Markdown Preview — Complete Guide
Markdown is a lightweight markup language that lets you write formatted text using simple punctuation. A # becomes a heading, **text** becomes bold, - becomes a bullet point. It was designed to be readable as plain text while also converting cleanly to HTML.
Markdown is used everywhere: GitHub READMEs, documentation sites, note-taking apps, forums, and content management systems. This tool lets you write Markdown and see the formatted result instantly, without needing a specific editor or app.
What you can do with Markdown Preview
- Previewing README files before pushing to GitHub
- Writing and checking formatted documentation before publishing
- Drafting content for platforms that accept Markdown input
- Learning Markdown syntax by seeing how different notations render
- Checking that Markdown formatting looks correct before submitting to a CMS
How to use Markdown Preview
Type or paste your Markdown text into the input area on the left
The rendered HTML preview updates in real time on the right
Adjust your Markdown and check the preview until it looks right
Tips for best results
Two spaces at the end of a line force a line break — a single return does not
Code blocks use triple backticks (```) — specify the language after the opening backticks for syntax highlighting
Markdown links use the format [link text](https://url.com)
Tables use pipes and hyphens: | Column 1 | Column 2 | on one line, |---|---| on the next
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Frequently asked questions
Is Markdown the same everywhere?
Not exactly. The original Markdown spec left some cases ambiguous, and different implementations add their own extensions. GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) adds tables, task lists, and strikethrough. CommonMark is a stricter standardized version. Most platforms are compatible for basic formatting but may differ on edge cases.
Can I include HTML in Markdown?
Most Markdown parsers allow HTML tags to be used inline. This is useful for things not supported by Markdown syntax, like custom CSS classes or specific attributes. However, many platforms sanitize HTML for security reasons.