How to Use Markdown for Writing

Master Markdown syntax for formatting text. Learn headers, lists, links, code blocks, and tables to write clean, structured documents efficiently.

1. Create headers with hash symbols. Type one to six hash symbols followed by a space and your header text. Use # for the largest header (H1), ## for H2, ### for H3, and so on. Each additional hash creates a smaller header level.
2. Format text with asterisks and underscores. Wrap text in single asterisks or underscores for *italic* formatting. Use double asterisks or underscores for **bold** text. Combine them for ***bold italic*** formatting by using three asterisks or underscores.
3. Create lists with dashes or numbers. Start unordered list items with a dash, asterisk, or plus sign followed by a space. For ordered lists, use numbers followed by a period and space. Indent items with four spaces or a tab to create nested lists.
4. Add links and images with brackets. Create links by wrapping link text in square brackets followed by the URL in parentheses: [link text](http://example.com). For images, add an exclamation mark before the brackets: .
5. Insert code with backticks. Wrap inline code with single backticks: `code here`. For code blocks, use three backticks on separate lines before and after your code. Add a language name after the opening backticks for syntax highlighting.
6. Build tables with pipes and dashes. Separate table columns with pipe symbols and create headers by adding a row of dashes below. Align columns by adding colons to the dash row: left (:--), center (:--:), or right (--:) alignment.
7. Preview your Markdown output. Use a Markdown editor like Typora, Mark Text, or online tools like Dillinger to see live previews. Most code editors including VS Code offer Markdown preview extensions. GitHub and Reddit also render Markdown in real-time.