Bookmark this page. Use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) to find what you need. This cheat sheet covers standard Markdown and GitHub-flavored extensions. Try examples at markdownlivepreview.com.

Last updated: March 2026

Headings

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Text Formatting

MarkdownResult
**bold**bold
*italic*italic
***bold and italic***bold and italic
~~strikethrough~~strikethrough
`inline code`inline code
> blockquoteblockquote
[Link text](https://example.com)
[Link with title](https://example.com "Hover text")
<https://example.com>                     <!-- auto-link -->

![Alt text](image.png)
![Alt text](image.png "Image title")
[![Clickable image](image.png)](https://example.com)

<!-- Reference-style links -->
[Read more][1]
[1]: https://example.com

Lists

<!-- Unordered -->
- Item one
- Item two
  - Nested item
  - Another nested

<!-- Ordered -->
1. First
2. Second
3. Third

<!-- Task list (GitHub) -->
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task
- [ ] Another task

Code

Inline: `const x = 42;`

Code block with language:
```javascript
function greet(name) {
    return `Hello ${name}`;
}
```

Code block without language:
```
plain text here
```

Supported Languages for Syntax Highlighting

javascript, typescript, python, rust, kotlin, java, go, bash, sql, html, css, json, yaml, toml, markdown, diff, dockerfile

Tables

| Name  | Age | City    |
|-------|-----|---------|
| Alex  | 25  | Berlin  |
| Sam   | 30  | Munich  |

<!-- Alignment -->
| Left   | Center  | Right  |
|:-------|:-------:|-------:|
| text   | text    | text   |

Blockquotes

> Simple blockquote

> Multi-line blockquote
> continues here

> Nested blockquotes
>> Second level
>>> Third level

> **Note:** You can use formatting inside blockquotes.

Horizontal Rule

---
***
___

All three produce a horizontal line.

Escaping Characters

Use backslash to show special characters literally:

\* not italic \*
\# not a heading
\[not a link\]
\`not code\`

GitHub-Flavored Markdown

Alerts / Callouts

> [!NOTE]
> Useful information that users should know.

> [!TIP]
> Helpful advice for better results.

> [!WARNING]
> Critical content requiring immediate attention.

> [!CAUTION]
> Negative consequences of an action.

Footnotes

Here is a sentence with a footnote.[^1]

[^1]: This is the footnote content.

Collapsed Section

<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>

Hidden content here. Supports **markdown**.

</details>

Mermaid Diagrams (GitHub)

```mermaid
graph LR
    A[Start] --> B{Decision}
    B -->|Yes| C[Action]
    B -->|No| D[End]
```

Emoji

:rocket: :tada: :bug: :white_check_mark:
🚀 🎉 🐛 ✅

GitHub supports both :shortcode: and Unicode emoji.

README.md Template

# Project Name

Short description of what this project does.

## Installation

```bash
npm install my-project

Usage

import { thing } from "my-project";
thing.doStuff();

API

MethodDescription
doStuff()Does the stuff
undoStuff()Undoes the stuff

Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Submit a pull request

License

MIT


## Common Mistakes

1. **Missing blank lines** — Markdown needs blank lines before headings, lists, and code blocks. Without them, the formatting may break or render as plain text.

2. **Wrong table alignment** — Table columns must have at least 3 dashes (`---`). The header separator `|---|` is the minimum. Missing it breaks the entire table.

3. **Spaces in image/link paths** — `![alt](my file.png)` breaks. Use `![alt](my%20file.png)` or rename the file to avoid spaces.

## Related Resources

- [GitHub Markdown Guide](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/writing-on-github) — official GitHub docs
- [Markdown Live Preview](https://markdownlivepreview.com) — try Markdown in the browser
- [All Cheat Sheets](/cheat-sheets/)