Markdown Preview

What is Markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber in 2004. It uses plain-text syntax to represent formatted text — headings, bold, italic, links, lists, code blocks and more. Markdown is designed to be easy to read and write in its raw form, and to convert cleanly to HTML for display.

Markdown has become the standard for writing documentation, README files, blog posts, forum comments and chat messages. GitHub, GitLab, Reddit, Stack Overflow, Notion and many other platforms support Markdown. Its simplicity and portability make it the preferred format for developers and writers alike.

Why use Markdown?

Markdown is popular because it separates content from formatting. You write in plain text with simple syntax, and the renderer handles the HTML. This makes Markdown files portable, version-control-friendly and easy to read even without rendering. Unlike rich-text editors, Markdown doesn't lock you into a proprietary format.

Using a live previewer lets you see how your Markdown will look as HTML while you write. This is especially useful when writing README files, documentation or blog posts — you can catch formatting issues immediately instead of after publishing.

When to use a Markdown previewer

A Markdown previewer is useful in many scenarios:

• Writing README files. See how your GitHub README will look before committing.
• Documentation. Write and preview documentation in Markdown before publishing.
• Blog posts. Draft blog posts in Markdown and preview the HTML output.
• Learning Markdown. Experiment with Markdown syntax and see the results instantly.
• Chat and forum posts. Preview Markdown before posting to Reddit, Stack Overflow or Discord.

Markdown syntax reference

This previewer supports the following Markdown syntax:

• # Heading 1, ## Heading 2, ### Heading 3 — headings
• **bold** — bold text
• *italic* — italic text
• [link](url) — hyperlinks
• `code` — inline code
• ```code block``` — fenced code blocks
• - item — unordered lists
• > quote — blockquotes

The preview updates instantly as you type — no need to click a button.

How to preview Markdown

Using this Markdown previewer is simple: type or paste Markdown in the left input box, and the HTML preview appears instantly on the right. The preview updates in real time as you type, so you can see your formatting immediately.

The previewer runs entirely in your browser — no data is uploaded. It supports the most common Markdown syntax elements. For advanced features like tables, footnotes or task lists, consider using a full Markdown processor like CommonMark or GitHub Flavored Markdown. This tool focuses on the core syntax that covers the vast majority of everyday writing needs.