Markdown Syntax Cheatsheet

A complete reference guide to Markdown syntax. Markdown is a lightweight markup language that lets you format plain text using simple symbols. It was created by John Gruber in 2004 and has since become the standard for writing documentation, README files, forum posts, and more. This guide covers the original Markdown specification plus widely-supported extensions.

Headings

Create headings by starting a line with one or more # symbols. The number of hashes determines the heading level (1 through 6).

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

You can also create level 1 and 2 headings by underlining text with = or - characters:

Heading 1
=========

Heading 2
---------

Best practice: Always put a space between the # and the heading text, and leave a blank line before and after each heading for readability.

Text Formatting

Markdown supports several inline text formatting styles that you can combine freely.

Style	Syntax	Result
Bold	`bold text`	bold text
Italic	`italic text`	italic text
Bold + Italic	`*bold italic*`	*bold italic*
Strikethrough	`~~deleted text~~`	~~deleted text~~
Inline code	`code`	`code`
Highlight	`==highlighted==`	highlighted
Subscript	`H~2~O`	H₂O
Superscript	`X^2^`	X²

Paragraphs and Line Breaks

To create a new paragraph, separate text with a blank line. Single line breaks within a paragraph are typically joined into one continuous line. To force a line break without creating a new paragraph, end a line with two spaces or use a backslash (\).

This is the first paragraph.

This is the second paragraph.

This line has a forced break\
and continues on the next line.

Links

Markdown supports several link formats for different use cases.

Inline Links

[Link text](https://example.com)
[Link with title](https://example.com "Hover title")

Reference Links

Reference-style links separate the URL from the text, making documents cleaner when the same URL appears multiple times:

[Link text][ref-id]

[ref-id]: https://example.com "Optional title"

Autolinks

Wrap a URL or email in angle brackets to create a clickable link automatically:

<https://example.com>
<[email protected]>

Images

Image syntax is identical to links but prefixed with an exclamation mark. The text inside the brackets becomes the alt text for accessibility.

![Alt text](image-url.png)
![Alt text](image-url.png "Optional title")


![Alt text][img-ref]

[img-ref]: image-url.png "Title"

To make an image a clickable link, wrap the image syntax inside link syntax:

[![Alt text](image.png)](https://example.com)

Lists

Unordered Lists

Create bullet lists with -, *, or + followed by a space:

- First item
- Second item
  - Nested item
  - Another nested item
- Third item

Ordered Lists

Use numbers followed by a period. The actual numbers don't matter — Markdown will number them sequentially:

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

Task Lists

Create interactive checkboxes (supported on GitHub, GitLab, and most modern renderers):

- [x] Completed task
- [x] Another completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task
- [ ] Another incomplete task

Blockquotes

Prefix lines with > to create blockquotes. You can nest them and include other Markdown formatting inside:

> This is a blockquote.
>
> It can span multiple paragraphs.

> Nested blockquotes:
>> Second level
>>> Third level

Code

Inline Code

Wrap text in single backticks for inline code. Use double backticks if your code contains a backtick:

Use `console.log()` to debug.
Use ``code with a ` backtick`` inside.

Fenced Code Blocks

Use triple backticks or triple tildes for multi-line code blocks. Add a language identifier for syntax highlighting:

```javascript
function greet(name) {
  return `Hello, ${name}!`;
}
```

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

Common language identifiers: javascript, python, typescript, html, css, bash, json, sql, go, rust, java, c, cpp.

Indented Code Blocks

Indent lines by 4 spaces or 1 tab to create a code block (no syntax highlighting):

    function example() {
      return true;
    }

Tables

Create tables using pipes (|) and hyphens (-). Use colons for alignment:

| Left-aligned | Center-aligned | Right-aligned |
| :----------- | :------------: | ------------: |
| Cell 1       | Cell 2         | Cell 3        |
| Cell 4       | Cell 5         | Cell 6        |

The outer pipes are optional, and columns don't need to be perfectly aligned in your source — but aligning them makes the source easier to read. You can use our Markdown Table Generator to create tables visually.

Horizontal Rules

Create a horizontal divider with three or more hyphens, asterisks, or underscores on their own line:

---
***
___

Footnotes

Add footnotes to provide additional context without cluttering the main text:

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

[^1]: This is the footnote content.

You can also use multi-paragraph footnotes.[^note]

[^note]:
    First paragraph of the footnote.

    Second paragraph of the footnote.

Definition Lists

Some Markdown processors support definition lists for glossary-style content:

Term 1
: Definition for term 1

Term 2
: First definition for term 2
: Second definition for term 2

Escaping Characters

Use a backslash (\) to display literal characters that would otherwise be interpreted as Markdown formatting:

\* Not italic \*
\# Not a heading
\[Not a link\](url)
\`Not code\`

Characters you can escape: \ ` * _ {} [] () # + - . ! |

HTML in Markdown

Most Markdown processors allow inline HTML for cases where Markdown syntax falls short:

This is a <sup>superscript</sup> example.

<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>

Hidden content here. You can use **Markdown** inside HTML blocks.

</details>

However, be aware that HTML support varies by platform. GitHub, for example, sanitizes some HTML tags for security.

Extended Syntax Comparison

Not all Markdown features are universally supported. Here's what to expect across common platforms:

Feature	CommonMark	GitHub (GFM)	MD Viewer
Tables	No	Yes	Yes
Task lists	No	Yes	Yes
Strikethrough	No	Yes	Yes
Footnotes	No	Yes	Yes
LaTeX math	No	Yes	Yes
Mermaid diagrams	No	Yes	Yes
Syntax highlighting	No	Yes	Yes
Autolinks	Yes	Yes	Yes
Highlight (==)	No	No	Yes

Try it out — paste any Markdown into MD Viewer and see it rendered instantly with syntax highlighting, math, and diagrams.

Open MD Viewer