Bolded text, crossed out words, BIG text, hidden text… you can do a lot with your text messages on Discord after you’ve written them! And if you’ve found yourself here, you likely want to learn how! 

In this article, we’ll be going over some of the many ways you can format your Discord message to add more emphasis, include helpful context, or just make it POP.

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If you’re familiar with writing with Markdown, most of this will be very familiar — Discord also uses Markdown for its message formatting!

Feel free to bookmark this article to quickly preview how your message may appear, or to share it with a friend who doesn’t know how to format their messages on Discord! You can also use the Table of Contents in this article to jump straight to the formatting style you’re looking for.

How to Bold Your Text on Discord

BOOM. You just gotta get LOUD sometimes. Or just do a BIG ol’ scream like AUUGHHGHGMBFUGHBGGHHHH or something like that. 

If you wanna make your words BIG and BOLD, just add two asterisks before and after the section you want to make bold.

For example, if you want to really go WOAH, type your message like the one below:

**WHAT DO YOU MEAN** you don't like asparagus??

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Then, your message will go BOLD like this: 

On desktop or web, you can also highlight your message and press “CTRL/CMD + B” to instantly bold the words you have highlighted! 

How to Italicize Your Text on Discord

Sometimes you need to emphasize something in your message, without YELLING it. Or whisper…

Italics can help imply a specific enunciation of your words (“ohh, is that so, huuuh?”). They can also be used when referring to the title of something, such as the comic mini-series Wumpus Wonderventures. (Yes, that’s real.) 

To make your words italic on Discord, add one asterisk before and after your message, like this: 

*Fancy.*

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Then your message will look sleek and stylish, like this: 

Plus, your teacher who happens to have a Discord server will be impressed that you’re using proper MLA format in your normal messages by italicizing your favorite movie’s title. Nerd.

You can also easily italicize any text by highlighting it and pressing “CTRL/CMD + I.”

How to Cross Out Your Text on Discord

Have you ever wanted to correct one of your messages while leaving what you originally said so others can have it as context? Or, act like you’re going to say something else but but correct yourself. You know, for comedic effect. 

To use strikethrough and add a big line through your message, add these lil’ squiggly guys “ ~ “ at the beginning and end of your message:

I put ~~pineapple~~ pepperoni on my pizza. 

How to Underline in Your Text on Discord

Just like bolding and italicizing, underlining is another way you can add emphasis to a particular set of words in your message. You can use it to point out a few words, or you can add it to the top of a long message to give your post a “title” of sorts! At least, my boss always uses it like that on me… 

To underline some text, add two “_” symbols before and after the words you want to underline. Think of it as adding lines around your words! 

__My Opinions on Water__

This one’s got a desktop keybind, too! Highlight the words you want to underline and press “CTRL/CMD + U.” 

How to Put Spoilers in Your Text on Discord

Talking about something in secret? Or, are you discussing the latest Marvel movie but Josh somehow still hasn’t gotten around to watching it yet while everyone else has?

Instead of keeping your friend out of a conversation, try hiding parts of your message in a Spoiler Tag! Do this by typing your message between |vertical bars|, also known as pipes.

||Your message here.||

Pro tip: If you put a spoiler tag around a link you want to share, the embed itself will be hidden behind a spoiler tag! Not everyone wants to see what you’re sharing for Weird Fish Wednesday. (We do though.) 

How to make text big or small using Headers

If you’re looking for a nice way to format and organize a longer message, or bolding your message simply isn’t enough, try using headers! They’ll make your words either REALLY BIG, kinda big, sorta big, or itty bitty. 

You can make any line a Header on Discord by placing a particular amount of # symbols in front of it, such as: 

# This is a BIG header. 
## This is a medium-sized header.
### This is a reasonably-sized header.
-# This is a tiny header.

When you send your message, it’ll look like this! 

How to add links to words in your message on Discord

Finally, we’ll talk about linking stuff in your message. By linking specific words in your message to something you want to share, you can avoid pasting in a really long, really ugly link in your nicely-written message, such as https://discord.com/vanityurl/dotcom/steakpants/flour/flower/index11.html. 

This one is a bit more complex, so rather than simply demonstrating, below is a template you can use to easily fill in the blanks! 

[PASTE_WORDS_HERE](PASTE_YOUR_LINK_HERE) 

When you send your message, it’ll look like this! 

Remember: Blue is for you (to open). ‍

A Note from our Safety Team: Did you receive a message with a link and you’re unsure if you should open said link? When you click on a link hidden behind text, you’ll first see a prompt that shows exactly where you’ll be sent to. You can then decide whether or not you trust the message and open the link. Be safe out there! 

How to make a list in your Discord message

Eggsfloursugarsodapopcornbreadcheese. Did you get that? Okay, maybe that’s a lot.

Instead of writing out an important list in a single sentence, use a bulleted list! Simply add “-” before each line in your message and it’ll be intended with a dot! Any line in your message that starts with a dash will be a list. 

- The first thing
- The second thing
- The third thing

Now, instead of a single sentence saying everything, it’ll be easy to read like this: 

Pro tip: If you add a second dash with a space between them (“- -”), you’ll indent your list with a second dot! 

Now You’re Writing with ✨Style✨ 

Now that you have this cheat sheet to start with, get practicing! It may look like there’s a lot to memorize, but don’t fret… it’ll all be second nature to you in no time! 

If you ever need some direct help, give us a shout! Send a tweet to our support team at @discord_support whenever you need a pointer or two, or you can reach out to us at our support page. (See? Linked text!) 

And consider sharing this with a friend who’s still learning the ropes! It’ll be around for you to reference.