Markdown formatting made simple
Markdown is a lightweight way to format plain text: you type familiar characters like asterisks and pound signs, and they become bold text, headings and lists. Notepad Free renders Markdown live in a split view as you type, so you see the result without leaving the keyboard.
Basic text formatting
Bold text is wrapped in two asterisks on each side — for example, **important** renders as bold. Italic text uses one asterisk — *like this*. To make text both bold and italic, use three — ***like this***. Strikethrough uses two tildes: ~~removed~~. These work inside sentences, so you can emphasise one word without disrupting the flow of the line. There is no need to select text and click a toolbar button — just type the characters as you write and the preview updates instantly.
Headings and structure
Headings use pound signs at the start of a line. One pound sign gives the largest heading, two give a section heading, and so on down to six levels. Use headings to break a long note into scannable sections — a project note might have headings for Overview, Goals, Tasks and Notes. A horizontal rule (three dashes on their own line) draws a dividing line between sections. Combined with headings, this makes even a very long note easy to navigate.
Lists, checkboxes and blockquotes
Unordered lists start each item with a dash or asterisk followed by a space. Ordered lists use numbers. Nested lists work by indenting child items with two spaces. Task lists start each item with [ ] for unchecked or [x] for checked — perfect for to-do items embedded inside a note. Blockquotes start the line with a > character and render indented with a coloured bar on the left — ideal for pulling out a quote or a piece of text you are commenting on.
Links, code and tables
To add a link, write the label in square brackets followed by the URL in parentheses. Inline code wraps a snippet in single backticks — great for commands or filenames. A fenced code block uses three backticks on their own line before and after the block, with an optional language name for highlighting. Tables use pipes and dashes: a header row, a separator row of dashes, then data rows. Simple comparison tables and feature matrices are easy to build and render cleanly in the preview.