J. J. Robinson

Markdown Cheatsheet

Published on
Estimated reading time: 2 min

Overview

This Markdown cheat sheet provides a quick overview of the most common syntax elements.

It won’t cover every tiny corner of Markdown-land, but it should give you the essentials without getting lost in the weeds.

For those who want to go further down the rabbit hole, the official reference guides on basic syntax and extended syntax are just a click away.

NOTE: If you want to speed up your writing even more, check out the BōcPress blog post on keyboard shortcuts for the Markdown editor.

Basic Syntax

Here’s a quick guide to the most essential Markdown syntax you’ll use every day.

Element Markdown Syntax
Heading # H1
## H2
### H3
Bold **bold text**
Italic *italicized text*
Blockquote > blockquote
Ordered List 1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
Unordered List - First item
- Second item
- Third item
Code `code`
Horizontal Rule ---
Link [title](https://www.example.com)
Image ![alt text](image.jpg)

Extended Syntax

These elements add more flexibility and features.
Not every Markdown app supports them, but many modern ones do.

Element Markdown Syntax
Table 
| Syntax | Description |
| ----------- | ----------- |
| Header | Title |
| Paragraph | Text |
Fenced Code Block 
```
{
  "firstName": "John",
  "lastName": "Smith",
  "age": 25
}
```
Footnote Here's a sentence with a footnote. [^1]

[^1]: This is the footnote.
Heading ID ### My Great Heading {#custom-id}
Definition List 
term
: definition
Strikethrough ~~The world is flat.~~
Task List - [x] Write the press release
- [ ] Update the website
- [ ] Contact the media
Emoji That is so funny! :joy:
Highlight I need to highlight these ==very important words==.
Subscript H~2~O
Superscript X^2^

Tips

  • Most Markdown processors support inline HTML, which can be handy for details like collapsible sections.
  • Remember that line breaks may behave differently depending on the platform—sometimes you need two spaces at the end of a line.
  • Try to preview your Markdown in the tool or platform you’ll publish it on to make sure it renders as you expect.

With these essentials and optional extensions, you’ll have everything you need to create clean, readable Markdown for nearly any project.

Tags: markdown, cheatsheet