Markdown Stripper
Paste Markdown and get the words without the symbols: no hash marks, asterisks, backticks or link syntax. Choose whether to keep list markers and web addresses.
Worked examples
Headings, emphasis and links
# Title Some **bold**, *italic* and a [link](https://example.co.uk).
Title Some bold, italic and a link.
Only the words remain.
About Markdown Stripper
Markdown is pleasant to write but cluttered to read raw. Pasted into an email, a form, a text message or a document, the hash marks, asterisks, backticks and bracketed links get in the way. This tool strips the syntax and leaves the words. Headings lose their hash marks, bold and italic lose their markers, links keep their text, images keep their description and code ticks disappear.
Block quote arrows, horizontal rules and table divider rows are removed too. Code blocks keep their contents exactly, and the fence lines around them are dropped. Underscores inside words such as snake_case and asterisks used as multiplication signs are not mistaken for emphasis. Escaped characters are restored. You can keep or remove list markers, show the address of each link after its text, and remove or keep HTML tags.
How to use Markdown Stripper
- Paste your Markdown into the box.
- Choose whether to keep list markers, show link addresses and remove HTML tags.
- Read the plain text in the result box.
- Copy it where you need it.
Common uses
- Pasting a README or a note into an email or a form
- Counting the words of a Markdown document without the symbols
- Preparing text for a text to speech tool
- Getting readable text out of notes written in Markdown
Frequently asked questions
What happens to links?
The link text stays and the address is dropped. Tick the address option to get "text (address)" instead.
Are code blocks changed?
The text inside is kept exactly as written, and only the lines with the three backticks or tildes that fence them off are removed.
Will snake_case and 2 * 3 survive?
Yes. Underscores inside words and stars with spaces around them are not emphasis, so they are left alone.
What about tables?
The divider row of dashes is removed. The other rows keep their vertical bars, so you may want to tidy tables by hand.