Try it Here!
¶ 1. Introduction
¶ 1.1 Why Markdown Rocks ✨
Markdown is plain text with super-powers. It lets you jot notes, write docs, craft blog posts, even format PDFs - all without leaving the comfort of your favourite text editor.
- Human-friendly – readable in raw form, so your future self (and collaborators) can skim it in any terminal.
- Portable – works on GitHub, GitLab, Stack Overflow, Jira, Notion, countless CMSes and static-site generators.
- Speedy – no buttons or WYSIWYG mysteries; just type.
- Version-control bliss – diffs stay clean because it’s plain text.
¶ 1.2 Where You’ll Meet Markdown
- README files, issue & PR templates on GitHub.
- Technical blogs (Jekyll, Hugo, Astro, etc.).
- Docs sites (Docsify, MkDocs, Docusaurus).
- Note-taking apps (Obsidian, Logseq, Typora).
- Chat & community tools (Telegram, Discord, Slack, Discourse).
¶ 1.3 Little Wonders You Can Do 😍
Markdown’s magic is that every one of those tricks is still perfectly legible in raw text.
| Wonder | Tiny snippet | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Task lists | - [x] done- [ ] to-do |
Interactive check-boxes in GitHub issues. |
| Syntax-highlight | ```python |
Colours like an IDE! |
| Tables | | foo | bar ||----|----| |
Nicely aligned grids. |
| Collapsible blocks | <details><summary>peek</summary>spoiler!</details> |
Click to reveal secrets. |
| Emoji | I ❤️ Markdown :tada: |
Turns into 😍 🎉. |
¶ 2 · Quick Reference (Cheat Sheet)
Tip: Try every sample in a
.mdfile on GitHub and hit Preview.
¶ 2.1 Headings
# H1
## H2
### H3
Rendered ⇒
¶ 2.2 Emphasis
*italic* _italic_
**bold** __bold__
~~strike~~
italic bold strike
¶ 2.3 Lists
¶ Unordered
- Item A
- Sub-item
* Asterisks work too
-
Item A
- Sub-item
- Asterisks work too
¶ Ordered
1. First
2. Second
- First
- Second
¶ 2.4 Links
[visible text](https://example.com)
<https://example.com> <!-- autolink -->
visible text
https://example.com
¶ 2.5 Images
¶ 2.6 Code
¶ Inline
`code` → code
¶ Fenced (with highlight)
```js
function greet() {
console.log("Hello!");
}
```
¶ 2.7 Blockquotes
> One level
>> Nested wisdom
One level
Nested wisdom
¶ 2.8 Horizontal Rule (Divider)
---
Rendered ⇒
peek
¶ 2.9 Tables
| Col A | Col B |
|-------|-------|
| 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| Col A | Col B |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
¶ 2.10 Task Lists
- [ ] Walk dog
- [x] Write guide
- Walk dog
- Write guide
¶ 2.11 Emoji
:rocket: :sparkles: :100:
🚀 ✨ 💯
¶ 2.12 Strikethrough
~~obsolete~~ now shiny
obsolete now shiny
¶ 2.13 Inline HTML (Collapsible)
<details>
<summary>Click me</summary>
Surprise! 🎈
</details>
Click me
Surprise! 🎈¶ 2.14 Escaping Characters
Need a literal *? Use backslash:
\*not italic\*
*not italic*
¶ 2.15 Footnotes
Markdown is handy.[^1]
[^1]: And footnotes are too!
Markdown is handy.[1]
¶ 🎉 That’s a Wrap!
You now wield the essentials of GitHub-flavoured Markdown. Keep this cheat-sheet nearby, and soon you’ll be dashing off beautifully formatted docs at lightspeed. Happy writing!
Explore More🗺️
To truly master Markdown, you should combine it with features from some foundational languages like HTML and CSS, and utilize additional extensions. See Charles' cool demo for some additional features:
- HTML
- CSS
- LaTeX
- Mermaid
- JavaScript
Notice those features may not be ubiquitously supported depending on the renderer.
References
- Adam Pritchard's Markdown Cheatsheet.
- Charles Zhang's Markdown is Cool demo.
- The super power markup converter tool Pandoc.
And footnotes are too! ↩︎