How to Bold in Discord: Every Text Format Explained

To bold text in Discord, put two asterisks on each side of it: type **like this** and send the message. Discord reads that as markdown, hides the asterisks and shows the words in bold, on desktop, in the browser and on mobile.

The same markdown gives you italic, underline, strikethrough, headings, quotes, lists, code and spoilers. It only works in messages, though. For your display name or a server nickname you need bold Unicode letters, which you can copy from the Discord bold text generator. Both are covered below.

Discord formatting cheat sheet

Every example shows exactly what you type. The symbols disappear once the message is sent.

Style	What you type
Bold	**text**
Italic	*text* or _text_
Bold italic	***text***
Underline	__text__
Strikethrough	~~text~~
Spoiler	||text||
Inline code	text between single backticks
Large heading	# text
Medium heading	## text
Small heading	### text
Subtext	-# text
Quote	> text
List item	- text or 1. text
Masked link	[text](https://example.com)

How to bold text in Discord

Bold is the format people look for most, and it takes four keystrokes:

1. Click the message box in any channel or DM.
2. Type two asterisks, then the words you want in bold.
3. Type two more asterisks right after the last word, with no space in between.
4. Press Enter to send.

You can bold one word in the middle of a sentence: Doors open at **8pm**, bring a friend shows only "8pm" in bold. To bold several words, put the asterisks around the whole phrase rather than around each word.

The asterisks have to touch the text. Writing ** text **, with spaces inside the asterisks, usually leaves the asterisks visible instead of making the text bold.

On the desktop app there is also a shortcut: highlight words you have already typed in the message box, and a small formatting bar appears with bold, italic and other options. On a phone, typing the asterisks yourself is the most reliable way, and the result looks the same for everyone.

Italic, underline and strikethrough

The other inline styles follow the same pattern: wrap the text in a symbol on both sides.

• Italic: one asterisk or one underscore on each side, *maybe* or _maybe_.
• Underline: two underscores on each side, __read this first__.
• Strikethrough: two tildes on each side, ~~sold out~~. Useful for showing a correction without deleting the original.

Discord has no colour option for normal message text, and no way to change the font. The closest you get to colour is a code block with syntax highlighting, covered further down.

Combining styles

Styles can be stacked. Put the outer symbols first and close them in the reverse order:

• Bold italic: ***text***
• Bold underline: __**text**__
• Italic underline: __*text*__
• Bold, italic and underline: __***text***__
• Bold strikethrough: ~~**text**~~

If a combination does not come out right, check that each pair of symbols is closed in the reverse order it was opened.

How to make text big and bold: headings

To make text big, start a new line with a hash sign and a space. There are three sizes:

• # Weekly giveaway gives the largest heading.
• ## Rules gives a medium heading.
• ### Prizes gives a small heading.

Headings are already bold, so you do not need asterisks as well. The hash has to be the first thing on the line, and the space after it is required: #Rules without a space stays as plain text. Discord does not go beyond three hashes.

Subtext

Subtext is the opposite of a heading: small, grey text for a note or a footnote. Start the line with a hyphen, a hash and a space, for example -# Edited to fix the time. Like headings, it only works at the start of a line.

Block quotes

Start a line with a greater-than sign and a space, > Quoted line, to show it as a quote with a bar on the left. Each line you want quoted needs its own greater-than sign.

To quote everything that follows, including several lines, use three: >>> at the start. Everything after it in that message becomes part of the quote.

Lists

Lists work the way they do in most markdown editors:

• Start a line with a hyphen or an asterisk and a space for a bullet point: - Bring water.
• Start a line with a number, a full stop and a space for a numbered list: 1. Join voice.
• Indent a line with spaces to nest it under the item above.

Press Shift and Enter to start a new line without sending the message, then type the next item.

Inline code and code blocks

Code formatting shows text in a fixed-width font on a dark background, and nothing inside it is formatted. That makes it handy for commands, file names and anything containing asterisks or underscores.

For inline code, put one backtick on each side of the text. The backtick is the key usually found to the left of the 1 key on a desktop keyboard; on a phone it is in the symbols keyboard.

For a code block, type three backticks, add the code on the next lines, and close it with three backticks on a line of their own. Everything in between keeps its spacing and line breaks.

To get colours, write the language name straight after the opening three backticks, with no space. Common ones are js, py, json, css and diff. With diff, lines that start with a plus sign show in green and lines that start with a minus sign show in red, which some servers use for coloured announcements. A block marked js might hold:

const greeting = "welcome to the server";
console.log(greeting);

Spoilers

Wrap text in two vertical bars on each side, ||the ending||, and Discord hides it behind a dark box until someone clicks or taps it. You can hide a single word inside a sentence or a whole line.

Masked links

A masked link shows your own words in place of a long address. Write the text in square brackets and the address in round brackets straight after it, with no space: [server rules](https://example.com/rules). Discord may show the real address and ask before opening it, so people can see where the link goes.

How to show the symbols instead of formatting

Sometimes you want the asterisks to stay. Put a backslash before each symbol: \*\*not bold\*\* shows **not bold** exactly as written. The same works for underscores, tildes, vertical bars and the hash sign at the start of a line.

Inline code also stops formatting, since nothing inside it is read as markdown.

Where Discord formatting does not work

Markdown is read in messages, not in names. Your display name, server nicknames, the server name, channel names and role names show every character you type, so asterisks there just stay asterisks.

Bold Unicode letters are the workaround. They are separate characters that look bold on their own, so they stay bold wherever they are pasted. Type your name into the Discord bold text generator, copy the bold version and paste it as your display name or a server nickname. For script, small caps, gothic and other looks, use the Discord font generator.

Your username is the exception. Discord usernames only accept lowercase letters, numbers, periods and underscores, from 2 to 32 characters, so styled letters are rejected there.

Use Unicode letters sparingly. Screen readers may read them as a string of symbols or skip them, Discord search will not match them against the plain word, and other members cannot @mention a name they cannot type. In messages, real markdown is always the better choice.

If you also run your community on other networks, SociaHive schedules posts to Instagram, TikTok, X and other platforms from one place. It does not post to Discord.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you bold text in Discord?

Put two asterisks on each side of the text, like **this**, and send the message. Discord hides the asterisks and shows the words in bold. It works the same on desktop, in the browser and on mobile, and you can bold a single word inside a sentence.

How do I bold text in Discord on mobile?

Type the asterisks yourself: two before the words and two after, with no spaces between the asterisks and the text. The Discord app on iPhone and Android reads the same markdown as desktop, so the message shows in bold for everyone.

How do I make text big and bold on Discord?

Start a new line with a hash sign and a space, like # Big text. Headings are bold already. Use two hashes for a medium heading and three for a small one, and keep the hash at the very start of the line.

How do I underline or strike through text in Discord?

Use two underscores on each side for underline, __text__, and two tildes on each side for strikethrough, ~~text~~. Both can be combined with bold and italic.

Why is my Discord bold text not working?

The most common causes are a space between the asterisks and the text, a missing closing pair, or typing in a field that does not support markdown, such as your display name. Markdown only works in messages; for names, copy bold letters from the Discord bold text generator.

Can I use bold letters in my Discord username?

No. Usernames only accept lowercase letters, numbers, periods and underscores. Put bold Unicode letters in your display name or a server nickname instead.