How to use Markdown in WhatsApp — bold, italic, lists and more
WhatsApp formatting is basically markdown with an accent: *bold*, _italic_, ~strikethrough~, lists, quotes and monospace. The full syntax and the quirks.
How to use Markdown in WhatsApp
Yes, WhatsApp speaks markdown, or at least a close cousin of it. If you've ever wondered how people get bold text in their messages, this is it.
The syntax
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
*bold* | bold |
_italic_ | italic |
~strikethrough~ | |
`inline code` | inline code |
```monospace block``` | a monospace block |
- item or * item | bulleted list |
1. item | numbered list |
> quote | block quote |
Formatting applies when you send. On most platforms you'll see a live preview as you type.
The accent (where it differs from real markdown)
WhatsApp is markdown-ish, and the differences will bite you when you copy text between apps:
- Bold is single asterisks.
*bold*– in standard markdown that's italic, and**bold**gets you literal asterisks in WhatsApp. This is the big one. - Italic is underscores only.
_like this_. - Strikethrough is a single tilde, not markdown's double
~~. - No headings, no links syntax, no tables. URLs auto-link;
# headingjust prints a hash.
Copying between WhatsApp and real markdown
Pasting a markdown doc into WhatsApp mostly works if it's simple (lists, quotes survive fine) but your **bold** comes out wrong. Going the other way, WhatsApp's formatting characters are visible in the text, so a copied message is nearly-valid markdown. Fix the bold and you're done.
Doing this a lot? Ask any AI chat to convert: "convert this to WhatsApp formatting" works because AI speaks markdown natively.
The bigger picture
WhatsApp adding lists, quotes and code blocks (it happened in 2024) is markdown's quiet takeover in miniature: no announcement saying "we support markdown", just the syntax everyone already knows, showing up where a billion people type. See where else markdown lives 🌍
