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How to bold in Discord

Discord text formatting is hidden, but it's not complicated to use.

By Nicole Replogle · June 9, 2025
The Discord logo, which is a stylized gaming controller with the grips curled down, forming a smile. The logo can also be interpreted as a face.

After wishing it into the ether for the past decade, there's finally a way to bold in Discord without using Markdown. Now, when you select text, you can choose a few formatting options from a hover menu. 

Take a moment to celebrate, and then we'll look at how to bold in Discord using Markdown or the hover menu.

Table of contents:

  • How to bold in Discord using Markdown

  • How to bold in Discord with the shortcut menu

  • Other Discord text formatting

How to bold in Discord using Markdown 

Discord uses a simplified version of Markdown for formatting. To bold text, put it between two pairs of asterisks. Like **this**.

Discord message composition box with a draft message that reads, "Look I can bold text easily" with two pairs of asterisks bordering the words, "bold text."

Do that, and press Enter or return. Your text will be bolded.

Published message in Discord that reads, "Look I can bold text easily." The words "bold text" are bolded.

Easy, right?

How to bold in Discord with the shortcut menu

Discord also recently added a much-needed shortcut (for web and desktop users only): a hover menu. 

Select the text you'd like to format, and a menu appears that lets you select bold, italics, strikethrough, quote, or inline code. You can even redact text so users will need to click on it to read it.

Clicking various options from the hover menu in Discord.

The hover menu doesn't have all the formatting options available in Discord, and it's not available on the mobile app yet. But if you're using Discord on desktop and typing four asterisks will push you over the edge, it's the quickest way to bold in Discord.

Other Discord text formatting

Italics and other formatting work similarly. Here are the most common formatting options in Discord using Markdown:

  • For italics, put text between a pair of single asterisks, as in *italics*.

  • For bold, put text between two pairs of asterisks, as in **bold**.

  • For bold italics, put text between two sets of three asterisks, as in ***bold italics***.

  • For underline, put text between two pairs of underscores, like __underline__.

  • For strikethrough, put text between two pairs of tildes, as in ~~strikethrough~~.

  • For inline code, put text between backticks, as in `code`.

  • For a block quote, put a greater-than symbol at the beginning of each line, as in > quote.

Discord message that reads "To add emphasis, consider italics, bold, or bold italics. Or you could always underline text, or strikethrough it instead. Inline code is also a fun option. Or there's always a block quote!" Directly beneath the message is the message composition box with the Markdown used to format the text.

Check out Discord's formatting overview to learn more, including how to use code blocks when you need to avoid formatting entirely.

Related reading:

  • How to automatically convert Markdown to HTML

  • How to manage your Discord server with automation

  • How to create Discord reaction roles with Zapier

  • 11 Discord features for better community building

  • How to build a Discord community for your brand

  • How to screen share on Discord

This article was originally published in May 2019 by Justin Pot. The most recent update was in June 2025.

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