Markdown Formatter
Give a Markdown document one consistent style. Tables are aligned, list markers and heading styles unified, blank lines normalised and escapes tidied, while the content and the rendered result stay the same.
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Free to use
How to use Markdown Formatter
- Paste Markdown or open a .md file.
- Choose how lines should be wrapped and which list marker you prefer.
- Select Format Markdown.
- Copy the result or download it as a .md file.
Markdown Formatter features
Aligned tables
Pipes line up in columns and the separator row matches the widest cell, including alignment colons.
Uniform headings
Underlined (Setext) headings become # headings with a blank line around them.
Consistent lists
One bullet character, tidy indentation for nested items and correct numbering.
Normalised emphasis
Emphasis and strong text use one style throughout.
Wrapping options
Keep your line breaks, wrap prose at 80 characters, or put each paragraph on one line.
Code is left alone
The contents of code blocks and inline code are never changed.
When to use Markdown Formatter
- Cleaning up a README before committing it.
- Unifying documentation written by several people with different habits.
- Aligning a hand-typed table so that it is readable in plain text.
- Preparing Markdown for a linter or a documentation site with strict style rules.
Markdown Formatter FAQ
Does formatting change how the document looks when rendered?
No. The formatter changes only the source: which characters are used for bullets and emphasis, how tables are padded, where blank lines go. The rendered HTML is the same before and after.
Which style rules are applied?
The rules of Prettier, the most widely used formatter for web projects: # style headings, one blank line between blocks, - for bullets, _ for emphasis and ** for strong text, fenced code blocks, and tables padded to equal column widths.
What do the wrapping options do?
Keep line breaks leaves paragraphs as you typed them. Wrap at 80 characters re-flows prose so that no line is longer than 80 characters, which suits plain-text reading and code review. One line per paragraph removes hard breaks inside paragraphs, which suits editors that soft-wrap and keeps diffs focused.
Why did my numbered list change to 1. 2. 3.?
Markdown ignores the actual numbers and renders an ordered list in sequence, so the formatter writes them in a regular pattern. A list that starts with 1. 1. keeps using 1. for every item, a common convention that keeps diffs small.
Is front matter preserved?
Yes. A YAML block between --- lines at the top of the file is recognised and left in place.
Is the text sent to a server?
No. The formatter runs in your browser; your document stays on your device.
Why consistent Markdown source is worth having
Markdown is forgiving about style. A bullet can be a hyphen, an asterisk or a plus sign; a heading can be marked with hashes or underlined; emphasis can use asterisks or underscores; tables render correctly whether or not their columns line up. This freedom is pleasant while writing and untidy over time. A document edited by several people, or by one person over several years, ends up with every variant side by side.
None of that affects the rendered page, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed, but it does affect everyone who reads or edits the source. A table whose pipes are aligned can be read without rendering it. Uniform markers make search and replace dependable. In version control, consistent formatting keeps a change to one sentence from showing up as a change to a whole paragraph, and stops pull requests from filling with reformatting noise.
An automatic formatter is the practical way to get there, since nobody enjoys aligning table columns by hand. It parses the document into its structure, headings, paragraphs, lists, tables and code, and then prints that structure again in a single style. Because the output is generated from the structure and not patched from the input, the result is the same no matter how the original was written.
The one decision left to you is line wrapping, where conventions differ between teams. Fixed-width wrapping reads well in terminals and plain editors. One line per paragraph, or one sentence per line, makes diffs smaller. If a project already has a convention, choose the option that matches it and leave the rest to the formatter.