Complete Markdown Syntax Reference Guide

Every Markdown syntax element you need to know, from basic to extended.

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Markdown Syntax Reference

Markdown is a lightweight markup language for creating formatted text.

Headings

# Heading 1

Heading 2


Heading 3

Text Formatting

bold or __bold__
italic or _italic_
bold and italic
~~strikethrough~~
inline code

Links and Images

[Link text](https://example.com)
![Alt text](image.jpg)

Lists

- Item 1

  • Item 2
    • 

  - Nested item

  • First
    • 

  • Second
    • 



  • [x] Completed task
    • 

  • [ ] Incomplete task

Code Blocks

javascript
const greeting = "Hello, World!";

Tables

| Header 1 | Header 2 |
| Cell 1   | Cell 2   |

Blockquotes

> This is a quote.
> > Nested quotes work too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this topic

GFM extends standard Markdown with: tables, task lists (- [ ]), strikethrough (~~text~~), fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting, autolinks, and emoji shortcodes (:smile:). It's the de facto standard for README files. Most Markdown tools now support GFM.

Manually link to headings: [Section](#section-name). GitHub auto-generates lowercase, hyphenated anchors from headings. Some tools add TOC automatically with [[toc]] or similar. Many Markdown editors can generate TOC. Check your platform's specific syntax.

Yes, most Markdown parsers pass HTML through unchanged. Useful for complex layouts, custom styling, or features Markdown lacks. However, some platforms (GitHub comments, Discord) restrict HTML for security. Raw HTML makes documents less portable.

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