Markdown cheat sheet
Every core element and its syntax on one page. For worked examples of each, see Markdown basics.
Quick reference
| Element | Syntax | Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | ||
| Heading | # H1 … ###### H6 | Heading |
| Line break | two trailing spaces or \ | line one line two |
| Bold | **text** | text |
| Italic | *text* | text |
| Strikethrough | ~~text~~ | |
| Ordered list | 1. item |
|
| Unordered list | - item |
|
| Image |  | 🐱 |
| Link | [text](url) | text |
| Inline code | `code` | code |
| Code block | ``` … ``` | |
| Blockquote | > quote | quote |
| Horizontal rule | --- | |
| Advanced | ||
| Underline | <u>text</u> | text |
| Colour | <span style="color:red">text</span> | text |
| Comment | <!-- note --> | nothing shown |
| Image width | <img src="…" width="300"> | 🐱 |
| Accordion | <details><summary>… | Showhidden |
Escaping & special characters
To show a character that Markdown would otherwise interpret, put a backslash before it. The following can all be escaped:
\ ` * _ { } [ ] ( ) # + - . ! |So \*literal asterisks\* renders as *literal asterisks* rather than italic
text.
You can also insert a character by its HTML entity, such as © for ©
and → for →.
Ready for more? See what the extensions add, or pick an editor from the tools directory.