Escape Markdown Special Characters
Escape characters like asterisks and underscores so they display literally in your Markdown. Also unescape text. A must-have for writing tutorials and code documentation.
Markdown Escape/Unescape
Escape or unescape Markdown special characters
Escapable Characters
Add backslashes before special Markdown characters to display them literally.
How it works
This tool adds or removes backslash escapes for Markdown special characters. When you need to display a character literally instead of having it trigger formatting, you escape it with a backslash.
Markdown uses certain characters for formatting: asterisks for bold, underscores for italic, hashes for headers, etc. To show these characters as plain text, you prefix them with a backslash (\).
Characters that need escaping:
\backslash itself`backtick for code*asterisk for emphasis_underscore for emphasis#hash for headers[,]brackets for links(,)parentheses for links>angle bracket for blockquotes
Paste text containing special characters, choose to escape or unescape, and the tool adds or removes backslashes as needed. Perfect for writing tutorials about Markdown itself.
When you'd actually use this
Writing Markdown tutorials
Someone writes a guide explaining Markdown syntax. They need to show examples like **bold** without it rendering as bold. They escape the characters so readers see the actual syntax.
Documenting code with Markdown-like strings
A developer documents code that contains strings with asterisks or underscores. They escape these characters so the documentation displays the strings correctly without triggering formatting.
Creating keyboard shortcut guides
Someone documents keyboard shortcuts that include special characters. They escape the characters to show the exact key combinations without Markdown interpreting them as formatting.
Writing regex patterns in docs
A developer writes documentation with regex patterns containing backslashes and special characters. They escape them to display the patterns literally for readers to copy.
Showing file paths with special characters
Someone documents file paths that contain underscores or other special characters. They escape them to show the exact paths without Markdown formatting interfering.
Fixing accidentally formatted text
A writer notices their text is being formatted unexpectedly (words becoming italic due to underscores). They use this tool to escape the problematic characters and fix the rendering.
What to know before using it
Not all characters need escaping in all contexts.An underscore in the middle of a word usually doesn't trigger italic. Escape characters only when they're causing unwanted formatting.
Code blocks don't need escaping.Content inside backtick code blocks (`code` or ```) is displayed literally. No escaping needed inside code blocks.
Escaping adds backslashes to your source.The escaped text shows backslashes in the rendered output. Use escaping only when you want to display the special character itself, not when you want formatting.
Some platforms have different escape rules.Most Markdown follows standard escaping, but some platforms may have quirks. Test escaped characters in your target platform if rendering looks wrong.
Pro tip: For showing multiple Markdown examples, use code blocks instead of escaping. Code blocks display content literally without any formatting interpretation.
Common questions
How do I show a backslash in Markdown?
Escape it with another backslash: \\ displays as \. Backslashes are escape characters, so you need to escape the escape character itself.
Do I need to escape characters in links?
URLs in links usually don't need escaping. However, if a URL contains parentheses, you may need to escape them or use angle brackets: <https://example.com/(path)>.
Can I escape multiple characters at once?
Yes, this tool escapes all special characters in your text. Each character that could trigger formatting gets a backslash prefix.
How do I unescape text?
Use the unescape function. It removes backslash escapes from special characters, converting \* back to *. Useful for cleaning up over-escaped text.
Does escaping work inside code blocks?
No need. Code blocks display everything literally. Escaping inside code blocks just shows the backslashes, which is usually not what you want.
What about HTML entities?
HTML entities (< for <) also work in Markdown. They're an alternative to backslash escaping for some characters.
Why isn't my escaping working?
Check if you're in a code block (no escaping needed) or if the character actually triggers formatting in that context. Some characters only format in specific positions.
Can I escape only specific characters?
This tool escapes all special characters. For selective escaping, manually add backslashes only before the characters you want to display literally.
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