdown preview and they render instantly, right in your browser.

Headings

Create a heading by starting a line with # characters: one # for the largest heading (level 1), down to six (######) for the smallest. Put a space between the last # and your text: CommonMark requires it, and #Heading without the space won’t render.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4

Levels 1 and 2 have an alternative “underline” style (called setext headings): put any number of = signs on the line below the text for level 1, or - signs for level 2.

Heading 1
=========

Heading 2
---------

Paragraphs & Line Breaks

A paragraph is one or more consecutive lines of text separated from the next paragraph by a blank line. A single newline does not break the line, so adjacent lines join into one paragraph.

This line and
this line join into one paragraph.

A blank line starts a new paragraph.

To force a line break inside a paragraph, end the line with two or more spaces, or with a backslash (\).

Roses are red  
Violets are blue

Bold, Italic & Strikethrough

Wrap text in single asterisks or underscores for italic, double for bold, and triple for bold italic. Asterisks and underscores are interchangeable. Just open and close with the same character.

*italic* or _italic_

**bold** or __bold__

***bold italic*** or ___bold italic___

Strikethrough GFM wraps text in double tildes (GitHub also accepts single tildes).

The deadline is ~~Friday~~ Monday.

Lists

For a bulleted (unordered) list, start each line with -, *, or + followed by a space. All three markers work identically. Just be consistent within one list.

- First item
- Second item
- Third item

For a numbered (ordered) list, start each line with a number and a period. The numbers you type don’t have to be right because renderers count for you. Only the first number matters: it sets where the list starts.

1. First item
1. Second item
1. Third item

To nest a list inside another, indent the nested items until they line up with the first character of the parent item’s text (two spaces for - lists, three for 1. lists).

1. First item
2. Second item
   - Nested item
   - Another nested item
3. Third item

Task Lists GFM

A task list renders as clickable checkboxes. Write a normal list, then put [ ] (with a space) for an open task or [x] for a completed one right after the marker.

- [x] Write the report
- [x] Review the numbers
- [ ] Send it to the team

Links

Write the link text in square brackets, immediately followed by the URL in parentheses. You can add an optional tooltip title in quotes after the URL.

[iLoveMarkdown](https://ilovemardown.com)

[with a tooltip](https://ilovemardown.com "Free Markdown tools")

To show a raw URL as a clickable link, wrap it in angle brackets. GFM also auto-links bare URLs that start with https://, but the angle-bracket form is the one that works everywhere.

<https://ilovemardown.com>

Reference-style links keep long documents tidy: use a short label in a second pair of brackets, then define that label anywhere else in the document.

Check the [CommonMark spec][spec] for details.

[spec]: https://spec.commonmark.org

Images

An image is a link with an exclamation mark in front. The text in brackets becomes the alt text, shown when the image can’t load and read by screen readers, so make it descriptive.

![A red heart logo](/apple-icon-60x60.png)

To make the image itself clickable, wrap the whole image syntax in a link:

[![A red heart logo](/apple-icon-60x60.png)](https://ilovemardown.com)

Blockquotes

Start a line with > to quote it. For a multi-paragraph quote, put > at the start of every line, including a > on the blank line between paragraphs.

> Markdown is intended to be as easy-to-read
> and easy-to-write as is feasible.
>
> — John Gruber

Blockquotes nest with additional > characters, and they can contain any other Markdown: headings, lists, code, even tables.

> The reviewer said:
>
> > Ship it.

Code

For a short snippet inside a sentence (inline code), wrap it in single backticks. Nothing inside is interpreted as Markdown.

Run `npm install` before starting.

For multi-line code, use a fenced code block: a line of three backticks before and after. Add a language name after the opening fence to get syntax highlighting on GitHub and most renderers.

```python
def greet(name):
    return f"Hello, {name}!"
```

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

Tables GFM

Build a table with pipes (|) between columns and a divider row of dashes under the header. The divider row is mandatory: without it, nothing renders as a table. The pipes don’t need to line up perfectly. Messy columns render the same.

| Syntax | Description |
| ------ | ----------- |
| Header | Title       |
| List   | Element     |

Align columns with colons in the divider row: :--- for left, :---: for center, ---: for right.

| Left | Center | Right |
| :--- | :----: | ----: |
| a    | b      | c     |

Two things Markdown tables can’t do natively, and their standard workarounds:

| Multi-line cell            | Pipe in cell   |
| -------------------------- | -------------- |
| First line<br>Second line  | escape it: \| |

Horizontal Rules

Create a horizontal divider line with three or more hyphens, asterisks, or underscores alone on a line.

Above the line.

---

Below the line.

Escaping Characters

To display a character that Markdown would otherwise interpret (a literal asterisk, underscore, or hash), put a backslash (\) in front of it. In CommonMark, a backslash escapes any ASCII punctuation character.

\*This is not italic\* and this is not a heading: \# hello

The characters you’ll escape most often: \ ` * _ { } [ ] ( ) # + - . ! |

GitHub Extras GFM

These elements work on github.com (READMEs, issues, pull requests, discussions). Support elsewhere varies, so test before relying on them outside GitHub.

Footnotes

Add a reference marker like [^1] in the text, then define it anywhere in the document. GitHub collects footnotes at the bottom of the page and links them both ways.

Markdown was created in 2004.[^1]

[^1]: By John Gruber, with Aaron Swartz.

Alerts

A blockquote whose first line is one of five special tags renders as a colored callout box. The five types: [!NOTE], [!TIP], [!IMPORTANT], [!WARNING], [!CAUTION].

> [!NOTE]
> Useful information users should know.

> [!WARNING]
> Critical content demanding attention.

Emoji shortcodes

Type a colon, the emoji name, and a closing colon. GitHub replaces the shortcode with the emoji.

Shipped! :tada: :rocket:

Mentions and references

On GitHub, @username mentions a user (and notifies them), and #123 auto-links to issue or pull request 123. These only work on github.com itself.

Common Markdown Mistakes

Five errors behind most “my Markdown isn’t rendering” moments:

Markdown Cheat Sheet FAQ

Quick answers to the questions people actually ask about Markdown syntax.