Markdown Cheat Sheet — Quick Syntax Reference
Everything you need to know about Markdown syntax — headings, bold, italic, links, images, lists, code, tables, blockquotes, and more. Click any example to copy it.
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
- Unordered item
- Unordered item
- First item
- Second item
- - Child nested
- Parent
- Child nested
code hereconsole.log("hello");
```
console.log("hello");|-------|-------|
| A1 | B1 |
| Col A | Col B |
|---|---|
| A1 | B1 |
This is a blockquote
> blockquote
Multi-line
blockquote
Nested formatting
- Completed task
- Unfinished task
def hello():
print("world")
```
def hello():
print("world")<h1>Title</h1>
```
<h1>Title</h1>: Definition here
- Term
- Definition here
Markdown Syntax Overview
Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber. It uses plain text formatting that can be converted to HTML. This cheat sheet covers the most commonly used Markdown syntax elements.
Most Markdown processors support two flavors: CommonMark (standard) and GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) which adds tables, task lists, strikethrough, and fenced code blocks with language highlighting.
Frequently Asked Questions
CommonMark is the standardized specification of Markdown. GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) extends CommonMark with tables, strikethrough, task lists, auto-linking, fenced code blocks with language tags, and emoji shortcodes.
End a line with two or more spaces, then press Enter. Or use an HTML <br> tag.
Yes. Any valid HTML can be mixed inline with Markdown. This is useful for elements not natively supported by Markdown, such as <details>, <video>, or custom styling.
Prefix the character with a backslash \. For example, \* renders as a literal asterisk instead of starting italic. Characters that can be escaped: \ * _ {} [] () # + - . !
Use Cases
Documentation
Write README files, API docs, and project wikis using standard Markdown syntax.
Content Creation
Write blog posts, articles, and newsletters in Markdown and convert to HTML or other formats.
Note-Taking
Use Markdown in note apps like Obsidian, Notion, and Joplin for formatted notes.
Code Collaboration
Write comments, issues, and PR descriptions on GitHub using GFM for rich formatting.