Markdown Cheat Sheet - Syntax Reference with Examples

Official Specification

This cheat sheet follows GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM), the dialect used on GitHub, and stays compatible with the CommonMark core. The full grammar lives in the official specifications:

Headings

Use # signs to create headings. One # for the largest, six for the smallest.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Text Formatting

Bold, italic, strikethrough, and inline code.

**Bold text**
*Italic text*
***Bold and italic***
~~Strikethrough text~~
`Inline code`

Bold text Italic text Bold and italic ~~Strikethrough text~~ Inline code

Links

Create hyperlinks with inline or reference-style syntax.

[OpenAI](https://openai.com)
[Link with title](https://example.com "Optional title")
<https://automatic-link.com>

OpenAI Link with title https://automatic-link.com

Images

Embed images with alt text.

![Alt text](https://placehold.co/600x100/1e1e2e/cdcdff?text=Example+Image)

![Image with title](https://placehold.co/600x60/1e1e2e/cdcdff?text=Image+with+title "A placeholder image")

Alt text

Image with title

Code

How to mark code in Markdown markup: inline code with backticks and fenced blocks with triple backticks.

Here is some `inline code` in a sentence.

```javascript
function hello(name) {
  console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);
}
```

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

Here is some inline code in a sentence.

function hello(name) {
  console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);
}

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

Lists

Ordered, unordered, and task lists.

### Unordered list
- Item one
- Item two
  - Nested item
  - Another nested
- Item three

### Ordered list
1. First step
2. Second step
   1. Sub-step A
   2. Sub-step B
3. Third step

### Task list
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Pending task
- [ ] Another task

Unordered list

Item one
Item two
- Nested item
- Another nested
Item three

Ordered list

First step
Second step
1. Sub-step A
2. Sub-step B
Third step

Task list

Completed task
Pending task
Another task

Tables

Create tables with pipes and dashes.

| Feature | Status | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tables | ✅ | Pipe and dash syntax |
| Alignment | ✅ | :--, :--:, --: |
| Cell content | ✅ | Text, links, inline code |

| Left | Center | Right |
| :--- | :---: | ---: |
| Left-aligned | Centered | Right-aligned |
| 1 | 2 | 3 |

Feature	Status	Notes
Tables	✅	Pipe and dash syntax
Alignment	✅	:--, :--:, --:
Cell content	✅	Text, links, inline code

Left	Center	Right
Left-aligned	Centered	Right-aligned
1	2	3

Blockquotes

Quote blocks of text with the > character.

> This is a blockquote.
> It can span multiple lines.
>
> ## Heading inside a quote
> - Lists work too

> **Nested quotes:**
> > Deeply nested quote
> > > Even deeper

This is a blockquote. It can span multiple lines.

Heading inside a quote

Lists work too

Nested quotes:

Deeply nested quote

Even deeper

Horizontal Rules

Add a horizontal rule with three or more dashes, asterisks, or underscores.

Text above

---

***

___

Text below

Text above

Text below

Strikethrough

Strikethrough text with double tilde marks.

Forum posts often use [s]...[/s] (and [b], [i]) to mark strikethrough - that is BBCode, not Markdown. In Markdown the same effect is written as: ~~text~~

This is ~~deleted text~~ still visible.

~~Entire paragraph that has been struck through for review purposes.~~

Mix of ~~strikethrough~~ and normal text.

This is ~~deleted text~~ still visible.

~~Entire paragraph that has been struck through for review purposes.~~

Mix of ~~strikethrough~~ and normal text.