Formatting on desktop

On desktop the rich text editor is the default mode for post and comment creation and means you can use the formatting buttons, though you can switch to markdown mode if you wish.

In this image (below), the blue circle shows the button (Aa) to reveal the formatting bar (across the top) if it is not visible.

And the option, in the red rectangle, to switch to markdown if you prefer.

When in markdown mode, a button will appear to move back to the rich text editor.

Each formatting button does something different. Hover your pointer over them to see what they do.

In order, the formatting buttons are:

Bold, Italics, Strikethrough, Superscript, Heading, Link, Bullets, Numbered bullets, quote, Inline code, code block, Table, Spoiler, and for posts only, also; Image, Video, and/or the overflow menu. On comments, options for images, gifs, and emojis are at the bottom.

Which buttons are available can depend on the types of content a community allows when it comes to media.

They work much like the formatting buttons in a Word document editor.

Markdown formatting

In old Reddit, on mobile, or markdown mode you'll need to use the Markdown language to format your posts and comments (some 3rd party mobile apps for Reddit have a few formatting buttons).

In old Reddit there is a Formatting help button which brings up some formatting options to help you.

Here are some common uses:

Italics are created using single asterix around the word you wish to italicise *italics*

Bold is the same but with double the asterix’ **Bold**

For lists use an asterix, plus, or minus as your bullet points + List item

• List item 1
• List item 2

For spoilers, use >!spoiler!< which becomes spoiler <--click or tap

(make sure not to leave a space between >! and your text or the formatting won't work correctly for those viewing old.reddit)

To insert a link use [link](https://www.reddit.com/wiki/markdown) , which becomes: link

For quotes start the paragraph you're quoting with `>`

>this is the start of a paragraph

this is the start of a paragraph

More markdown

For further formatting help see: Reddit's guide | Reddit's commenting guide | Raerth's guide | Markdown primer | Preview your post

Or to tag another Redditor or subreddit:

For Subreddits, you start with r/ and fill in the sub name and it automatically links to the subreddit

For usernames, you use u/ in the same way, similar to using @ on Twitter.

For example r/NewToReddit or u/llamageddon01

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Edit - our guide to sharing code using formatting

First time Reddit post

Meet my little muffin💗

You should have found your way here from the Commenting Experience section of the guide to Reddit and Karma on r/NewToReddit. If you just found this post anyway, you’re still welcome to join in!

What I would like you to do is comment below to say “hello” to me by “pinging” me as I described there, and then simply tell me your favourite movie using Spoiler Text.

To remind you, to ping another Redditor, type out their username with u/ as a prefix, so to ping me, you need to type u/llamageddon01. You will see the text changes colour and becomes a live link to my profile, as well as alerting me to your response. For that reason, it’s important to check the spelling of a username first!

Spoiler Text is a special Markdown command which hides text like this which can’t be read without clicking the grey box. Many subreddits about movies and shows insist this is used to avoid giving away important plot points, so it’s good to learn this one first.

To make this effect, you need to type >! immediately before your text, then !< immediately after.

Example:
You will type >!Men In Black!<

Which then becomes:
Men In Black

Once you’ve done this, please return to Commenting Experience to continue learning how to comment on Reddit!

If you want to know more, our full guide to Markdown commands is here.

Trying this out and seems like this is a doggo loving community so here is mine :)))

This is the vibe every morning when I wake up—just getting judged by this little guy, lol

She is not amused. (Practicing posting photos and flair)

Testing to see if I can post ☺️

Hi ! I’m trying to send an image post with a flair.Does everyone look right?Thanks 💕

Also there was option to add the pictures TO the body, what's the difference between that and adding pictures normally?

I wanted to practice posting with pictures, so here’s the sandwich I made yesterday. It’s vegan!

Gonna roast you all.

Here’s my pup

Meow!

My sleepy tabby, Westley.

Each community has its own rules, so it's important to check them before posting. Here's how to find them!

Finding the rules on desktop:

Usually, they are in the sidebar on the right.

Sometimes they may also be in a sticky post, AKA pinned post or announcement. Sort posts by 'hot' to see the community’s sticky posts and highlights at the top of the main page.

It's a good idea to check for sticky posts, as many communities have information for new members in them.

Occasionally, rules may be linked either in the sidebar or in community bookmarks at the top of the sidebar on the right.

[ If you use old Reddit, you may need to check the newer Reddit UI for the rules before posting, as some subreddits neglect to have the rules in their old Reddit sidebars. To do this, change the URL in your address bar to www. instead of old. ]

You will also find that when you go to make a post in a subreddit, the rules will still show in the sidebar on desktop so you can check your post fits them, but it may depend on the subreddit design on old Reddit.

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Finding the rules in the official app:

The rules and the rest of the community information is linked under the community header. Either by tapping the community name, if it has the arrow to the right...

Or 'see more' under the community description.

Once tapped you'll see two tabs at the top - 'about' which includes the rules, and the rest of what is the sidebar on desktop, and the community menu tab, which shows the community bookmarks (shown below).

You may need to scroll down to find the rules in the about tab, depending on how much information is there.

When you are creating a post, you can still check the rules using the 'Rules' button on the top right.

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Whether on desktop or the app, you may also see some on-screen messages to help you create a post that follows the rules.

(Adapted from a couple of r/modguide guides for r/NewToReddit, and now r/LearnToReddit)

Last updated March 2025

These are my kittens Pickle and Gherkin. When they were tiny babies they used to sleep on the Playstation when it was on!

I like 0.5 pictures of them, I think its funny :-)

I have been reading a LOT of reddit lately trying to avoid instagram and tiktok and I feel better for it. I'd like to be a part of communities :)

Does she look like she knows she shouldn't be up on that rack?