The complete Discord text formatting reference: bold, italic, underline, spoilers, code blocks with syntax highlighting, headers, quotes, timestamps, colored text, and every workaround — with copy-paste examples
Updated July 2026 — includes headers, subtext, timestamps, and ANSI colors
Discord uses a subset of Markdown for text formatting. Wrap text in **bold**, *italic*, __underline__, ~~strikethrough~~, or ||spoiler||. Use # for headers, -# for small subtext, > for quotes, and triple backticks for code blocks. Every supported style with examples is below.
Type any Discord Markdown below and see how the message renders — no need to spam a test channel. Click the black spoiler bars to reveal them, just like in Discord.
const status = "deployed";
Need to convert? Paste standard Markdown (or an AI answer) and get Discord-ready text with tables and headings normalized.
Try the Markdown to Discord converter →Discord supports bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough — and you can stack them by nesting the markers. Underline with double underscores is Discord-specific: in standard Markdown, __text__ means bold. For every combination, mobile tips, and common mistakes, see the dedicated Discord text formatting guide.
Wrap text in double asterisks
**bold text**
Wrap text in single asterisks (or single underscores)
*italic text*
Wrap text in double underscores (Discord-specific)
__underlined text__
Wrap text in double tildes
~~strikethrough~~
Three asterisks combine bold and italic
***bold and italic***
Nest the markers to stack styles
__**underlined bold**__
Underline plus italic
__*underlined italic*__
Underline, bold, italic, and strikethrough together
__***~~everything~~***__
Use single backticks for inline code and triple backticks for multi-line code blocks. Add a language name straight after the opening backticks to get syntax highlighting — Discord uses highlight.js under the hood. The Discord code block guide covers every language identifier, diff blocks, and fixes for common mistakes.
Wrap short snippets, commands, or file names in single backticks.
Use the `/deploy` command
Three backticks before and after. Best for logs, terminal output, or anything that must keep its spacing.
``` Paste logs, commands, or config here ```
Put the language name immediately after the opening backticks — no space.
```js const status = "deployed"; console.log(status); ```
Discord uses highlight.js, so most common language identifiers work.
```python
def greet(name):
return f"Hello, {name}!"
```Lines starting with + render green and - render red. Great for changelogs.
```diff + Added slash command support - Removed legacy webhook ```
These are the most common language identifiers. Type the identifier immediately after the opening triple backticks, e.g. ```python.
python / pyjavascript / jstypescript / tsjavaccpp / c++cs / csharpcsshtml / xmljsonyaml / ymlsqlbash / shphpruby / rbgorust / rskotlinswiftluadiffmarkdown / mdinipowershelldockerfileansiWrap text in double vertical bars to hide it behind a black spoiler box. Readers click to reveal it. You can spoiler a single word, a whole message, or combine spoilers with other formatting. For image spoilers, mobile steps, and etiquette, see the Discord spoiler tag guide.
Text stays hidden until clicked.
||the killer is the butler||
Wrap the fully formatted phrase in spoiler bars so the whole thing stays hidden.
||**major spoiler warning**||
Rename the file to start with SPOILER_ before uploading, or use the spoiler option in the upload menu.
SPOILER_filename.png
Discord supports three header sizes plus small muted subtext. The # must be at the start of the line with a space after it.
# Big header
## Medium header
### Small header
Start the line with -# and a space. Great for footnote-style asides.
-# This renders as small gray subtext
Bulleted and numbered lists both work. Indent with spaces to nest items one level.
- First item - Second item * Also works with asterisks
1. Step one 2. Step two 3. Step three
Add a space (or two) before the dash to nest. Discord supports one level of nesting.
- Parent item - Indented child item - Next parent
Use a greater-than sign for a single-line quote or three for a multi-line quote block that runs to the end of the message.
Put > and a space at the start of the line.
> This line is quoted
>>> quotes all remaining text in the message.
>>> Everything after this is quoted until the message ends
Quotes combine cleanly with inline code and other formatting.
> Use `/deploy preview` before merging
Masked links use standard Markdown link syntax to show custom text instead of the raw URL. Wrap a URL in angle brackets to stop Discord from generating an embed preview.
Shows the label text as a clickable link.
[Markdown cheat sheet](https://www.markdowntools.io/cheat-sheet)
Angle brackets around a URL prevent the link embed from appearing.
<https://www.markdowntools.io>
Combine both: masked text plus angle brackets inside the parentheses.
[the docs](<https://www.markdowntools.io/cheat-sheet>)
Dynamic timestamps show the correct time in every reader's local timezone. The format is <t:UNIX_TIMESTAMP:STYLE>. Use the Discord timestamp generator to build one from a date picker, or grab a Unix timestamp and pick a style:
| Syntax | Example output | Style | |
|---|---|---|---|
| <t:1751328000:d> | 07/01/2026 | Short date | |
| <t:1751328000:D> | July 1, 2026 | Long date | |
| <t:1751328000:t> | 1:00 AM | Short time | |
| <t:1751328000:T> | 1:00:00 AM | Long time | |
| <t:1751328000:f> | July 1, 2026 1:00 AM | Short date/time (default) | |
| <t:1751328000:F> | Wednesday, July 1, 2026 1:00 AM | Long date/time | |
| <t:1751328000:R> | in 2 hours | Relative time |
To show Markdown characters literally instead of formatting the text, escape them with a backslash.
Renders as *not italic* with visible asterisks.
\*not italic\*
Useful for file_names_with_underscores.
\_\_not underlined\_\_
Wrap in double backticks to display a literal backtick inside code.
``use `backticks` here``
Discord does not render Markdown tables — pipe syntax comes out as plain text. Three workarounds:
Pad the columns with spaces — the monospace font keeps everything aligned.
``` Name Role Status Alice Admin Online Bob Mod Away ```
Discord's code blocks support ANSI escape codes, which lets you post colored text. Create a code block with the language set to ansi and wrap text in escape sequences. The escape character (ESC, Unicode U+001B) is included automatically when you copy the examples below, so they paste straight into Discord. Colors render on desktop and web, but not on mobile. To build your own combination visually, use the Discord colored text generator.
```ansi ESC[31mThis text is redESC[0m ```
```ansi ESC[1;32mDeploy succeededESC[0m ```
```ansi ESC[45;33mHighlighted lineESC[0m ```
| [30m | Gray |
| [31m | Red |
| [32m | Green |
| [33m | Yellow |
| [34m | Blue |
| [35m | Pink / Magenta |
| [36m | Cyan |
| [37m | White |
| [40m | Dark blue |
| [41m | Orange |
| [42m | Marble blue |
| [43m | Grey-turquoise |
| [44m | Gray |
| [45m | Indigo |
| [46m | Light gray |
| [47m | White |
Combine format and color with a semicolon, e.g. [1;31m for bold red. Use [0m to reset back to the default style, [1m for bold, and [4m for underline.
Sent a message with broken Markdown? Press the up arrow to edit your last message instead of reposting.
Use Shift + Enter to add line breaks without sending — essential for multi-line code blocks and quotes.
Send only emojis (no text, up to 27) and Discord displays them at jumbo size.
Select text in the message box and Discord shows a formatting toolbar — handy when you forget the exact markers.
Nine times out of ten, broken Discord Markdown comes down to a stray space or a mobile-only limitation. The most common problems and their fixes:
Check for spaces just inside the markers: ** bold ** fails, **bold** works. The marker must touch the first and last character of the text it wraps.
That is a Discord limitation, not a typo — the mobile apps render code blocks in monospace but skip highlight.js colors. Your block will still look right for desktop and web readers.
Colored ANSI blocks only render on Discord desktop and web. On mobile, readers see the raw codes. There is no fix — use it in desktop-heavy servers.
The # must be the first character of the line, followed by a space. Headers also do not work mid-message on some clients — put them on their own line at the start.
The language identifier must come immediately after the opening backticks with no space: ```python works, ``` python does not. Check the identifier against the language list above.
Escape them with backslashes (file\_name) or wrap the name in backticks as inline code, which disables all formatting inside.
Discord uses its own lightweight subset of Markdown, rendered by a library called simple-markdown with Discord-specific additions. It supports bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, spoilers, inline code, code blocks with highlight.js syntax highlighting, headers, lists, quotes, masked links, and timestamps — but not tables, images, or HTML.
Wrap text in Markdown markers: **bold**, *italic*, __underline__, ~~strikethrough~~, or ||spoiler||. Use # for headers, -# for small subtext, > for quotes, and backticks for code. You can stack styles, for example ***__bold italic underline__***.
Put three backticks (```) on the line before and after your text. For a single word or command inside a sentence, wrap it in one backtick instead. For syntax highlighting, add a language name right after the opening backticks, for example ```python or ```js.
Wrap your text with double vertical bars: ||spoiler text||. The text appears as a black box until someone clicks it. You can also mark images and attachments as spoilers by starting the file name with SPOILER_ or using the spoiler option when uploading.
Use an ANSI code block: type three backticks followed by ansi, then wrap your text in ANSI escape codes like [31m for red or [32m for green, and end the block with three backticks. Colored ANSI text renders on the Discord desktop and web apps but not on mobile.
No, Discord does not render Markdown tables. The common workarounds are to paste the table inside a code block so the columns stay aligned in monospace, use inline fields in an embed via a bot or webhook, or convert the table with the Markdown to Discord converter.
Wrap the text in double asterisks: **your text**. For bold and italic together use three asterisks: ***your text***.
Wrap the text in double underscores: __your text__. Underline is Discord-specific and is not part of standard Markdown, where double underscores mean bold.
Start the line with -# followed by a space: -# your text. Discord renders it as smaller, muted subtext under your message.
Escape the special character with a backslash: \*not italic\*. To show a literal backtick inside inline code, wrap the snippet in double backticks instead.
The most common cause is a space between the marker and the text: ** bold ** fails while **bold** works. Other frequent culprits: the code block language identifier has a space after the backticks, the # of a header is not at the start of the line, or you are viewing ANSI colors or syntax highlighting on mobile, where Discord does not render them.
Dynamic timezone-aware timestamps
Generate ANSI colored messages
Convert standard Markdown for Discord