Markdown cheat sheet

Find the thing you need. Copy the example. Change the words.

Everyday syntax

Headings

# Document title
## Main section
### Smaller section

Use heading levels in order. A heading describes the content beneath it.

Bold and italic

**Bold text**
*Italic text*

Bulleted and numbered lists

- An item
- Another item

1. First step
2. Second step

A nested list

- Project
  - Draft
  - Review

For this dash-list example, two spaces put the child items beneath the parent. Other list markers can require different indentation. If a nested list stays flat, check the marker width and your app’s behavior.

Links

[Readable label](https://example.com)

Images

![A description of the image](images/example.png)

The exclamation mark makes it an image rather than a link. The path must point to an image your viewer can access. Write alt text for the information the image conveys; decorative images can use empty alt text.

Quotes

> A passage worth keeping.

A blockquote formats a passage. It doesn’t supply attribution. Add the author and source when you quote someone.

Inline code

Use `filename.md` for this example.

Code blocks

Put three backticks on their own line before and after the code. A language label may enable syntax highlighting in apps that support it:

```swift
let title = "Draft"
```

A divider

A paragraph above the divider.

---

A paragraph below it.

Leave blank lines around the divider. A row of dashes directly beneath text can be interpreted as a heading underline.

A literal symbol

\*This is an asterisk, not emphasis.\*

A backslash can escape Markdown punctuation. For a whole example, a code span or code block is often easier.

Check support in your app

These are useful, but they aren’t all part of the same Markdown specification.

Checkboxes — GFM extension

- [ ] Read the draft
- [x] Write the outline

These describe task-list items. Whether you can click a checkbox depends on the app. They do not automatically create reminders or scheduled tasks.

Tables — GFM extension

| Item | Status |
| --- | --- |
| Draft | Ready |
| Review | Next |

The separator row below the header matters. Keep tables small enough to read on a phone.

Strikethrough — GFM extension

~~Old wording~~

Footnotes — extension with varying support

A sentence with a note.[^1]

[^1]: The extra detail belongs here.

Front matter — app or publishing convention

---
title: "Project brief"
tags:
  - writing
status: draft
---

This is metadata placed at the beginning of a document by tools that understand it. It is not a universal Markdown feature. Field names and accepted values depend on the tool.

One last check

A valid example can still render differently in another app. If you’re sending a document, preview it where the reader will see it.

Next: Understand compatibility · Fix a problem.

More examples you can adapt

A heading with useful emphasis

## Review notes

The **deadline is Friday**. The title is still *provisional*.

A link inside a sentence

Read the [CommonMark specification](https://spec.commonmark.org/)
if you need the exact parsing rules.

A reference-style link

When the same destination appears several times, keep the address in one definition.

Check the [specification][commonmark] before changing the example.

[commonmark]: https://spec.commonmark.org/

A small comparison table — GFM extension

| Format | Useful when |
| --- | --- |
| Markdown | Someone needs to edit the text |
| PDF | Someone needs a fixed presentation |

Keep a pipe inside a table cell — GFM extension

Escape a literal pipe so it doesn’t split the cell.

| Symbol | Name |
| --- | --- |
| \| | Pipe |

A literal piece of Markdown

Type `**deadline**` to emphasize the word.

Need more explanation? Open line breaks, nested lists, or images and paths.