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 1	`# Heading`	Heading 1
Heading 2	`## Heading`	Heading 2
Heading 3	`### Heading`	Heading 3
Heading 4	`#### Heading`	Heading 4
Heading 5	`##### Heading`	Heading 5
Heading 6	`###### Heading`	Heading 6
Line break	two trailing spaces or `\`	line one line two
Bold	`text`	text
Italic	`text`	text
Strikethrough	`~~text~~`	~~text~~
Ordered list	`1. item`	item
Unordered list	`- item`	item
Image	`![alt](url)`	🐱
Basic link	`<https://url>`	https://url
Link text	`[text](url)`	text
Reference link	`[text][id]`	text
Inline code	`code`	`code`
Code block	``` … ```	`code`
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>…`	Show hidden

Colours

Common colours can be referred to by name in the <span style="color:...">...</span> tags.

red

maroon

orange

gold

yellow

olive

lime

green

teal

aqua

blue

navy

purple

magenta

pink

brown

black

gray

silver

white

Other colours can be referenced by their HTML colour code. Click on a colour to copy the colour code to your clipboard.

#000

#030

#060

#090

#0c0

#0f0

#300

#330

#360

#390

#3c0

#3f0

#600

#630

#660

#690

#6c0

#6f0

#900

#930

#960

#990

#9c0

#9f0

#c00

#c30

#c60

#c90

#cc0

#cf0

#f00

#f30

#f60

#f90

#fc0

#ff0

#003

#033

#063

#093

#0c3

#0f3

#303

#333

#363

#393

#3c3

#3f3

#603

#633

#663

#693

#6c3

#6f3

#903

#933

#963

#993

#9c3

#9f3

#c03

#c33

#c63

#c93

#cc3

#cf3

#f03

#f33

#f63

#f93

#fc3

#ff3

#006

#036

#066

#096

#0c6

#0f6

#306

#336

#366

#396

#3c6

#3f6

#606

#636

#666

#696

#6c6

#6f6

#906

#936

#966

#996

#9c6

#9f6

#c06

#c36

#c66

#c96

#cc6

#cf6

#f06

#f36

#f66

#f96

#fc6

#ff6

#009

#039

#069

#099

#0c9

#0f9

#309

#339

#369

#399

#3c9

#3f9

#609

#639

#669

#699

#6c9

#6f9

#909

#939

#969

#999

#9c9

#9f9

#c09

#c39

#c69

#c99

#cc9

#cf9

#f09

#f39

#f69

#f99

#fc9

#ff9

#00c

#03c

#06c

#09c

#0cc

#0fc

#30c

#33c

#36c

#39c

#3cc

#3fc

#60c

#63c

#66c

#69c

#6cc

#6fc

#90c

#93c

#96c

#99c

#9cc

#9fc

#c0c

#c3c

#c6c

#c9c

#ccc

#cfc

#f0c

#f3c

#f6c

#f9c

#fcc

#ffc

#00f

#03f

#06f

#09f

#0cf

#0ff

#30f

#33f

#36f

#39f

#3cf

#3ff

#60f

#63f

#66f

#69f

#6cf

#6ff

#90f

#93f

#96f

#99f

#9cf

#9ff

#c0f

#c3f

#c6f

#c9f

#ccf

#cff

#f0f

#f3f

#f6f

#f9f

#fcf

#fff

Escaping & special characters

To show a character that Markdown would otherwise interpret, put a backslash before it. The following can all be escaped:

Character	Escaped
`\` backslash	`\\`
` backtick	\`
`*` asterisk	`\*`
`_` underscore	`\_`
`{` left brace	`\{`
`}` right brace	`\}`
`[` left bracket	`\[`
`]` right bracket	`\]`

Character	Escaped
`(` left parenthesis	`\(`
`)` right parenthesis	`\)`
`#` hash	`\#`
`+` plus	`\+`
`-` minus	`\-`
`.` dot	`\.`
`!` exclamation mark	`\!`
`\|` pipe	`\\|`

So \*literal asterisks\* renders as *literal asterisks* rather than italic text.

Ready for more? See what the extensions add, or pick an editor from the tools directory.

Markdown cheat sheet

Quick reference

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Colours

Escaping & special characters