How to Bold in Discord: The Ultimate Guide to Standing Out in Chat

Whether you’re shouting a vital raid command in a gaming server, emphasizing a rule in a community channel, or just trying to make your text pop in a DM, knowing how to format your text is essential. Discord uses a lightweight flavor of Markdown, making it super simple to style your messages.

If you want to make your words punchy and attention-grabbing, mastering bold text is the first and most important step. Here is everything you need to know to bold your text in Discord, plus a few pro tips for taking your formatting to the next level.

The Quick Answer: How to Bold Text

To make any text bold in Discord, you just need to wrap it in two asterisks (**) on both sides.

• Syntax: **Your text here**
• Example: **Hello World!**
• Result: Hello World!

Make sure there are no spaces between the asterisks and the letters of your text. If you leave a space (like ** Hello **), Discord won’t recognize the formatting and will just display the asterisks.

Alternative Method: Using Underscores

You can also use two underscores (__) on either side of your text to achieve the same result.

• Syntax: __Your text here__
• Result: Your text here

(Note: While __text__ bolds text in Discord, double underscores are also commonly used for underlining in standard Markdown. However, in Discord’s specific parser, ** and __ both result in bold text. If you want to underline, use <u>underlined text</u> instead!)

Combining Bold with Other Styles

Want to add even more flair? You can combine bold with italics, underlining, or strikethroughs to create custom styles. Just layer the Markdown symbols correctly:

1. Bold and Italic (Triple Asterisks):

   • Syntax: ***Bold and Italic***
   • Result: Bold and Italic

2. Bold, Italic, and Underline:

   • Syntax: __***Very fancy text***__
   • Result: Very fancy text

3. Bold Inside a Spoiler or Quote:

   • Spoiler: ||**Secret bold text**|| $rightarrow$ ||Secret bold text||
   • Quote: > **Important announcement** $rightarrow$
     

     Important announcement

Why Isn’t It Working? (Troubleshooting Common Mistakes)

If you type out your bold markdown and it still looks like regular text with asterisks attached, check for these common culprits:

• The Space Trap: Typing ** bold ** instead of **bold**. Discord requires the asterisks to touch the very first and last characters of the word or phrase.
• Typing on Mobile Keyboards: Some smartphone keyboards automatically add a trailing space after you type punctuation. If your phone inserts a space right after the second asterisk, delete it so your formatting triggers.
• Escaping Characters: If you accidentally put a backslash before your asterisks (like **bold**), Discord will treat it as literal text rather than a formatting command.

Summary Cheat Sheet

| Style | Markdown Syntax | Example Output |
| :— | :— | :— |
| Bold | **text** or __text__ | text |
| Italic | *text* or _text_ | text |
| Bold & Italic | ***text*** | text |
| ~~Strikethrough~~ | ~~text~~ | ~~text~~ |
| Code Block | `text` | text |

Now that you know the secret, go forth and format! Whether you’re organizing a chaotic server event or drafting the ultimate gaming strategy guide, your messages will never go unnoticed.