Markdown Cheat Sheet: The Complete Reference

Why Markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight markup language used by GitHub, Reddit, Notion, Slack, and thousands of other platforms. Learn it once, use it everywhere.

Basic Formatting

bold text
*italic text*
~~strikethrough~~
\inline code\

Headings

# Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
#### Heading 4

Use only one H1 per document. Structure your content with H2 and H3.

Links and Images

Link text
Link with title
![Alt text](image-url.jpg)

Lists

Unordered

- Item one
Item two
  - Nested item

  - Another nested item
Item three

Ordered

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Task Lists

- [x] Completed task
☐ Pending task
☐ Another pending task

Code Blocks

Inline: wrap with single backticks

Block: wrap with triple backticks and specify the language for syntax highlighting.

Tables

| Feature | Free | Pro |

Users
10
Unlimited
Storage
1GB
100GB
| Support | Email | Priority |

Align columns with colons:

• :--- left align
• :---: center
• ---: right align

Blockquotes

> This is a blockquote.
> It can span multiple lines.
>
> > Nested quotes work too.

Horizontal Rules

---
***
___

All three produce a horizontal line.

Advanced Tips

Escaping Characters

Use backslash to display literal markdown characters:

\*not italic\*
\# not a heading

Line Breaks

End a line with two spaces for a line break, or use an empty line for a paragraph break.

Footnotes (GitHub Flavored)

Here is a statement[^1].

[^1]: This is the footnote content.

Collapsible Sections (GitHub)

<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>

Hidden content goes here.

</details>

Markdown Tools

• Markdown Preview - live preview as you type
• HTML to Markdown - convert HTML pages to Markdown
• Text Counter - count words in your Markdown documents
• Online Notepad - quick notes with auto-save