Markdown Character Escaper & Unescaper
Safely escape Markdown special characters (`*`, `_`, `[`, `]`, `(`, `)`, `#`, `|`, `~`, `>`) with backslashes to prevent unwanted rendering, or strip existing escape slashes.
Escape & Unescape Markdown Special Characters Online
Escape special Markdown formatting characters using backslashes to display literal asterisks, square brackets, hash signs, and underscores. Prevent unexpected formatting errors in your documents.
How to Use the Markdown Escaper
Paste Raw Text
Input your text with mathematical formulas, usernames with underscores, or hashtag symbols.
Choose Escape or Unescape
Select 'Escape Syntax' to add backslashes or 'Unescape Syntax' to remove existing backslashes.
Copy Result
Click 'Copy Output' and paste safely into any Markdown editor or documentation file.
Key Features & Capabilities
Pro Tips & Best Practices
- •Always escape underscores in usernames (e.g. @user\_name) to avoid accidental italics in GitHub issue comments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need to escape Markdown characters?
Characters like *, _, [, and # have special syntactic meaning in Markdown. If you write '2 * 3 * 4', Markdown will mistakenly format ' 3 ' in italics unless you escape the asterisks as '\*'.
Which characters are escaped?
CommonMark standard characters: backslash (\), backtick (`), asterisk (*), underscore (_), curly brackets ({}), square brackets ([]), parentheses (()), hash (#), plus (+), minus (-), dot (.), exclamation (!), pipe (|), tilde (~), and greater-than (>).
Can I remove escape backslashes from an existing file?
Yes! Toggle to 'Unescape Syntax' to strip backslashes before special characters.
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