Markdown Cheat Sheet
Free Markdown cheat sheet: headings, lists, links, images, code blocks, tables, and GitHub-flavored extras.
Text Basics
| Concept | Syntax | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Headings One # per level. Keep a single H1 per document. | # H1 … ###### H6 | ## Section title |
| Bold / Italic Also ***bold italic*** with three asterisks. | **bold**, *italic* | **important** and *emphasis* |
| Strikethrough GitHub-flavored Markdown (GFM). | ~~text~~ | ~~old plan~~ |
| Line break Markdown ignores single newlines inside a paragraph. | blank line = new paragraph | Two spaces at line end = soft break |
Lists & Links
| Concept | Syntax | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Bullet list Indent two spaces for nested bullets. | - item | - first
- second |
| Numbered list Numbers auto-correct — you can write 1. for every line. | 1. item | 1. step one
2. step two |
| Task list GFM checkboxes — render as real checkboxes on GitHub. | - [ ] todo / - [x] done | - [x] write README |
| Link Add a title: [text](url "tooltip"). | [text](url) | [docs](https://example.com) |
| Image Same as a link with a leading ! — alt text matters. |  |  |
Code
| Concept | Syntax | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Inline code Backticks render in monospace. | `code` | Use `npm install` first |
| Code block Naming the language enables syntax highlighting. | ```lang … ``` | ```js
console.log("hi");
``` |
| Blockquote Nest with >>. | > quote | > Stay curious. |
| Horizontal rule Three or more dashes on their own line. | --- | --- |
Tables & Extras
| Concept | Syntax | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Table Colons in the divider set alignment: :--- left, :---: center. | | a | b | + divider row | | Name | Age |
|------|-----|
| Ada | 36 | |
| Footnote Supported on GitHub and most renderers. | text[^1] … [^1]: note | Fact[^1] |
| Escape characters Backslash shows the literal character. | \* \_ \# | \*not italic\* |
| HTML fallback When Markdown can't do it, plain HTML usually can. | inline HTML allowed | <details><summary>More</summary>…</details> |