Use Markdown in Google Docs, Slides & Drawings

To add formatting to plain text documents, you can use a markup language called Markdown. For example, to create a heading, start a line with a hashtag followed by a space, such as '# Heading'. You can use Markdown to quickly add formatting elements to your Google Docs, Slides and Drawings. With Markdown, you can format text to add:

• Italics
• Bold
• Strikethrough
• Links

On Google Docs, you can also use Markdown to create different headings.

Turn Markdown on or off

1. On your computer, open a file in Google Docs, Google Slides or Google Drawings.
2. Go to Tools  Preferences.
3. Tick or untick the box next to 'Enable Markdown'.

Convert Markdown to Google Docs content on paste

1. Copy the Markdown content to your clipboard
2. On your computer, open a document in Google Docs.
3. Right-click and select Paste from Markdown. The Markdown will be converted to Google Docs content and be pasted.

Copy Google Docs content as Markdown

1. On your computer, open a document in Google Docs.
2. Select the content that you want to copy.
3. Right-click and select Copy as Markdown.

Export a Google Doc as Markdown

You can export the document as Markdown for use in another application. You'll download a Markdown file (.md).

1. On your computer, open a document in Google Docs.
2. Click File  Download.
3. Select Markdown (.md).

Import Markdown as a Google Doc

When in Google Docs:

1. Click File  Open  Upload.
2. Select your Markdown file – this is uploaded and opens up automatically.

When in Drive:

1. Upload your Markdown file.
2. Right-click the uploaded file  Open with  Google Docs.

Create headings with Markdown in Google Docs

If you’re on Google Docs, you can also use Markdown to create up to 6 different headings.

To create a heading,

1. Start at the beginning of a paragraph.
2. Add number signs (#) in front of your heading text. The number of number signs that you use corresponds to the heading level.
   • For example, to create a heading 2, use two number signs (e.g., ## My Header).
3. Write your heading text.
   • Important: Make sure you include a space between the number sign(s) and the heading text.

Text in Markdown	How it appears
# Heading 1	Heading 1
## Heading 2	Heading 2
### Heading 3	Heading 3
#### Heading 4	Heading 4
##### Heading 5	Heading 5
###### Heading 6	Heading 6

Italicise, bold and strike through text with Markdown

• To format text as italic, enclose it in a single asterisk or underscore.
• To format text as bold, enclose it in two asterisks or underscores.
• To format text as italics and bold, enclose it in three asterisks or underscores.
• To format text in strikethrough, enclose it in a single tilde.

Text in Markdown	How it appears
This text is _italic_. This text is *italic*.	This text is italic.
This text is __bold__. This text is **bold**.	This text is bold.
This text is ___italic and bold___. This text is ***italic and bold***.	This text is italic and bold.
This text is in ~strikethrough~.	This text is in strikethrough.

Add links with Markdown

To create a link with Markdown:

1. Write the linked text in brackets (e.g. [Google Docs]).
2. After the bracketed text, write the URL in parentheses (e.g. (https://docs.google.com/document/)).
   • Important: Don’t include a space between the text in brackets and the URL in parentheses.

Text in Markdown	How it appears
Open a file in [Google Docs](https://docs.google.com/document/).	Open a file in Google Docs.

Related articles

• Add a numbered list, bulleted list or checklist
• Change how paragraphs and fonts look