Discord gives you two tools. Markdown styles text inside messages — **bold**, *italic*, ~~strikethrough~~, `code` — and it's clean and fully readable. Unicode fancy fonts are how you style a username or nickname, since markdown doesn't work there. Use markdown in messages; use Unicode only for short display names.
Key takeaways
- Markdown works in messages only — bold, italic, strikethrough, code, spoilers.
- Usernames & nicknames ignore markdown — style those with pasted Unicode.
- Prefer markdown for emphasis: it's readable and screen-reader friendly.
- Use Unicode sparingly for names; it can box out or confuse assistive tech.
Discord's built-in markdown
Inside any message or channel post, Discord interprets a handful of markdown symbols and renders the result instantly. This is the native, recommended way to emphasise text:
| You type | You get | Effect |
|---|---|---|
**text** | text | Bold |
*text* | text | Italic |
~~text~~ | Strikethrough | |
__text__ | text | Underline |
`text` | text | Inline code |
||text|| | spoiler | Hidden until clicked |
Because markdown produces genuinely formatted text, screen readers handle it normally and it never breaks into boxes. For emphasis inside a message, it's always the better choice.
Where Unicode fonts come in
Markdown stops at the message box. Your username, server nickname and channel names ignore those symbols entirely — type **Name** there and you'll just see the asterisks. To make a name look bold, cursive or aesthetic, you paste pre-styled Unicode characters instead. Generate them with the Discord fonts tool, which shows Discord-safe styles, or grab a specific look from the bold text generator or cursive text generator. Copy, then paste into your nickname field.
You can also drop styled Unicode into messages for a one-off flourish, but for everyday emphasis markdown is cleaner and more accessible.
Keep it readable
Unicode styling is a visual trick, not real text formatting, so screen readers may read a styled name letter by letter or skip it, and a few clients show the rarer characters as empty boxes. Reserve fancy Unicode for short display names, lean on markdown for everything you actually want people to read, and keep links and instructions in plain text so assistive technology can follow them.
Frequently asked questions
How do you format text in Discord?
Discord uses markdown shortcuts inside messages: wrap text in **double asterisks** for bold, *single asterisks* for italic, ~~tildes~~ for strikethrough, and backticks for `code`. These only work in messages, not in your username or server nickname — for a styled name you paste Unicode fancy text instead.
Can I use bold or italic in my Discord username?
No. Discord's markdown only renders inside chat messages and channel posts, never in usernames, nicknames or channel names. To make a name look bold or cursive you paste pre-styled Unicode characters, which Discord stores as ordinary text and displays as-is.
Should I use markdown or Unicode fonts on Discord?
Use markdown for emphasis inside messages — it is cleaner, fully readable, and screen-reader friendly. Use Unicode fancy fonts only for short display flair like a username or nickname, because heavily styled Unicode can be hard for assistive technology to read and may show as boxes on some devices.
Sources: Discord's markdown formatting (it uses a subset based on the open-source marked / SimpleMarkdown spec) as documented in 2026; markdown renders in messages but not in usernames or nicknames. Unicode styling relies on Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols and depends on each client's installed fonts.
Last reviewed 2026-06-28