WhatsApp Text Tricks — Bold, Italics, Strikethrough, Monospace, Quotes & Lists

Introduction

WhatsApp allows you to format messages using bold, italics, strikethrough, monospace, quotes, bullets, and numbered lists. Note: Some formatting is only available on WhatsApp Web and Mac desktop.

Important: WhatsApp does not support underline formatting. You can only use bold, italics, strikethrough, and monospace.

Bold

Wrap your text with asterisks (*) to make it bold.

*This text will be bold*

Italics

Wrap your text with underscores (_) to italicize it.

_This text will be italic_

Strikethrough

Wrap your text with tildes (~) to strikethrough.

~This text is crossed out~

Monospace / Code

Wrap text in three backticks (```) for monospace formatting.

```This appears in monospace```

Inline Code

Wrap text in single backticks (`) to create inline code.

`inline code`

Quote Trick

Start your message with > and a space to quote text.

> This appears as a quote

Bullet / Numbered List Trick

WhatsApp doesn't auto-format lists. Use asterisks (*), hyphens (-), or numbers manually.

* Bullet One
* Bullet Two
- Another Bullet
1. First Item
2. Second Item

Emoji Shortcuts

Typing words like "happy" or "party" often triggers emoji suggestions. Use these shortcuts to add flair to your messages.

AI Formatting Tips

Copying AI-generated text (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) may include Markdown or headings that don’t display correctly in WhatsApp.

Use our Markdown to WhatsApp Converter to instantly format AI output for WhatsApp.