Formatting text with Markdown




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Markdown is a simple markup language you can use to easily add
formatting, links, and images to plain text. You can use it in the following places:


Ticket comments (from the agent interface)
Macros
Agent signatures
Dynamic content
Help center articles, including content blocks



Markdown commands are automatically supported by your ticket and article editor. You can
enter Markdown comments to format your content, or you can use the format toolbar to add rich
content. See Table 1 below for supported
Markdown commands.

Note: Markdown is not available in emails and email templates. If you enter text with Markdown
syntax, the formatting will not render and the text will remain as is. For a detailed list of
where Markdown is supported, see Where can I use Markdown and HTML in Zendesk Support?

Topics covered in this article:



Adding Markdown to text

Bold
Italics
Bulleted
lists
Numbered
lists
Nested lists
Headings
Block quotes
Inline code
Code blocks
Images
Links
Images that are also
links
Links to tickets
Horizontal line
rule
Line break
Underscore


Pasting Markdown text from another source




Adding Markdown to text

The following table shows examples of how you can use Markdown to add common formatting.
You don't need to preview your formatting. Your content is formatted automatically as you
enter Markdown commands.


Note: These examples demonstrate one way you can add certain formatting. There might also
be additional ways you can achieve the same formatting. There are also many more
formatting options you can add with Markdown. For more options and information, see the
complete Markdown syntax documentation.

You can also watch this short video.




Table 1. Examples of Markdown syntax








Formatting
Entered text
Published text
Comments




Bold
This is how you **bold** text.

Supported


Italics
This is how you *italicize* text.

Supported


Bulleted lists
* Bullet one (don't forget a space after the asterisk) * Bullet two

You must type a line break before and after the list.


Supported. You can also start with a hyphen (-) followed by a space to create
a bulleted list.


Numbered lists
1. Step one 2. Step two
Do not use a hashtag (#) when creating
numbered lists in Markdown, as the symbol is used for other formatting.

You must type a line break before and after the list.
Numbered
lists will always start with 1, regardless of what number was pasted. If you
need a list to use different numbers, you need to paste plain text.



Supported


Nested lists
* This is the first level of this list. You can add things like images,
quote blocks, or links to a nested list in addition to just text.
You
must type a line break before and after the
list.


Supported, except for content blocks and articles. For the second level of
indent, press Tab after you enter the list item. Works for both bulleted and
numbered lists.


Headings
# Heading level one (with a space after the #) ## Heading level
two
### Heading level
three


Supported. Up to four heading levels. Up to six heading levels in content
blocks.


Block quotes

> Block quotes have to start and end with a blank line
> And each line of the quote starts with a right angle bracket and a
space



Supported


Inline code
Here is some `inline code.`

Supported


Code blocks
``` This is a code block.
```
Creating a blank line and then
indenting the next line or lines with four spaces creates a code block
too.
You must type a line break before and after the code
block.


Supported. To exit a code block placed at the end of a comment, press the
Return key three times in a row.


Images
![Optional alternative text if image doesn't load](http://www.sampleurl.com/logo.png)

Tip: To embed an image that's not hosted,
first attach the image to the ticket. Then open the attachment, right-click
the image, select Copy image URL, and use this link to embed your
image. Doesn't work if private attachments are
enabled.



Supported, except for content blocks and articles. Adding an image URL
automatically turns it into an image link. When the ticket comment is submitted,
the image appears in the conversation log.


Links
[Link display text](http://www.sampleurl.com)

Supported in agent signatures


Images that are also links
[![alt text](imageurl)](linkurl)

Supported in agent signatures


Links to tickets
We addressed this in ticket #61.

Not supported, yet


Horizontal rule line

---
You must enter a line break before and after the hyphens.
If you have three or more dashes under a line of text, with no blank space
between them, instead of creating a horizontal rule below the text, the text
above will change into a header.





Supported


Line break

Line 1
&nbsp;
Line 2
&nbsp;
You must type two line breaks before each &nbsp;.

Line 1 Line 2

Not supported, except in articles and content blocks. In articles and content
blocks, type Shift+Enter to add a line break.


Underscore
This is how you \_underscore\_ text.
This is how you underscore text.
Not supported


When you enter URLs for links and images, make
sure you include the full URL, including the http:// or https:// prefix.









Pasting Markdown text from another source

You can paste Markdown from another source in the ticket composer, but not in the article
editor. Here are some things to consider when you copy Markdown text from another source and
paste it into the ticket composer:

If you copy text with Markdown commands from a plain text editor, the content is
automatically formatted as soon as you paste it. If you don't want the content to be
automatically formatted, use Cmd+Shift+V (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) to
paste.
If you paste text with Markdown commands from a rich text editor, the Markdown
commands remain "as is". The content is not automatically formatted.
If you copy text with Markdown commands from any type of editor into a code block in the
ticket composer, the content is not automatically formatted. It remains "as is."
If you paste Markdown text with code blocks or nested lists, the format is not
automatically carried over into the ticket
composer.



{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "TechArticle",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408846544922",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408846544922-Formatting-text-with-Markdown",
"headline": "Formatting text with Markdown",
"description": "You can use Markdown syntax to format text, add links, and images in ticket comments, macros, agent signatures, dynamic content, and help center articles, with automatic rendering in supported editors.",
"articleSection": "Ticket basics",
"datePublished": "2021-10-16T05:29:47+00:00",
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"isPartOf": {
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