Text formatting

Formatting is how a reader skims. Bold picks out the words that matter, code marks what to type exactly, and a highlight says “look here”. There are three ways to apply it, so use whichever is nearest:

• The menu over selected text. Select some words and it appears above them, with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, inline code, highlight and link. See Floating menus.

• The toolbar, which has all of those except link, and also text color, subscript, superscript and clear formatting.

• The keyboard: a shortcut, or Markdown as you type (below).

With nothing selected, a button or shortcut applies to whatever you type next.

Each style, and when to use it

The shortcuts are for Windows and Linux; on a Mac, use ⌘ where they say Ctrl.

• Bold: the few words a reader skimming must not miss. Ctrl+B, or type **text**.

• Italic: a title, a term being defined, or a light stress. Ctrl+I, or *text*.

• Underline: use it sparingly, because readers take underlined words for links. Ctrl+U.

• Strikethrough: something no longer true that readers should still see, such as a canceled date. Ctrl+Shift+S, or ~~text~~.

• Inline code: anything to be typed exactly, such as a command, a file name or a setting. Ctrl+E, or `text`.

• Highlight: the one line someone must look at. Ctrl+Shift+H, or ==text==. Other colors are in Colors.

• H₂O and E = mc²: subscript and superscript, for formulas and footnote marks. Ctrl+, and Ctrl+..

Clearing formatting

Clear formatting on the toolbar, or Ctrl+\, takes every style off the selected text, links and colors included. On a heading it also turns the heading back into normal text, and it puts the line back to the left with no indent.

Formatting as you type

Type **done** and it turns bold the moment you type the closing stars. Every style with a Markdown form is listed in Markdown shortcuts.