Markdown Preview

Online Markdown Editor & Preview

Write Markdown on the left and instantly see the rendered HTML on the right. This live preview tool supports all standard Markdown syntax including headings, bold, italic, links, images, code blocks, blockquotes, and lists. Perfect for writing README files, documentation, blog posts, and forum comments.

What Is Markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz in 2004. It allows you to write formatted text using a simple, readable plain-text syntax that converts to HTML. Markdown has become the standard for documentation on GitHub, GitLab, Stack Overflow, Reddit, Discord, Notion, and many other platforms.

The key philosophy behind Markdown is readability — a Markdown document should be readable as-is, without rendering. This makes it ideal for version control (diffs are clean and meaningful), email, and any context where plain text is preferred over rich text formats.

Supported Markdown Syntax

• Headings — # H1, ## H2, ### H3 through ###### H6
• Bold — **text** or __text__
• Italic — *text* or _text_
• Strikethrough — ~~text~~
• Links — [text](url)
• Images — ![alt text](url)
• Inline code — `code`
• Code blocks — Fenced with triple backticks ```
• Unordered lists — -, *, or + followed by a space
• Ordered lists — 1., 2., etc.
• Blockquotes — > quoted text
• Horizontal rules — ---, ***, or ___

Real-World Use Cases

• GitHub README Files — Every open-source project needs a README.md. Preview your documentation before pushing to ensure formatting is correct.
• Technical Documentation — API docs, architecture decision records, and internal wikis are commonly written in Markdown.
• Blog Post Drafting — Many static site generators (Jekyll, Hugo, Gatsby, Astro) use Markdown for content. Draft and preview posts before deploying.
• Note Taking — Markdown is the format behind Obsidian, Notion, Bear, and many other knowledge management tools.
• Forum & Chat Messages — Reddit, Discord, Slack, and Stack Overflow all support Markdown syntax for formatted messages.

Tips for Writing Better Markdown

• Use a blank line between paragraphs — single line breaks are ignored in standard Markdown.
• Indent nested list items with 2 or 4 spaces for sub-lists.
• Use reference-style links [text][id] for cleaner source when linking the same URL multiple times.
• Prefix code blocks with a language identifier after the backticks (e.g., ```javascript) for syntax highlighting on platforms that support it.
• Keep lines under 80-100 characters for readability in plain text editors and clean version control diffs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my content saved?

No. Everything runs in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is sent to any server or stored anywhere. Your Markdown content exists only in your browser tab.

Can I copy the rendered HTML?

Yes — click "Copy HTML" to copy the generated HTML markup to your clipboard. This is useful for pasting into CMS editors, email templates, or HTML files.

Which Markdown flavor does this use?

This tool implements standard Markdown (CommonMark-compatible) with support for fenced code blocks, strikethrough, and other common extensions. It renders directly in the browser with a zero-dependency parser — no external libraries are loaded.

Can I use HTML inside Markdown?

Standard Markdown allows inline HTML, but this preview tool sanitizes HTML input for security (XSS prevention). Stick to Markdown syntax for best results.

How do I create a table in Markdown?

Tables use pipes and hyphens: | Header | Header | on the first line, |--------|--------| as a separator, then | Cell | Cell | for rows. GitHub Flavored Markdown and most platforms support this syntax.