How to Make Bold and Italic Text on Discord

Discord is one of the few major platforms that actually lets you format text natively. Unlike Instagram or TikTok, you do not need Unicode tricks or third-party tools to make text bold or italic in a Discord message. Discord supports a simplified version of Markdown — the same lightweight formatting syntax used on GitHub and Reddit.

But here is where it gets interesting: Discord's Markdown only works in chat messages. It does not work in your username, server nickname, or channel names. For those, you need an entirely different approach.

This guide covers both methods. You will learn every Markdown formatting option Discord supports, see exactly when to use native formatting versus Unicode fonts, and get step-by-step instructions for both. Whether you are formatting a chat message or styling your username, you will find what you need here.

Discord's Native Markdown Formatting

Discord uses a text formatting system based on Markdown. You wrap your text in specific symbols, and Discord renders it with the corresponding style. Here is every formatting option available:

Bold — Wrap your text in double asterisks: **this text is bold** becomes this text is bold

Italic — Wrap your text in single asterisks or single underscores: *this text is italic* or _this text is italic_ becomes this text is italic

~~Strikethrough~~ — Wrap your text in double tildes: ~~this text is struck through~~ becomes ~~this text is struck through~~

Underline — Wrap your text in double underscores: __this text is underlined__ becomes underlined text

||Spoiler|| — Wrap your text in double pipes: ||this is a spoiler|| becomes hidden text that users must click to reveal

Code — Wrap your text in single backticks: `this is inline code` displays in a monospaced font with a subtle background

Code block — Wrap your text in triple backticks:

```
This is a code block
that can span multiple lines
```

Quote — Start your line with a greater-than sign and a space: > this is a quoted line displays with a vertical bar on the left side

For more details on Discord's underline formatting specifically, see our full guide on How to Underline Text on Discord.

Quick Reference Table

Here is a handy reference you can come back to anytime:

| Format | Syntax | What You Type | What You See | |---|---|---|---| | Bold | **text** | **hello** | hello | | Italic | *text* | *hello* | hello | | Underline | __text__ | __hello__ | hello | | Strikethrough | ~~text~~ | ~~hello~~ | ~~hello~~ | | Spoiler | \|\|text\|\| | \|\|hello\|\| | ||hello|| | | Inline code | `text` | `hello` | hello | | Quote | > text | > hello | > hello | | Bold italic | ***text*** | ***hello*** | hello | | Underline bold | __**text**__ | __**hello**__ | hello | | Underline italic | __*text*__ | __*hello*__ | hello |

Bookmark this table. It covers every text formatting combo you will ever need in Discord chat.

When Native Markdown Is Enough

For most Discord users, Markdown covers everything you need. If you are typing in a text channel, a voice channel chat, a thread, or a DM, Markdown works perfectly. You type the symbols, Discord renders the formatting, and everyone sees the result the same way regardless of their device.

Markdown is the right choice when:

• You are writing a regular chat message and want to emphasize a word or phrase
• You are creating an announcement in a server channel and want clear visual hierarchy
• You are quoting someone else's message
• You are sharing code snippets or technical information
• You are hiding spoilers for movies, games, or shows

The formatting is stripped from the raw text when copied, so if someone copies your bold message and pastes it elsewhere, they get plain text. The bold is purely a visual enhancement within Discord.

When Unicode Fonts Are Better

Markdown has a blind spot: it only works in message content. Discord does not render Markdown in these places:

• Your username (the global name that appears everywhere)
• Server nicknames (your per-server display name)
• Server names (the name of the server itself)
• Channel names (though these have additional restrictions)

If you want bold or italic text in any of these places, you need Unicode fonts. These are special characters from the Unicode standard that look like bold, italic, or stylized versions of regular letters. They are actual different characters — not formatted text — so they display wherever regular text is allowed.

For example, you could set your Discord username to something like "𝗝𝗮𝘆" (Unicode bold) or "𝘑𝘢𝘺" (Unicode italic), and it would display in that style across every server you are in.

The Discord Fonts Generator makes it easy to convert any text to Unicode fonts suitable for Discord usernames and nicknames. For more creative username ideas, check out our Discord Username Font Ideas.

Step-by-Step: Bold and Italic in Chat Messages

Here is a practical walkthrough for formatting text in Discord chat using Markdown.

Making text bold

1. Open any text channel or DM in Discord
2. In the message box, type two asterisks: **
3. Type your message: **This announcement is important
4. Close with two more asterisks: **This announcement is important**
5. Press Enter to send

The message will appear in bold for everyone in the channel.

Making text italic

1. In the message box, type one asterisk: *
2. Type your message: *just a thought
3. Close with one more asterisk: *just a thought*
4. Press Enter to send

Making text bold and italic simultaneously

1. Type three asterisks: ***
2. Type your message: ***this is critical
3. Close with three more asterisks: ***this is critical***
4. Press Enter

The text will appear both bold and italic at the same time.

Formatting just one word

You do not need to format your entire message. You can apply Markdown to individual words within a sentence:

The deadline is **tomorrow** so please submit your work *before* midnight

This renders as: The deadline is tomorrow so please submit your work before midnight.

This selective formatting is great for emphasizing key details without making your entire message loud.

Step-by-Step: Bold and Italic in Your Username

Since Markdown does not work in usernames, here is how to use Unicode fonts instead:

1. Open the Bold Text Generator or Italic Text Generator in your browser
2. Type the name you want — for example, "Alex"
3. Copy the bold (𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅) or italic (𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹) version
4. Open Discord and click on your profile icon in the bottom left
5. Click "Edit Profile" or go to Settings and then My Account
6. Click on your display name and paste the Unicode text
7. Save your changes

Your username will now appear in the chosen style across all servers. Keep in mind that some servers have rules about special characters in nicknames, so check with the server moderators if you are unsure.

You can also browse more style options at the Discord Fonts Generator which offers a wide variety beyond just bold and italic.

Combining Formats

One of the best features of Discord's Markdown is the ability to stack multiple formats together. Here are the most useful combinations:

Bold + Italic: Wrap text in three asterisks. ***important note*** renders as bold italic text.

Underline + Bold: Nest double underscores outside double asterisks. __**server rules**__ renders as underlined bold text.

Underline + Italic: Nest double underscores outside single asterisks. __*please read*__ renders as underlined italic text.

Underline + Bold + Italic: Combine all three. __***do not ignore this***__ renders as underlined bold italic text.

Strikethrough + Bold: Nest tildes outside asterisks. ~~**old price**~~ renders as strikethrough bold text — useful for showing original prices versus discounts.

The key rule is that the outermost symbols wrap first. Underline goes on the outside, then bold, then italic on the inside. Mixing the order sometimes produces unpredictable results, so stick to the examples above.

Mobile vs Desktop Differences

Discord's formatting is mostly consistent across platforms, but there are a few differences worth noting:

Typing experience. On desktop, it is easy to type symbols like asterisks and backticks. On mobile, these characters are often hidden behind secondary keyboards. You may need to tap the symbols key (usually "123" or "?#=") to find asterisks and tildes. This makes formatting slightly slower on mobile.

Markdown preview. The Discord desktop app and web app show a real-time preview of your formatted text as you type. The mobile app also supports this, but the preview can be less visible on smaller screens.

Unicode rendering. Unicode fonts used in usernames render consistently on both desktop and mobile Discord apps. However, very obscure Unicode characters may display differently across operating systems — for example, a character might look slightly different on Windows versus macOS versus Android.

Keyboard shortcuts. On desktop, you can use Ctrl+B for bold and Ctrl+I for italic, just like in a word processor. These shortcuts are not available on mobile. On mobile, you need to type the Markdown symbols manually.

Code blocks. Multi-line code blocks render well on desktop with proper syntax highlighting. On mobile, very wide code blocks may require horizontal scrolling, which can be a bit awkward.

For the best experience with complex formatting, composing on desktop and reviewing on mobile is a solid approach.

FAQ

Can I use formatting in channel names?

Channel names in Discord are limited. You cannot use Markdown formatting in channel names — the symbols will display literally rather than rendering as formatting. You also cannot use most Unicode characters. Discord restricts channel names to lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. So a channel name like "announcements" would be rejected. Server names and category names have more flexibility and can include some Unicode characters.

Do bots see formatted text?

Bots receive the raw Markdown syntax in messages, not the rendered output. So if you send **hello**, a bot sees the literal string **hello** including the asterisks. Most well-built bots are programmed to parse and handle Markdown, but simpler bots may not strip the formatting characters. This generally does not cause issues, but it is worth knowing if you use bots that process message content.

Does Markdown work in Discord threads?

Yes. Threads in Discord support the exact same Markdown formatting as regular text channels. Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, spoiler, code, and quotes all work identically in threads. There are no formatting differences between a thread message and a channel message.

How do I escape Markdown characters?

If you want to display the literal symbols without triggering formatting — for example, if you want to show **text** as-is without bolding — place a backslash before each special character: \*\*text\*\*. The backslash tells Discord to treat the next character as a literal character rather than a formatting indicator. This is useful when discussing Markdown syntax itself or when symbols are part of your actual content.

Can I format text in Discord embeds?

If you are a bot developer, yes. Discord embeds (the rich content boxes that bots send) support Markdown in the description and field values. You can use bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, code, and links within embed content. However, embed titles have limited formatting support — typically only basic text is allowed in titles. If you are a regular user, you do not create embeds directly; they are generated by bots and integrations.

Wrapping Up

Discord gives you two formatting toolkits: Markdown for chat messages, and Unicode fonts for usernames and nicknames. Knowing when to use each one — and how to combine them — is the key to making your text stand out.

For chat, master the Markdown basics: **bold**, *italic*, __underline__, and ~~strikethrough~~. These cover the vast majority of formatting needs and work instantly with no tools required.

For usernames, nicknames, and server names, reach for Unicode generators like the Discord Fonts Generator, Bold Text Generator, or Italic Text Generator. They produce special characters that display formatted text in places where Markdown cannot reach.

Between native Markdown and Unicode fonts, there is no text on Discord you cannot style.