What is Markdown?
Markdown is a lightweight markup language for formatting plain text. Write with simple symbols like #, **, and -, and a parser renders it as HTML. It is the default format on GitHub, Reddit, and most developer documentation platforms.
Common Syntax
# Heading 1,## Heading 2,### Heading 3**bold**or__bold__*italic*or_italic_[link text](https://example.com)— images- itemor1. item— unordered and ordered lists- Inline code:
`code` - Code block: triple backticks with optional language name
> text— blockquote---— horizontal rule
GitHub Flavored Markdown Extensions
- Tables —
| col1 | col2 |with| --- | --- |separator - Task lists —
- [ ] todoand- [x] done - Strikethrough —
~~text~~ - Autolinks — bare URLs become clickable automatically
- Fenced code blocks — triple backtick with language identifier for syntax highlighting
Where Markdown Is Used
- GitHub README files, issues, pull requests, and comments
- Reddit posts and comments
- Notion, Obsidian, and other note-taking apps
- Documentation tools (MkDocs, Docusaurus, Jekyll)
- Stack Overflow and developer Q&A sites
Write Markdown and see the rendered HTML side-by-side: Open Markdown Preview →
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Markdown contain raw HTML?
Yes. Most Markdown parsers pass raw HTML through unchanged. This is useful for elements Markdown doesn't support natively (like <details> dropdowns or custom <div> blocks). Some renderers (GitHub, Reddit) sanitise HTML for security.
What is front matter in Markdown?
Front matter is a YAML block at the top of a Markdown file delimited by ---. Static site generators (Jekyll, Hugo, Gatsby) use it to store metadata like title, date, and tags. It is not standard Markdown and is stripped before rendering.