Markdown is a simple way to write formatted text using plain characters. You add a few symbols, and tools turn them into headings, bold text, links and lists. Every note you are reading on this site is written in Markdown.
The big idea
A Markdown file should be perfectly readable even before it is converted. The formatting symbols are ones you would naturally use in a plain email anyway.
The basics
Here is most of what you need for daily writing — and what it actually turns into:
No menus, no clicking — just type.
A few more things
Code, written between backticks, comes out in a code style:
Inline code looks like `this`.
```python
print("and blocks look like this")
Quotes use a `>`:
```markdown
> This is a quote.
```
## Why everyone uses it
- It is readable even before it is converted. Plain Markdown still looks fine.
- GitHub, Reddit, WhatsApp, Notion, and countless tools support it.
- Because it is plain text, it works perfectly with version control.
## A little history
<Timeline
items={[
{ date: "2004", title: "Created", description: "John Gruber, with help from Aaron Swartz, releases the first version of Markdown." },
{ date: "2014", title: "CommonMark", description: "A community effort to define one precise, unambiguous spec." },
{ date: "Today", title: "Flavours everywhere", description: "GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) adds tables, task lists and more." },
]}
/>
## A small warning
<Callout type="warning" title="Mind the flavours">
There are many slightly different versions of Markdown. The basics work everywhere, but fancy features like tables or footnotes may differ between tools. When in doubt, keep it simple.
</Callout>
<QuoteBlock author="John Gruber" source="Daring Fireball, 2004">
The idea is that a Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions.
</QuoteBlock>
## When to use it
Use Markdown for notes, documentation, READMEs, and blog posts — basically any writing where you want formatting without the weight of a full word processor.