Markdown Cheat Sheet: Syntax & Examples

Markdown is a lightweight way to format plain text using simple punctuation marks instead of buttons or menus. It powers README files, GitHub issues and comments, chat apps, static-site content, and countless documentation tools. This cheat sheet collects the syntax you’ll actually use, grouped by task, with copy-ready examples. Each table shows the literal characters you type — note that a single line break is usually ignored, so leave a blank line between paragraphs.

Headings

Headings run from level 1 (largest) to level 6 (smallest). Put a space after the # characters, and many parsers prefer a blank line before and after a heading.

Element	Markdown	Result
Heading 1	# Heading 1	Largest, top-level title
Heading 2	## Heading 2	Section heading
Heading 3	### Heading 3	Sub-section heading
Heading 4	#### Heading 4	Smaller heading
Heading 5	##### Heading 5	Smaller still
Heading 6	###### Heading 6	Smallest heading

Bold, italic & strikethrough

You can mark text inline. Asterisks and underscores both work for bold and italic; pick one and stay consistent.

Element	Markdown	Result
Italic	*italic* or _italic_	italic
Bold	**bold** or __bold__	bold
Bold + italic	***bold italic***	bold italic
Strikethrough	~~struck out~~	struck out

Lists (unordered, ordered, nested)

Use -, *, or + for bullet points, and numbers followed by a period for ordered lists. Indent with spaces (two or four) to nest items.

Element	Markdown
Unordered item	- First item
Unordered (alt markers)	* Item or + Item
Ordered item	1. First item
Nested item	- Indented sub-item

A nested example, written out:

- Fruit
    - Apple
    - Orange
1. Step one
2. Step two
    1. Sub-step

Note: most renderers auto-number ordered lists, so you can write 1. on every line and it will still count up correctly.

Links & images

Links wrap the text in square brackets and the URL in parentheses. Images use the same pattern with a leading !, where the bracketed text becomes the alt text.

Element	Markdown
Inline link	[link text](https://example.com)
Link with title	[link text](https://example.com "Hover title")
Reference link	[link text][ref] then [ref]: https://example.com
Bare URL (autolink)	<https://example.com>
Image	
Image with title	
Linked image	[](https://example.com)

Inline code & code blocks

Wrap inline code in single backticks. For multi-line blocks, use triple backticks (a “fence”) or indent every line by four spaces. Adding a language name after the opening fence enables syntax highlighting on most platforms.

Element	Markdown
Inline code	`inline code`
Fenced code block	```code``` (on its own lines)
Fenced with language	```js … ```
Indented code block	four leading spaces before each line

A fenced block with a language fence looks like this:

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

Tip: to show a literal backtick inside inline code, wrap it in a longer run of backticks, like code .

Blockquotes

Start a line with > to quote it. Add another > to nest quotes, and you can place other elements (lists, headings) inside a quote.

Element	Markdown	Result
Blockquote	> Quoted text	> Quoted text
Nested blockquote	>> Nested quote	A quote inside a quote
Multi-paragraph quote	> Para one then > then > Para two	Two quoted paragraphs

Tables

Tables use pipes | to separate columns and a row of dashes --- to split the header from the body. Colons in the divider row set column alignment. The pipes don’t need to line up perfectly — the example below is spaced only for readability.

Element	Markdown
Header row	`
Divider row	`
Data row	`
Left align	`
Center align	`
Right align	`

A complete table written out:

| Name  | Role    |
| :---- | ------: |
| Ada   | Author  |
| Linus | Builder |

Horizontal rules

A horizontal rule draws a divider line across the page. Use three or more of the same character on a line by itself, with a blank line above and below.

Element	Markdown	Result
Rule (dashes)	---	A horizontal divider
Rule (asterisks)	***	A horizontal divider
Rule (underscores)	___	A horizontal divider

Task lists

Task lists (checkboxes) are a GitHub Flavored Markdown feature, handy for to-do items in issues and pull requests. They’re an unordered list with [ ] or [x] after the marker.

Element	Markdown	Result
Unchecked task	- [ ] To do	An empty checkbox
Checked task	- [x] Done	A ticked checkbox

Tips & flavors

• Flavors differ. Markdown has several dialects. The original is CommonMark; GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) extends it with tables, task lists, strikethrough, and automatic linking of URLs. Tools like GitLab, Reddit, Discord, and various static-site generators each support slightly different subsets.
• Rendering varies by platform. A feature that works on GitHub may not work in a basic editor, and vice versa — when in doubt, preview your text where it will actually be published.
• Raw HTML often works. Many parsers let you drop in HTML (for example <br> for a hard line break or <sub> / <sup>) when Markdown alone can’t express what you need, though some platforms strip it for safety.
• Escape special characters with a backslash — for example \*not italic\* renders the asterisks literally instead of turning the text italic.