Markdown Cheat Sheet
A fast, copy‑ready reference for CommonMark and GitHub‑Flavored Markdown (GFM). Every block includes ready-to-copy examples and rendered output hints. Want to customize this guide? Click Start Editing to create your personalized version, then export to Word or PDF.
Tip: On md2word.com you can paste Markdown, then convert to .docx or .pdf with proper headings, tables, images, Mermaid and more.
Table of Contents
- Headings
- Paragraphs & Line Breaks
- Emphasis
- Lists (ul/ol)
- Task Lists (GFM)
- Links
- Images
- Code (inline & fenced)
- Blockquotes
- Horizontal Rule
- Tables (GFM)
- Footnotes (GFM)
- Definition Lists (some parsers)
- Math (LaTeX via extensions)
- Mermaid Diagrams
- Escaping & Special Characters
- HTML in Markdown
- Platform Notes: GitHub / Obsidian / Notion / Discord
- FAQ
Headings
# H1
## H2
### H3
#### H4
##### H5
###### H6
Guideline: Use a single # H1 per page; use hierarchical H2–H4 for structure.
Paragraphs & Line Breaks
- A blank line starts a new paragraph.
- End a line with two spaces or add
<br>for a line break.
First line with two spaces␠␠
forced line break.
Emphasis
*italic* _italic_
**bold** __bold__
***bold italic***
~~strikethrough~~
Lists (ul/ol)
Unordered
- Item A
- Item B
- Nested 1
- Nested 2
Ordered
1. First
2. Second
3. Third
Tip: Numbers auto-increment;
1.for all items is valid on many parsers.
Task Lists (GFM)
- [ ] Todo
- [x] Done
Links
[md2word](https://md2word.com)
<https://md2word.com> # autolink
[title](https://url "hover title") # optional title
Reference style
[Home][home]
[home]: https://md2word.com
Images
With width (HTML fallback)
<img src="https://example.com/img.png" alt="desc" width="480">
Code (inline & fenced)
Inline code uses backticks: Use \code` for inline`
Fenced blocks
```language
# your code...
```
Common languages: bash, python, javascript, json, yaml, mermaid
Blockquotes
> One level
>> Nested
Horizontal Rule
---
***
___
Tables (GFM)
| Feature | Support |
|---|---|
| Tables | ✅ |
| Alignment | ✅ |
Alignment
| Left | Center | Right |
|:-----|:------:|------:|
| a | b | c |
Footnotes (GFM)
Here is a footnote reference.[^1]
[^1]: The footnote text.
Definition Lists (some parsers)
Term
: Definition 1
: Definition 2
Math (LaTeX via extensions)
Requires a renderer like KaTeX/MathJax.
Inline: $E=mc^2$
Block:
$$
\nabla \cdot \vec{E} = \frac{\rho}{\varepsilon_0}
$$
Mermaid Diagrams
```mermaid
flowchart TD
A[Start] --> B{Choice?}
B -->|Yes| C[Path 1]
B -->|No| D[Path 2]
```
On md2word.com, Mermaid renders to images for clean PDF/Word export.
Escaping & Special Characters
Use backslash to escape formatting:
\*not italic\* \#not a heading
HTML in Markdown
Most parsers allow a subset of HTML:
<details><summary>Toggle</summary>
Hidden content
</details>
Platform Notes: GitHub / Obsidian / Notion / Discord
- GitHub (GFM): supports tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolink. No raw HTML in some contexts (READMEs mostly OK).
- Obsidian: supports internal wikilinks
[[Note]], callouts> [!note]. - Notion: imports Markdown, but some advanced syntax may be normalized.
- Discord/Reddit: limited subsets; tables may not render—use code blocks.
FAQ
Q: Which standard does this sheet follow?
Primarily CommonMark with GFM additions (tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolink).
Q: How do I get a PDF/Word version? Click Start Editing to open this guide in our editor, customize as needed, then export to .pdf or .docx. Or paste any Markdown into md2word.com for direct conversion.
Q: Why do my tables break in Word?
Use md2word's conversion—tables are normalized to DOCX tables with consistent borders & alignment.
Changelog
- 2025-10-13: Initial release. Covers CommonMark + GFM, includes Mermaid & Math notes.
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Pro tip: Explore more: Markdown Table Guide, Markdown Hyperlink, Markdown to PDF.