Essential Markdown Syntax Guide | Generated by AI
Question: Can you provide a guide to the most common Markdown syntax?
Answer:
Markdown is a lightweight markup language that lets you format text easily. Here’s a practical guide to the most commonly used syntax (works on GitHub, Reddit, Notion, Obsidian, etc.).
Headings
# H1 - Largest heading
## H2
### H3
#### H4
##### H5
###### H6 - Smallest heading
Text Styling
*italic* or _italic_
**bold** or __bold__
***bold italic*** or ___bold italic___
~~strikethrough~~
`inline code`
Lists
Unordered lists
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Sub-item (2 spaces or tab)
- Sub-item
Ordered lists
1. First item
2. Second item
1. Sub-item
2. Sub-item
Links & Images
[Link text](https://example.com)
[Link with title](https://example.com "Hover text")
Blockquotes
> This is a blockquote
>
> Can span multiple lines
>> Nested blockquote
Code Blocks
Inline: `code`
Fenced code block (recommended):
markdown
python
print(“Hello, world!”)
x = 42
Or without language:
markdown
Plain text code block
Horizontal Rule
---
***
- - -
Tables
| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
|------------|:----------:|--------------:|
| Left | Center | Right |
| Normal | Bold | *Italic* |
Task Lists (supported on GitHub, Notion, etc.)
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task
- [ ] Another one
Escaping Characters
To display a literal character that would otherwise be interpreted:
\*literal asterisks\*
\`backtick\`
Quick Reference Table
| Feature | Syntax | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | **text** or __text__ |
text |
| Italic | *text* or _text_ |
text |
| Strikethrough | ~~text~~ |
|
| Inline code | `code` |
code |
| Link | [text](url) |
text |
| Image |  |
(image) |
| Heading 1 | # Heading |
Huge heading |
| Blockquote | > text |
> text |
| Code block | ```language:disable-run |
That’s 95% of what most people use daily! Different platforms support slight variations (e.g., GitHub adds footnotes, emojis :smile:, and mermaid diagrams), but the above works almost everywhere.