Markdown cheat sheet

A practical GitHub-flavored Markdown (GFM) reference. Each block has a Copy snippet button. Jump with the mini table of contents. Syntax that many renderers ignore is marked clearly.

Support note: headings, lists, links, images, fenced code, pipe tables, blockquotes and task lists work in GFM (GitHub, GitLab, most static-site tools). Footnotes work on GitHub; they are not in CommonMark core and are skipped or shown as plain text in some viewers, including our on-site preview.

Headings

Use one H1 per document when you can. Levels must nest without skipping when you care about outline tools.

# Document title
## Section
### Subsection
#### Smaller heading

Lists

Indent nested items with two or four spaces. Mix ordered and unordered lists freely.

- Item one
- Item two
  - Nested item
  - Another nested item

1. First step
2. Second step
3. Third step

Links

Inline links are the usual form. Reference-style links help when the same URL appears many times.

[MarkdownBook viewer](https://markdownbook.com/)

[Reference link][viewer]

[viewer]: https://markdownbook.com/ "Open Markdown online"

Images

Same shape as a link, with a leading !. Alt text matters for accessibility and for broken-image fallbacks.

![Diagram of the export flow](https://example.com/export-flow.png "Export flow")

Code

Inline code uses single backticks. Fenced blocks use three backticks and an optional language tag for highlighting.

Use `inline code` for short tokens.

```js
function greet(name) {
  return "Hello, " + name;
}
```

Tables

GFM pipe tables need a header row and a separator row. Alignment uses colons in the separator. For a visual editor, use the table generator.

| Feature | GFM | Notes |
| --- | :---: | --- |
| Pipe tables | Yes | Header + separator required |
| Column align | Yes | `:---` left, `:---:` center, `---:` right |

Blockquotes

Prefix each line with >. Nested quotes add another >.

> Keep tables and code readable when you export.
>
> > Nested quote for a secondary note.

Task lists

GFM only. Useful for checklists in issues and notes. Not part of CommonMark core.

- [x] Draft the outline
- [ ] Write the examples
- [ ] Export to PDF

Footnotes

Supported on GitHub. Many other Markdown engines ignore them or print the markers as plain text. Our browser preview does not render footnote popovers yet.

Here is a claim with a source.[^1]

[^1]: Replace this with a real citation when you publish.

FAQ

Is this the same as CommonMark?

Base syntax overlaps. Tables, task lists and footnotes are GFM (or GitHub) extensions. If a tool only claims CommonMark, test those three yourself.

Why copy instead of a live editor here?

This page is a quick reference. Paste any snippet into the Markdown viewer to preview, outline or export.

Do you upload what I copy?

No. Copy uses your clipboard in the browser. Nothing is sent to our servers.