Markdown Format Online



Free, open-source, full-featured Markdown editor. Synchronization is one of the biggest features of StackEdit. It enables you to synchronize any file in your workspace with other files stored in your Google Drive, your Dropbox and your GitHub accounts. This allows you to keep writing on other devices, collaborate with people you share the file with, integrate easily into your workflow. Markdown Editor is Markdown text editor online which helps user to test and view Markdown online. What can you do with Markdown Playground Online? This tool helps you to edit your Markdown lightweight markup language with HTML View. This tool allows loading the Markdown URL, Edit loaded markdown and preview in HTML. Select the markdown format you want from the Formatinput box. Select the format option you want from the Format Optionsinput box. Enter or paste the text in the Input Detailsinput box. StackEdit is one of the most popular open-source online Markdown editors available. R Markdown supports a reproducible workflow for dozens of static and dynamic output formats including HTML, PDF, MS Word, Beamer, HTML5 slides, Tufte-style handouts, books, dashboards, shiny applications, scientific articles, websites, and more.

  1. Markdown Format Online Converter
  2. Markdown Format Online Word
  3. Markdown Table Format Online
  4. Markdown Format Online Application

When we read texts – whether online, in a newspaper or a printed book – we expect a certain format. Particularly important words are set in bold, a heading stands out from the rest of the test, and a structured list makes the text clearer. We consider this formatting to be obvious – and when we write a text on the PC ourselves, we can usually do so without any problems: from adjusting the font size and adding bullet points to making words bold. Any word processing program offers users a wide range of options for arranging their text.

But this is by no means a matter of course. Generally, in these situations you mark the text and the software then displays it how you wish. You don’t actually get to see the source text itself, including the markup elements (markers), with Word and similar programs. And if you did, you probably wouldn’t know what to do with it: This code can scarcely be read by people.

Languages like HTML or LaTeX can be written with any text editor, but they aren’t easy for people to decipher. The simplified markup language Markdown seeks to change exactly that. It wants the best of both worlds: to be understandable for both people and machines. Markdown uses self-explanatory elements to format the text. This means the text is relatively easy for people to read.

  1. Markdown tutorial: The right syntax for your documents

What is Markdown used for?

Just like HTML or LaTeX, Markdown is a markup language. In contrast to these examples, however, Markdown aims to be as easy as possible for people to read. Each markup element is closely related to the actual meaning, rather than being abstract. This can be shown most easily with an example: If you want to highlight a word in bold in HTML, you can either use the '<b>' or the '<strong>' tags.

If you write a document in LaTeX, use the element textbf (in continuous text mode).

Although both can be read relatively easily, they are harder to write – particularly when it comes to longer texts. Markdown simplifies this by marking bold passages with asterisks.

On the one hand, this version is easier to read as the asterisks make the bold text clear, and on the other hand, the four characters can be typed much quicker than tags. Even without converting (i.e. in plain text), a reader can easily determine what the author means – even without understanding the Markdown syntax.

This makes Markdown appealing particularly to users who don’t have a background in IT or web design skills, but still want to write texts for the internet regularly : for example, bloggers who work with a content management system (CMS). But even tech-savvy people resort to Markdown for writing simple texts. For instance, some programmers use the Markdown language to write supporting documents (e.g. readme files) that aren’t converted. Whether the user opens the text in a Markdown viewer or reads it in its raw state, there’s barely a difference in terms of readability.

For the most well-known CMSs like WordPress or Joomla, there are plugins that enable systems to understand Markdown. Many wikis, forums (such as reddit), and the website generator Jekyll can also work with the simplified markup language.

Markup languages are not considered to be programming languages. The former are only intended to define how a text is to be structured. Conversely, programming languages are characterized by loops and variables, forming the basis for writing software.

Markdown does not attempt to replace HTML – its creative possibilities are far too limited in any case. The developers of the language instead view Markdown as a complement. It’s possible to insert HTML elements into a Markdown document, thereby expanding the range of the relatively basic language. However, the Markdown language is intended primarily to simplify writing (especially online). When Markdown documents are converted by the parser, documents such as HTML documents are created to enable display in browsers.

The name “Markdown” is a play on words. Although a member of the “markup languages,” the name Markdown makes it clear that it concerns a down-scaled language.

Markdown tutorial: The right syntax for your documents

Since Markdown aims to be as simple a markup language as possible, the Markdown syntax is also virtually self-explanatory. Nonetheless, you first need to familiarize yourself with the markup elements before you can use it. We’ve compiled the most important functions for you.

Bold & italics

Markdown makes it especially easy to create bold and italicized text. Only asterisks are required to this end. To write in italics, add an asterisk before and after the word or words. For bold text, use two asterisks – and if you want a text to be both bold and italicized, three asterisks are necessary. Alternatively, you can use underscores.

Strikethroughs

In order to create a crossed-out text, use the tilde in Markdown twice in a row, followed by the respective text and then another two tildes.

Text can’t be underlined in Markdown. Although this is possible using the '<u>' tags in HTML, it’s usually inadvisable to do so. That’s because underlined text is used for hyperlinks online and it’s best to avoid confusing the two uses.

Headings

To create a heading in Markdown, a pound sign is typically used. It’s inserted with a space before the corresponding text. To create headings that are lower in the hierarchy and thus smaller, extra pound signs are added. This enables up to six levels of headings, just like in HTML.

Some users also insert pound signs after the headings. This can increase the readability but is not technically required. These signs are simply ignored in the conversion process.

Alternatively, equals signs and hyphens can be used to mark headings. These are inserted in the line below the actual heading. This option only allows you to create two different sizes of headings. One sign per heading is plenty, although multiple consecutive signs can often be seen. This is purely based on visual reasons since it looks as if the text is underlined once or twice.

Paragraphs

The Markdown language works with hard line breaks to separate paragraphs from each other. To create a completely new block of text (

tag), simply add an empty line. Important note: for Markdown, it’s sufficient if the line is visually empty. So if the line contains white spaces like tabs or spaces, the parser will ignore them and consider the line to be empty. If you want to create a line break like the
tag, add two spaces at the end of a line. Download games for macbook pro.

Quotes

In Markdown, quotes in a certain part of the text are indicated using a blockquote element. The greater-than sign is used for this purpose (>). You have the option to either mark each individual line with this sign or to insert it only at the beginning of the paragraph and to end the indented passage with an empty line. Additional formatting elements are possible in the blockquote element.

Lists

To create an unsorted list in Markdown, you can use either the plus sign, the hyphen or an asterisk. All three ways produce the same result.

Conversely, a sorted list is generated by a number directly followed by a period.

Interestingly, the actual number is irrelevant in Markdown. Even if you write “first” three times or start with “third”, the Markdown language will always begin the list with the correct number.

Markdown also gives you the option of creating checklists. These appear with a box that can be activated by clicking on it. You can also add a checkmark when creating the list. To do so, insert square brackets and an X.

It’s important that you remember to leave a space between the square brackets for empty checkboxes. Otherwise, Markdown won’t recognize your text as a list.

Code

To mark a text as code in Markdown, a backtick – also known as an accent grave – is used (not to be confused with a simple quotation mark). The text is marked with a backtick at the start and end of the relevant passage. This enables source code or software commands to be incorporated directly into the running text.

When writing the code, take care not to accidentally insert an accent grave: à. This occurs automatically when you type a vowel after the sign. You can avoid this problem by first pressing the space bar after the backtick and then writing the vowel.

If a backtick is used in your code example itself, you can also use the sign twice at the beginning of the code section. In this case, Markdown will not interpret the simple backtick as an instruction.

To mark an entire block as source code, you can either use a tab or four spaces – for each line. You can indent the selected lines further by adding more tabs or spaces.

If you’d prefer to use signs to start and end code blocks, you can also mark the corresponding passage with three backticks at the start and at the end. Here you also have the option – at least with many Markdown editors – to create color highlights automatically. To do so, enter the language of the following source code after the three introductory backticks.

Images & hyperlinks

Markdown can likewise be used to integrate images and hyperlinks in your text. Both are created with a combination of square and round brackets. You can generate a link by placing the anchor text – i.e. the words or phrases visible in the text – in square brackets and inserting the URL in round brackets directly afterwards. If you’d like to give the hyperlink an optional title that the user can see in the mouseover, this is also possible: Enter the text in the round brackets, separated from the URL with a space and put in double quotation marks.

If you want to include a URL or an email address in the normal running text, most Markdown editors automatically create a clickable hyperlink. But to make sure this happens, you can insert a less-than and greater-than sign. To prevent this automatic editor feature, however, you should mark the URL as code and use backticks again.

As with hyperlinks, images can also be added to the Markdown document. To add images, start with an exclamation mark. Afterwards again insert square brackets which contain the alternative text for the image and round brackets with the image URL. This is then directly displayed in the text.

Of course, you can also link to HTML pages or images on your own server. If the current document is located on the same server, relative paths suffice.

Images and hyperlinks can also be combined. To create a clickable link behind an image, you can nest the two functions together. In this case, the image becomes the anchor text and thus appears in the square brackets.

Tables

Format

Pipes (|) allow tables to be drawn in Markdown. Each cell is separated by a pipe. To create the header rows that are visually distinct from the rest of the content, you highlight the corresponding cells with hyphens.

In principle, it’s not important that the pipes are located one below the other. This only increases the readability when the Markdown document is viewed in its raw version. The same applies to pipes located to the side. These are likewise inconsequential for the compiling process.

Footnotes

Markdown gives you the option of inserting footnotes. You can write a reference number in the running text and link to the footnote at the end of the page – a corresponding line is created automatically. The reference number is also formatted as a hyperlink. Clicking on it leads directly to the relevant footnote. To use this automatic function, you should first insert the reference number after the respective word. In square brackets, you first write a circumflex and then the number.

The number you use (other terms are also possible) does not matter. Just like when creating lists, Markdown automatically performs the counting for you. However, it’s important that you correctly link to the reference again for the footnote. Add the same number to a new line with a circumflex in a bracket, insert a colon and then write the actual footnote. It can also be fully formatted and encompass multiple lines.

You can actually add the note anywhere in the text. Markdown will always display it at the end of the document. To close the note and return to the actual running text, insert an empty line.

& and <>

Since Markdown is closely related to HTML, the “and” symbol as well as the less-than and greater-than sign deserve special attention. These signs are used in HTML to open and close tags (<>) or to work with entities (&). But if you want to use the signs for their original purpose, they have to be masked in HTML: &, < and >. In general, there’s no reason in Markdown why you can’t use the signs “as they are”. However, since users have the possibility of mixing up Markdown with HTML, this is more complicated in practice. The parser understands when you want the simple characters and when you want HTML code so you don’t need to solve this problem yourself.

Backslash masking

Besides the specific characters involved in HTML, Markdown also uses certain symbols as markups. When you insert them, the parser will respond to them during conversion. This pertains to the following signs:

  • Asterisk: *
  • Hyphen: -
  • Underscore: _
  • Round brackets: ()
  • Square brackets: []
  • Curly brackets: {}
  • Period: .
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Pound: #
  • Accent grave: `
  • Backslash:

To use these signs for their original purpose, simply add a backslash in front of them. Important: The backslash must be entered before each individual sign, i.e. before an opening bracket and before a closing bracket.

Would you like to try Markdown yourself? Find out which program is right for your system in our article on Markdown editors.

Related articles

Overview

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.

Headings

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).

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
# Heading level 1<h1>Heading level 1</h1>
## Heading level 2<h2>Heading level 2</h2>

Heading level 2

### Heading level 3<h3>Heading level 3</h3>

Heading level 3

#### Heading level 4<h4>Heading level 4</h4>

Heading level 4

##### Heading level 5<h5>Heading level 5</h5>
Heading level 5
###### Heading level 6<h6>Heading level 6</h6>
Heading level 6

Alternate Syntax

Alternatively, on the line below the text, add any number of characters for heading level 1 or -- characters for heading level 2.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
Heading level 1
<h1>Heading level 1</h1>
Heading level 2
---------------
<h2>Heading level 2</h2>

Heading level 2

Heading Best Practices

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

Paragraphs

To create paragraphs, use a blank line to separate one or more lines of text.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
I really like using Markdown.
I think I'll use it to format all of my documents from now on.
<p>I really like using Markdown.</p>
<p>I think I'll use it to format all of my documents from now on.</p>

I really like using Markdown.

I think I'll use it to format all of my documents from now on.

Paragraph Best Practices

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.
Keep lines left-aligned like this.
This can result in unexpected formatting problems.
Don't add tabs or spaces in front of paragraphs.

Line Breaks

To create a line break (<br>), end a line with two or more spaces, and then type return.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
This is the first line.
And this is the second line.
<p>This is the first line.<br>
And this is the second line.</p>

This is the first line.
And this is the second line.

Line Break Best Practices

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. Fortunately, there is another option supported by nearly every Markdown application: 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.
And the next line.
First line with the HTML tag after.<br>
And the next line.
First line with a backslash after.
And the next line.
First line with nothing after.
And the next line.

Emphasis

You can add emphasis by making text bold or italic.

Bold

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.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
I just love **bold text**.I just love <strong>bold text</strong>.I just love bold text.
I just love __bold text__.I just love <strong>bold text</strong>.I just love bold text.
Love**is**boldLove<strong>is</strong>boldLoveisbold

Bold Best Practices

Format

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

Italic

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.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
Italicized text is the *cat's meow*.Italicized text is the <em>cat's meow</em>.Italicized text is the cat’s meow.
Italicized text is the _cat's meow_.Italicized text is the <em>cat's meow</em>.Italicized text is the cat’s meow.
A*cat*meowA<em>cat</em>meowAcatmeow

Italic Best Practices

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

Bold and Italic

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.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
This text is ***really important***.This text is <strong><em>really important</em></strong>.This text is really important.
This text is ___really important___.This text is <strong><em>really important</em></strong>.This text is really important.
This text is __*really important*__.This text is <strong><em>really important</em></strong>.This text is really important.
This text is **_really important_**.This text is <strong><em>really important</em></strong>.This text is really important.
This is really***very***important text.This is really<strong><em>very</em></strong>important text.This is reallyveryimportant text.

Bold and Italic Best Practices

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
This is really***very***important text. This is really___very___important text.

Blockquotes

To create a blockquote, add a > in front of a paragraph.

The rendered output looks like this:

Dorothy followed her through many of the beautiful rooms in her castle.

Blockquotes with Multiple Paragraphs

Blockquotes can contain multiple paragraphs. Add a > on the blank lines between the paragraphs.

The rendered output looks like this:

Dorothy followed her through many of the beautiful rooms in her castle.

The Witch bade her clean the pots and kettles and sweep the floor and keep the fire fed with wood.

Nested Blockquotes

Blockquotes can be nested. Add a >> in front of the paragraph you want to nest.

The rendered output looks like this:

Dorothy followed her through many of the beautiful rooms in her castle.

The Witch bade her clean the pots and kettles and sweep the floor and keep the fire fed with wood.

Blockquotes with Other Elements

Blockquotes can contain other Markdown formatted elements. Not all elements can be used — you’ll need to experiment to see which ones work.

The rendered output looks like this:

The quarterly results look great!

  • Revenue was off the chart.
  • Profits were higher than ever.

Everything is going according to plan.

Lists

You can organize items into ordered and unordered lists.

Ordered 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.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
4. Fourth item
<ol>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ol>
  1. First item
  2. Second item
  3. Third item
  4. Fourth item
1. First item
1. Second item
1. Third item
1. Fourth item
<ol>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ol>
  1. First item
  2. Second item
  3. Third item
  4. Fourth item
1. First item
8. Second item
3. Third item
5. Fourth item
<ol>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ol>
  1. First item
  2. Second item
  3. Third item
  4. Fourth item
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
1. Indented item
2. Indented item
4. Fourth item
<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>
  1. First item
  2. Second item
  3. Third item
    1. Indented item
    2. Indented item
  4. Fourth item

Ordered List Best Practices

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
2. Second item
1) First item
2) Second item

Unordered Lists

To create an unordered list, add dashes (-), asterisks (*), or plus signs (+) in front of line items. Indent one or more items to create a nested list.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Fourth item
<ul>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ul>
  • First item
  • Second item
  • Third item
  • Fourth item
* First item
* Second item
* Third item
* Fourth item
<ul>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ul>
  • First item
  • Second item
  • Third item
  • Fourth item
+ First item
+ Second item
+ Third item
+ Fourth item
<ul>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Second item</li>
<li>Third item</li>
<li>Fourth item</li>
</ul>
  • First item
  • Second item
  • Third item
  • Fourth item
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Indented item
- Indented item
- Fourth item
<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>
  • First item
  • Second item
  • Third item
    • Indented item
    • Indented item
  • Fourth item

Starting Unordered List Items With Numbers

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.

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
- 1968. A great year!
- I think 1969 was second best.
<ul>
<li>1968. A great year!</li>
<li>I think 1969 was second best.</li>
</ul>
  • 1968. A great year!
  • I think 1969 was second best.

Unordered List Best Practices

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
- Second item
- Third item
- Fourth item
+ First item
* Second item
- Third item
+ Fourth item

Adding Elements in Lists

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.

Paragraphs

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.

Blockquotes

The rendered output looks like this:

  • This is the first list item.
  • Here’s the second list item.

    A blockquote would look great below the second list item.

  • And here’s the third list item.

Code Blocks

Code blocks are normally indented four spaces or one tab. When they’re in a list, indent them eight spaces or two tabs.

The rendered output looks like this:

  1. Open the file.
  2. Find the following code block on line 21:

  3. Update the title to match the name of your website.

Images

The rendered output looks like this:

  1. Open the file containing the Linux mascot.
  2. Marvel at its beauty.

  3. Close the file.

Lists

You can nest an unordered list in an ordered list, or vice versa.

The rendered output looks like this:

  1. First item
  2. Second item
  3. Third item
    • Indented item
    • Indented item
  4. Fourth item

Code

To denote a word or phrase as code, enclose it in backticks (`).

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
At the command prompt, type `nano`.At the command prompt, type <code>nano</code>. At the command prompt, type nano.

Escaping Backticks

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 (``).

MarkdownHTMLRendered Output
``Use `code` in your Markdown file.``<code>Use `code` in your Markdown file.</code>Use `code` in your Markdown file.

Code Blocks

To create code blocks, indent every line of the block by at least four spaces or one tab.

The rendered output looks like this:

Note: To create code blocks without indenting lines, use fenced code blocks.

Horizontal Rules

To create a horizontal rule, use three or more asterisks (***), dashes (---), or underscores (___) on a line by themselves.

The rendered output of all three looks identical:

Horizontal Rule Best Practices

Markdown Format Online Converter

For compatibility, put blank lines before and after horizontal rules.

✅ Do this❌ Don't do this
Try to put a blank line before..
---
..and after a horizontal rule.
Without blank lines, this would be a heading.
---
Don't do this!

Links

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)).

The rendered output looks like this:

My favorite search engine is Duck Duck Go.

Adding Titles

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.

The rendered output looks like this:

My favorite search engine is Duck Duck Go.

URLs and Email Addresses

To quickly turn a URL or email address into a link, enclose it in angle brackets.

The rendered output looks like this:

https://www.markdownguide.org
fake@example.com

Formatting Links

To emphasize links, add asterisks before and after the brackets and parentheses. To denote links as code, add backticks in the brackets.

The rendered output looks like this:

I love supporting the EFF.
This is the Markdown Guide.
See the section on code.

Reference-style Links

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.

Formatting the First Part of the Link

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. 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 roughly equivalent for the first part of the link:

  • [hobbit-hole][1]
  • [hobbit-hole] [1]

Formatting the Second Part of the Link

The second part of a reference-style link is formatted with the following attributes:

  1. The label, in brackets, followed immediately by a colon and at least one space (e.g., [label]: ).
  2. The URL for the link, which you can optionally enclose in angle brackets.
  3. 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:

  • [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle
  • [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle 'Hobbit lifestyles'
  • [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle 'Hobbit lifestyles'
  • [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle (Hobbit lifestyles)
  • [1]: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle> 'Hobbit lifestyles'
  • [1]: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit#Lifestyle> 'Hobbit lifestyles'
  • [1]: <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).

An Example Putting the Parts Together

Say you add a URL as a standard URL link to a paragraph and it looks like this in Markdown:

Though it may point to interesting additional information, the URL as displayed really doesn’t add much to the existing raw text other than making it harder to read. To fix that, you could format the URL like this instead:

In both instances above, the rendered output would be 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.

and the HTML for the link would be: Java virtual machine download mac os x.

Link Best Practices

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❌ Don't do this
[link](https://www.example.com/my%20great%20page) [link](https://www.example.com/my great page)

Images

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.

The rendered output looks like this:

Linking Images

To add a link to an image, enclose the Markdown for the image in brackets, and then add the link in parentheses.

The rendered output looks like this:

Escaping Characters

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.

The rendered output looks like this:

* Without the backslash, this would be a bullet in an unordered list.

Characters You Can Escape

You can use a backslash to escape the following characters.

CharacterName
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
|pipe (see also escaping pipe in tables)

HTML

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.

The rendered output looks like this:

This word is bold. This word is italic.

HTML Best Practices

Markdown Format Online Word

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.

Markdown Table Format Online

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.

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Markdown Format Online Application

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