The Discord Text Formatting Guide

To make text bold, put two asterisks on each side: **bold text**. For italics, use one asterisk: *italic text*. You can also use underscores for italics: _italic text_.

Combine bold and italics by using three asterisks: ***bold italic***. These work in any chat, channel, or direct message.

Strikethrough text shows a line through the words. Use two tildes on each side: ~~strikethrough~~. This is useful for showing a correction or a joke.

Underline requires two underscores: __underline__. You can mix underline with bold or italics, like __**bold underline**__.

Code blocks turn off all formatting and show text in a monospaced font. Use one backtick for inline code: code. For multiple lines, use three backticks before and after the text.

You can also add a language name right after the opening three backticks to turn on syntax highlighting. Type the word python after them and Discord colors Python keywords. This works for many programming languages.

Spoiler tags hide text behind a gray blur. Wrap the text with two vertical bars: ||spoiler||. Readers must click the blur to see the content. Use this for story spoilers or sensitive information.

Block quotes indent a line. Start the line with a right angle bracket: > This is a quote. For multiple paragraphs, add a bracket at the start of each line.

If you want to show a formatting symbol without triggering the effect, use a backslash before it. For example, type \*asterisk\* to show *asterisk* as plain text.

This works for asterisks, underscores, tildes, backticks, and brackets. Without the backslash, Discord will try to format the text.

Formatting only works if the symbols are directly next to the text. A space between the symbol and the word will break the effect. For example, ** bold** does not work.

Discord usernames are lowercase and unique, but your display name can use any formatting symbols. You cannot format your display name itself with bold or italics.

Mobile apps support all the same formatting. Just type the symbols the same way you would on desktop. No special keyboard is needed.