Reddit Text Formatting: Complete Markdown Guide

Reddit text formatting uses a version of markdown to style posts and comments with bold, italic, links, quotes, code, tables, and more. Reddit's markdown flavor differs from standard CommonMark in several ways, and the old Reddit editor handles formatting differently from the new "Fancy Pants" editor. This guide covers every formatting option available on Reddit as of 2026.

How Does Reddit Text Formatting Work?

Reddit adopted markdown for comments and posts when the platform launched. The old Reddit interface (old.reddit.com) uses a markdown editor by default. The new Reddit interface uses a rich text editor called "Fancy Pants" but lets you switch to markdown mode by clicking the "Markdown Mode" toggle at the bottom of the editor.

On mobile, the Reddit app supports markdown in the text editor, though some syntax renders differently than on desktop. All formatting described below works in markdown mode on both old and new Reddit.

Basic Text Formatting on Reddit

Bold and Italic

**bold text**
*italic text*
***bold and italic***

Reddit supports both asterisks and underscores for bold and italic, but asterisks are more reliable. Underscores sometimes fail mid-word on Reddit's parser. Stick with asterisks.

Strikethrough

~~strikethrough text~~

Double tildes create strikethrough on Reddit. This works in both old and new Reddit.

Superscript

This is normal^(this is superscript)

Reddit uses ^(text) for superscript. Wrap the superscript text in parentheses after the caret. For a single word, you can use just ^word without parentheses. This syntax is Reddit-specific and does not work in standard markdown.

Inline Code

Use the `git status` command.

Backticks create inline code on Reddit, same as standard markdown.

Links and Images on Reddit

Links

[Link text](https://example.com)

Standard markdown link syntax works on Reddit. Reddit also auto-links bare URLs like https://example.com without needing markdown syntax.

Images

Reddit does not support the standard ![alt](url) image syntax in comments. Images in comments must be uploaded through the Reddit image upload feature. In posts, you can embed images through the rich text editor or by pasting a URL to an image hosting service like Imgur.

Subreddits that support inline images allow uploaded images to appear directly in comments, but this is a Reddit feature, not markdown.

Headings on Reddit

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

Reddit supports headings with the # syntax. Old Reddit renders all six levels with distinct sizes; new Reddit shows less variation between the deeper levels, so stick to H1 through H3 for predictable results. Headings are useful for long posts like guides, reviews, or discussion starters.

One thing to watch out for: Reddit requires a space between the # and the heading text. #NoSpace renders as a hashtag, not a heading.

Blockquotes on Reddit

> This is a blockquote on Reddit.
> It can span multiple lines.

Blockquotes use the > character, identical to standard markdown. Reddit displays them with a gray left border. Nested blockquotes (>>) also work for quoting replies within replies.

Blockquotes are commonly used on Reddit to quote the comment you are replying to. Copy the text, prefix each line with >, and add your response below.

Lists on Reddit

Unordered Lists

- Item one
- Item two
- Item three

Reddit supports -, *, and + as bullet markers. A blank line before the list is required for it to render correctly.

Ordered Lists

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Nested Lists

1. First item
   - Nested bullet
   - Another nested bullet
2. Second item

Use 3 or 4 spaces for nesting on Reddit. Tab characters may not work reliably. In our testing, 4 spaces produces the most consistent nesting across old and new Reddit.

Code Blocks on Reddit

Fenced Code Blocks

```python
def hello():
    print("Hello, Reddit!")
```

Triple backtick fenced code blocks work on new Reddit and most mobile apps. Old Reddit does not support fenced code blocks reliably. For maximum compatibility, use the indented method below.

Indented Code Blocks

    def hello():
        print("Hello, Reddit!")

Indent each line with 4 spaces to create a code block on old Reddit. This method works on both old and new Reddit but does not support syntax highlighting.

A blank line before the indented block is required for Reddit to parse it as code.

Tables on Reddit

| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | Data | More data |
| Row 2 | Data | More data |

Reddit supports pipe-and-dash table syntax. Tables work on both old and new Reddit. You can add alignment with colons in the separator row:

| Left | Center | Right |
|:---|:---:|---:|
| text | text | text |

Tables must have a blank line before them on Reddit. Without the blank line, the table renders as plain text.

Spoiler Tags on Reddit

>!This is a spoiler!<

Reddit's spoiler syntax wraps text in >! and !<. The text appears as a black or gray box that the reader clicks to reveal. This is Reddit-specific syntax and does not work in any other markdown platform.

Rules for spoilers:

• No space after >! or before !<
• Spoilers cannot span multiple paragraphs
• You can use basic formatting inside spoilers (>!**bold spoiler**!<)

Horizontal Rules on Reddit

---

Three or more hyphens, asterisks, or underscores on a line create a horizontal rule. Add a blank line before and after to prevent Reddit from interpreting dashes as a heading underline.

Reddit-Specific Syntax That Differs from Standard Markdown

Feature	Standard Markdown	Reddit Markdown
Superscript	Not in CommonMark	^(text) or ^word
Spoiler tags	Not available	>!spoiler!<
Images in comments		Not supported (use image upload)
Fenced code blocks	Supported everywhere	Old Reddit has limited support
User mention	Not available	u/username
Subreddit link	Not available	r/subreddit

Reddit automatically links u/username and r/subreddit without any special syntax. These work in both old and new Reddit.

Old Reddit vs New Reddit Formatting Differences

Old Reddit uses a markdown-only editor. All formatting requires markdown syntax. Code blocks must use 4-space indentation (fenced blocks are unreliable). The parser is stricter about blank lines before lists and tables.

New Reddit has the Fancy Pants rich text editor as the default, with a markdown mode toggle. Fenced code blocks work reliably. The parser is more forgiving about missing blank lines. New Reddit adds support for inline image uploads in posts.

If you post frequently on Reddit, we recommend writing in markdown mode for consistency. The Fancy Pants editor sometimes produces formatting that looks different in old Reddit or third-party apps. Our markdown editor gives you a preview of how your text will look before pasting it into Reddit.

Try Reddit Formatting in Our Editor

Practice your Reddit formatting in the editor below. Write your post or comment with full markdown, then copy and paste it into Reddit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

Reddit text formatting is markdown with a few Reddit-specific additions: superscript (^()), spoiler tags (>!text!<), and auto-linked usernames (u/) and subreddits (r/). Write in markdown mode for the most consistent results across old Reddit, new Reddit, and mobile apps. Practice your formatting in our markdown editor before posting. For other platform-specific guides, see our Slack formatting guide, Discord cheat sheet, and GitHub cheat sheet.

Written by the Markdown Editor Online team. Last updated April 2026.