Markdown Cheatsheet - Markdown Syntax Reference
Essential Markdown syntax for documentation writing. Organized by functionality from headings to tables. Reference directly when writing READMEs and docs.
Back to ReferenceHeading 5
# H1Level 1 heading, typically for article title
## H2Level 2 heading
### H3Level 3 heading, up to ###### H6
Title\n===Setext-style H1 (underline =)
Title\n---Setext-style H2 (underline -)
Text Style 7
**bold**Bold text
*italic*Italic text
***bold italic***Bold italic text
~~strikethrough~~Strikethrough (GFM extension)
`inline code`Inline code
> quoteBlockquote
> > nested quoteNested blockquote
List 5
- Unordered itemUnordered list, also * or +
1. Ordered itemOrdered list, numbers auto-increment
- [ ] TodoUnchecked task list (GFM)
- [x] DoneChecked task list (GFM)
- Indented sub-itemIndent 2 spaces for sub-list
Code Block 4
```pythonFenced code block with language highlighting
```Code block closing marker
4-space indent codeIndented code block (not recommended, no language)
```{bash eval=true}Executable code block (Org-mode / R Markdown)
Link & Image 5
[text](https://example.com)Hyperlink
[text](https://example.com "title")Link with title attribute
Image
[text][ref]\n\n[ref]: https://example.comReference-style link, good for long docs
[text](#anchor-id)Internal anchor link
Table & HR 5
---Horizontal rule (three or more dashes)
| Col1 | Col2 |\n| --- | --- |\n| a | b |Table, second row defines alignment
| :--- |Left-aligned column
| :---: |Center-aligned column
| ---: |Right-aligned column
💡 Tips
- Use <br> for line breaks inside tables — Markdown tables don't support native line breaks.
- When backticks conflict inside code blocks, use more backticks for fencing (e.g., ~~~~ around content containing ```).
- GFM (GitHub Flavored Markdown) supports task lists, strikethrough, auto-links, and tables — more features than standard Markdown.