Markdown to HTML Converter
Free Markdown to HTML converter. Turn headings, bold, lists, links, and code into clean HTML for paste into a CMS or email.
What the converter does
It turns Markdown into HTML you can paste straight into a web page, email template, or CMS. Markdown is the plain-text shorthand writers use for headings, bold, lists, and links; HTML is what browsers actually render. This converter handles the common subset cleanly, escaping any raw HTML in your source so nothing unexpected slips through.
What is supported
- Headings from one to six
#characters. - Bold with
**double asterisks**and italic with*single asterisks*. - Inline code with backticks, and fenced code blocks with triple backticks.
- Links in
[text](url)form. - Lists — unordered with
-or*, ordered with1. - Blockquotes with a leading
>.
It does not support tables, images, nested lists, strikethrough, or task lists. For those, use a full Markdown library rather than expecting them here.
A worked example
The default sample in the tool:
| Markdown input | HTML output |
|---|---|
# Hello | <h1>Hello</h1> |
**Bold** | <strong>Bold</strong> |
*italic* | <em>italic</em> |
[link](https://example.com) | <a href="https://example.com">link</a> |
- one | <li>one</li> inside a <ul> |
So the sample becomes an <h1>, a paragraph containing bold, italic, and a link, and a two-item bulleted list — with blank lines separating blocks, exactly as the Markdown did.
Syntax cheat sheet
| Markdown | Result |
|---|---|
| # Heading | Top-level heading |
| ## Heading | Second-level heading |
| **text** | Bold |
| *text* | Italic |
| `code` | Inline code |
| > quote | Blockquote |
| 1. item | Ordered list item |
| - item | Unordered list item |
Common mistakes
- Expecting tables to convert. Pipe tables are not part of this subset; they come out as plain paragraphs.
- Forgetting the blank line. Markdown uses blank lines to separate blocks, so a list jammed against a paragraph may not parse as expected.
- Using raw HTML in the source. Angle brackets are escaped deliberately, so the output is safe to embed rather than silently executing markup.
- Pasting the preview rather than the code. Copy the HTML from the output box, not the rendered text, or you will lose the tags.
Code blocks and quotes
Two block types are worth seeing in full. A fenced code block is wrapped in triple backticks and becomes a <pre><code> element, with the contents escaped so any angle brackets inside are shown rather than interpreted. A blockquote is any line opening with >, which becomes a <blockquote> containing a paragraph. A small example:
| Markdown | HTML |
|---|---|
> quoted line | <blockquote><p>quoted line</p></blockquote> |
`code` | <code>code</code> |
Blank lines are what separate one block from the next, so keep them in your source if a list or quote is not converting as expected.
Frequently asked questions
Is the output safe to paste into a website?
The converter escapes any HTML in your input before building its own tags, so the result contains only the elements it generates. That reduces the risk of pasting unintended markup, but always review before publishing.
Why do my line breaks disappear?
Markdown treats a single newline as part of the same paragraph; you need a blank line to start a new block. That is standard behaviour, not a bug.
Can I convert the other way, HTML to Markdown?
What happens to HTML already in my Markdown?
Angle brackets are escaped, so raw tags in the source appear as visible text rather than being passed through. That keeps the output safe to embed and predictable, but it also means you cannot mix hand-written HTML into the Markdown and expect it to survive. If you need that, treat the Markdown as the source of truth and add the extra markup afterwards.
Not here. This tool is one-directional. If you are producing the text and need a word or character count for a length limit, the word counter is the companion tool, and the Pomodoro timer helps keep a writing session on track.