Discord text formatting: the complete markdown cheat sheet
Bold, italics, underline, spoilers, headers, lists, quotes, code blocks, masked links, and colored text, with the exact syntax for each.
Updated , 5 min read
Discord uses a version of Markdown. Type the symbols around your text and Discord formats it when you send.
Basic styles
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
**bold** | bold |
*italics* or _italics_ | italics |
__underline__ | underline |
~~strikethrough~~ | |
||spoiler|| | hidden until clicked |
***bold italics*** | bold italics |
Headers, lists, and subtext
# Big header,## Medium header,### Small headerat the start of a line.-# small grey subtextfor footnotes.- itemor* itemfor bullet lists,1. itemfor numbered lists. Indent with spaces for sub-items.
Quotes
> text quotes one line. >>> text quotes everything after it in the message.
Code
Wrap text in single backticks for inline code. Use three backticks on their own lines for a code block, and add a language name after the first three for syntax colors, like ```js.
Masked links
[DiscordBase](https://discordbase.com) shows the words as a clickable link. Discord shows a warning before opening masked links, so use them for trusted sites.
Colored text
A code block marked ansi supports colors through escape codes. It’s fiddly to type by hand, so use the colored text generator.
Showing the symbols themselves
Put a backslash before a symbol to show it literally: \*not italic\*.
For styled channel names, see the symbols and fancy text tool. For times, use timestamps.