How to Bold Text in Markdown
To make text bold in Markdown, wrap it in double asterisks: **bold text**. Double underscores (__bold text__) also work in most renderers. Asterisks are the safer choice because they work everywhere, including in the middle of words.
Platform Support
Bold text renders as a <strong> element in HTML, which means it carries semantic emphasis, not just visual weight. Use it sparingly to call out key terms, warnings, or the single most important phrase in a paragraph. A document where everything is bold communicates nothing — readers scan for the bold parts, so they should mark genuinely important content.
The one edge case that trips people up constantly: bolding part of a word. With asterisks, fan**tas**tic renders the middle of the word in bold. With underscores, fan__tas__tic does not work in CommonMark or GitHub Flavored Markdown, because underscores surrounded by letters are treated as literal characters (this rule exists so snake_case_identifiers do not accidentally trigger formatting). If you ever need intra-word emphasis, asterisks are your only portable option.
Spacing also matters. The opening ** must be immediately followed by a non-space character, and the closing ** must be immediately preceded by one. ** bold ** with spaces inside the markers will render literally as asterisks. Similarly, if you need a literal double asterisk in your text, escape it with backslashes: \*\*not bold\*\*.
Bold combines cleanly with other inline syntax. Triple asterisks give you ***bold and italic*** at once, and you can bold a link by putting the asterisks outside the brackets: **[link text](https://example.com)**. The reverse — putting asterisks inside the link text — also works, but wrapping the whole link is easier to read in source form.
Examples
**bold text**
__also bold__bold text
also bold
Make text bold using double asterisks or underscores.
**bold text**bold text
__bold text__bold text
***bold and italic***
___also bold and italic___bold and italic
also bold and italic
Combine bold and italic using triple asterisks or underscores.
absolutely fan**tas**ticabsolutely fantastic
Only asterisks work mid-word. fan__tas__tic renders the underscores literally.
**[Read the docs](https://example.com)**\*\*This is not bold\*\***This is not bold**
Use backslashes when you need literal asterisks.
Common Mistakes
** bold text ****bold text**Spaces between the asterisks and the text break the formatting. The markers must touch the text on both sides.
fan__tas__ticfan**tas**ticUnderscores do not create bold inside a word — they are treated literally when surrounded by letters. Use asterisks for intra-word bold.
**bold text***bold text**Mismatched markers (two asterisks to open, one to close) leave stray asterisks in the output. Always balance the markers.
Platform Notes
GitHub
Both **text** and __text__ work in READMEs, issues, and comments. Asterisks are the convention in most style guides.
Discord
Discord supports **bold** with asterisks. It also adds __underline__ with double underscores — so __text__ underlines instead of bolding, unlike standard Markdown.
Slack
Slack message formatting uses *single asterisks* for bold, not double. If you paste standard Markdown into Slack, **text** will not render as bold.
Obsidian
Both syntaxes work. Obsidian shows the markers while editing and hides them in reading view.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I bold text in Markdown?
Wrap the text in double asterisks: **bold text**. Double underscores (__bold text__) also work in most Markdown renderers, but asterisks are more portable.
Why is my bold text not working?
The most common causes are spaces between the asterisks and the text (** text ** fails), mismatched markers, or using double underscores in the middle of a word. Make sure the markers touch the text directly on both sides.
How do I make text bold and italic at the same time?
Use triple asterisks: ***bold and italic***. This combines ** for bold and * for italic in one set of markers.
Does bold work in Slack and Discord?
Discord uses standard **double asterisks** for bold. Slack is different: it uses *single asterisks* for bold, so standard Markdown bold does not paste cleanly into Slack messages.
How do I type literal asterisks without making text bold?
Escape each asterisk with a backslash: \*\*not bold\*\*. The backslashes tell the parser to treat the asterisks as plain characters.
Related Syntax
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