How to use Markdown in Telegram
Telegram supports markdown-style formatting in chats — bold, italic, code, spoilers — with quirks per platform, plus a full MarkdownV2 dialect for bots.
How to use Markdown in Telegram
Telegram does markdown in two quite different places: typing in chats, and the bot API. Regular users get a workable subset; bot builders get a whole dialect with its own rulebook.
Typing in chats
On desktop and mobile these work as you type (send to apply):
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
**bold** | bold |
__italic__ | italic |
`code` | code |
```block``` | code block |
~~strikethrough~~ | |
||spoiler|| | tap-to-reveal spoiler |
Note the accent: double-underscore for italic (not single, like most apps), double-asterisk for bold. Exact support varies a little between Telegram Desktop, iOS and Android, and there's no heading/list/quote syntax; for structure you're back to plain text conventions. The selection toolbar (select text → Format) covers the same ground if syntax fails you.
The bot API: MarkdownV2
Bots sending messages can use MarkdownV2, a stricter, richer dialect: *bold* (single asterisk this time; yes, different from the chat box, we don't make the rules), _italic_, __underline__, ~strikethrough~, ||spoiler||, inline links [text](url), and code blocks with language hints. The catch: nearly every special character you don't mean as formatting must be escaped with \, which surprises every bot developer exactly once. If you're building bots that relay markdown content (from a feed, a repo, an AI), budget for an escaping step.
The takeaway
Telegram is a solid mid-table citizen of the markdown world: real formatting via familiar syntax, its own accent, no structural elements. Fine for chat; not a place to keep writing. Draft anything that matters in your own files and paste it in; the conversion pain is mild, and AI handles it when it isn't.
