What is Markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight text formatting language that lets you write formatted documents using plain text. Instead of clicking toolbar buttons, you add simple symbols: **bold** for bold, # Heading for a heading, - item for a list. When processed, these symbols are converted to properly formatted HTML.

Markdown was created in 2004 and has since become ubiquitous. It’s used for README files, documentation, blog posts, forum comments (GitHub, Reddit, Stack Overflow), note-taking apps, and much more. It’s designed to be readable even as plain text.

What Does This Tool Do?

This tool renders a live preview of Markdown text as formatted HTML. Type or paste Markdown on the left, and see the rendered output on the right — updated in real time as you write.

How to Use This Tool

1. Type or paste your Markdown text in the left panel.
2. The formatted preview appears on the right instantly.
3. The preview reflects standard Markdown including headings, bold, italic, lists, links, code blocks, and tables.
4. Use the Split / Editor / Preview buttons to change the layout — Preview hides the editor and centers the rendered document at a comfortable reading width, ideal for reading a long document you just pasted.

Supported Markdown Syntax

Common Use Cases

• Writing README files: Draft and preview a GitHub README before committing.
• Documentation: Write docs and see how they’ll look when rendered.
• Blog posts: Preview Markdown content before publishing to a platform that uses it.
• Learning Markdown: Experiment with syntax and immediately see the result.

Syntax Beyond the Basics

Once the essentials feel natural, these are the constructs people look up most:

Tables — pipes separate columns, the second line defines alignment:

| Name    | Price | Stock |
|---------|------:|:-----:|
| Widget  |  9.90 |  yes  |

------: right-aligns a column, :----: centers it.

Fenced code blocks with language — triple backticks plus a language name enable syntax highlighting on most platforms:

```python
def greet(name):
    return f"Hello, {name}"
```

Task lists — - [ ] pending and - [x] done render as checkboxes on GitHub.

Images — like links with a leading !: ![alt text](image.png).

Nested lists — indent by two or four spaces under the parent item.

Line breaks — a common stumble: a single newline does not break the line. End a line with two spaces, or leave a blank line for a new paragraph.

Escaping — need a literal * or #? Prefix with a backslash: \*not italic\*.

Markdown Dialects: Why the Same Text Renders Differently

The original Markdown spec left gaps, so platforms filled them differently. CommonMark is the rigorous standard; GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) adds tables, task lists, strikethrough (~~text~~), and autolinks; platforms like Reddit, Discord, and Slack each support their own subset. If your document will live on a specific platform, test the fancy constructs there — headings, emphasis, lists, links, and code blocks are safe everywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions