Markdown to WhatsApp Converter
Paste Markdown from ChatGPT, Claude, or any LLM. Copy WhatsApp-formatted text that renders correctly in chats — bold, italic, lists, and code, no broken asterisks.
Paste any Markdown and see how it renders. Every format WhatsApp supports is in this sample:
• Italic with single asterisks
• Bold with double asterisks
•
• Inline
code with backticksUseful for sharing LLM output cleanly:
prompt: summarize this PR
output: looks good, ship it
Docs and source at https://whatdown.lebaux.co
Convert Markdown to WhatsApp formatting in one paste
WhatsApp does not support standard Markdown. Pasting output from ChatGPT, Claude, or any other LLM directly into a chat leaves visible asterisks, broken bold, and unclickable links. This converter rewrites Markdown into the formatting WhatsApp actually understands — single asterisks for bold, single underscores for italic, tildes for strikethrough, and code blocks that survive the trip.
It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, logged, or stored. Open source on GitHub.
How to convert Markdown to WhatsApp
- Paste your Markdown. Drop ChatGPT, Claude, or any LLM output into the input box on the left. The sample text shows the formats supported.
- Check the live preview. The right side renders a WhatsApp message bubble exactly as it will appear in a chat. Toggle Show raw to inspect the converted source.
- Copy and paste into WhatsApp. Click Copy, switch to WhatsApp, and paste. Bold, italic, strikethrough, inline code, code blocks, and bullet lists are preserved.
WhatsApp formatting syntax reference
WhatsApp supports a small set of inline formatting marks. Standard Markdown uses different delimiters for most of these, which is why pasting raw Markdown produces broken output.
| Format | WhatsApp syntax | Standard Markdown |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | *bold* | **bold** |
| Italic | _italic_ | *italic* |
| Strikethrough | ~strike~ | ~~strike~~ |
| Inline code | `code` | `code` |
| Code block | ```block``` | ```block``` |
| Bullet list | - item or * item | - item |
| Headings | Not supported | # Heading |
| Anchor links | Not supported (URL only) | [text](url) |
Frequently asked questions
Does WhatsApp support Markdown?
WhatsApp supports a small subset of Markdown-like formatting, but not standard CommonMark. It uses single asterisks for bold, single underscores for italic, single tildes for strikethrough, and triple backticks for code. Headings, link anchor text, and nested lists are not supported.
How do I make text bold in WhatsApp?
Wrap the text in single asterisks: *bold text*. Standard Markdown uses double asterisks, which WhatsApp shows as literal characters.
How do I make text italic in WhatsApp?
Wrap the text in single underscores: _italic text_. Markdown italics use single asterisks (*italic*), which WhatsApp instead reads as bold — the cause of most paste mishaps.
How do I copy ChatGPT or Claude output to WhatsApp?
LLM output is standard Markdown, so pasting it directly leaves visible asterisks and broken formatting. Run it through this converter first — it rewrites bold, italic, lists, and code blocks into WhatsApp's syntax in one click.
Does this tool send my text to a server?
No. Conversion runs entirely in your browser. Nothing leaves the page. The source is on GitHub if you want to verify.
Why does pasting Markdown directly into WhatsApp look broken?
WhatsApp uses different delimiters than Markdown. Double asterisks and bracketed link syntax render as literal characters. Converting to WhatsApp's single-character delimiter format before pasting fixes the output.
Does the formatting work in WhatsApp Web, mobile, and desktop?
Yes. WhatsApp's formatting rules are consistent across iOS, Android, WhatsApp Web, and the WhatsApp desktop apps. A message formatted on one client renders the same on the others.
Background
Why doesn't WhatsApp use standard Markdown?
WhatsApp has never publicly explained the choice. The likely reasons are a mix of mobile typing ergonomics, chat conventions that predate Markdown, and shipping constraints once the format was locked in.
Mobile keyboards favour single delimiters
CommonMark uses **bold** and *italic*. On a phone, asterisks live behind a symbols toggle — four taps per bold word adds up. WhatsApp picked *bold*, _italic_, ~strike~: one character per side, no overlap between marks.
Markdown was built for documents, not chat bubbles
Headings, paragraphs, link references, nested lists — almost none of it maps cleanly to a short message. Adopting the full spec would mean importing a parser and a pile of edge cases to use four features.
Chat had its own conventions first
IRC and early IM clients used *bold* and _italic_ as typographic shorthand long before Markdown existed. Slack, Telegram, Discord and Signal each diverge from CommonMark in different ways. Chat apps never standardised on it as a category.
Lock-in came fast
Once formatting shipped to over a billion users in 2016, switching to **bold** would silently break every older message anyone scrolled back to.