Markdown is a simple markup language you can use to easily add formatting, links, and images to plain text. You can use it in the following places:
- Ticket comments (from the agent interface)
- Macros
- Agent signatures
- Dynamic content
- Content blocks in help center articles
Markdown commands are automatically supported by your ticket editor. You can enter Markdown comments to format your content, or you can use the format toolbar to add rich content. See Table 1 below for supported Markdown commands.
Topics covered in this article:
Adding Markdown to text
The following table shows examples of how you can use Markdown to add common formatting. You don't need to preview your formatting. Your content is formatted automatically as you enter Markdown commands.
You can also watch this short video.
Formatting | Entered text | Published text | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Bold | This is how you **bold** text. | ![]() |
Supported |
Italics | This is how you *italicize* text. | ![]() |
Supported |
Bulleted lists | * Bullet one (don't forget a space after the asterisk)
* Bullet two You must type a line break before and after the list. |
![]() |
Supported. You can also start with a hyphen (-) followed by a space to create a bulleted list. |
Numbered lists | 1. Step one
2. Step two Do not use a hashtag (#) when creating numbered lists in Markdown, as the symbol is used for other formatting. You must type a line break before and after the list. |
![]() |
Supported |
Nested lists | * This is the first level of this list.
You can add things like images, quote blocks, or links to a nested list in addition to just text. You must type a line break before and after the list. |
![]() |
Supported, except for content blocks. For the second level of indent, press Tab after the bulleted list or numbered list. |
Headings | # Heading level one (with a space after the #)
## Heading level two ### Heading level three |
![]() |
Supported. Up to four heading levels. Up to six heading levels in content blocks. |
Block quotes |
> Block quotes have to start and end with a blank line > And each line of the quote starts with a right angle bracket and a space
|
![]() |
Supported |
Inline code | Here is some `inline code.` | ![]() |
Supported |
Code blocks | ```
This is a code block. ``` Creating a blank line and then indenting the next line or lines with four spaces creates a code block too. You must type a line break before and after the code block. |
![]() |
Supported. To exit a code block placed at the end of a comment, press the Return key three times in a row. |
Images | 
Tip: To embed an image that's not hosted, first attach the image to the ticket. Then open the attachment, right-click the image, select Copy image URL, and use this link to embed your image. Doesn't work if private attachments are enabled.
|
![]() |
Supported, except for content blocks. Adding an image URL automatically turns it into an image link. When the ticket comment is submitted, the image appears in the conversation log.* |
Links | [Link display text](http://www.sampleurl.com) | ![]() |
Supported in agent signatures* |
Images that are also links | [](linkurl) | ![]() |
Supported in agent signatures* |
Links to tickets | We addressed this in ticket #61. | ![]() |
Not supported, yet |
Horizontal rule line |
--- You must enter a line break before and after the hyphens. If you have three or more dashes under a line of text, with no blank space between them, instead of creating a horizontal rule below the text, the text above will change into a header. |
![]() |
Supported |
Line break |
Line 1 Line 2 You must type two line breaks before each . |
Line 1
Line 2 |
Not supported, except for content blocks. In content blocks, type Shift+Enter to add a line break. |
Underscore | This is how you \_underscore\_ text. | This is how you underscore text. | Supported only in content blocks. |
* When you enter URLs for links and images, make sure you include the full URL, including the http:// or https:// prefix. |
Pasting Markdown text from another source
Here are some things to consider when you copy Markdown text from another source and paste it into the ticket composer:
- If you copy text with Markdown commands from a plain text editor, the content is automatically formatted as soon as you paste it. If you don't want the content to be automatically formatted, use Cmd+Shift+V (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) to paste.
- If you paste text with Markdown commands from a rich text editor, the Markdown commands remain "as is". The content is not automatically formatted.
- If you copy text with Markdown commands from any type of editor into a code block in the ticket composer, the content is not automatically formatted. It remains "as is."
- If you paste Markdown text with code blocks or nested lists, the format is not automatically carried over into the ticket composer.
74 comments
Jarl Frode Arntzen
@Nora Mullen
How did you format this article so nicely? Is it just HTML, some WYSIWYG magic or markdown?
1
Devan La Spisa
Hello @...,
Out articles are a combination of custom code via WYSIWYG and HTML, along with some in-house tools we have at our disposal. I would recommend starting with this guide to implement some of our customizations in your articles.
Creating and editing articles in the knowledge base
Best regards,
0
Jarl Frode Arntzen
@...
Thanks for the swift response.
So, the pale yellow "Note" sections in the articles has been implemented through manually adding <div class="note note" > ... </div> around the relevant text? Or is there some way we can add custom buttons to the editor which allow the writers to insert such custom formatting by simply selecting the text and clicking the relevant button?
I mean, manually adding such html tags is perfectly doable (we already have a custom theme and we have added the relevant CSS), but I'm just wondering if there's a way to make this even more user friendly for my co-workers.
Thanks.
0
Brett Bowser
Hey Jarl,
At this time there's no way to add custom buttons to the WYSIWYG editor in Guide natively. You may be able to set this up using custom code but you'd need to get your developers involved to help set this up.
Let us know if you have any other questions!
0
Jacob Allen Wood
I've been de-bugging macros now for a week. Unfortunately, most of what is described above does not function in many situations.
For example: getting 1 line after a header, before a list (bullets); getting 1 line between bullets (it's either 0 or 2, from every combination I can); getting block quotes to only block quote the content line, not every empty line above it. It's been really, really frustrating.
Could we get an update on this article that include putting elements together, like header followed by a list (spacing & syntax)?
Getting 1 line between bullets, not 0 and not 2. (syntax)?
1
Jiri Fait
Hi,
did anybody find out how to create Tables in Mardown then? I tried Liquid - not working, tried html - not working either... So I was wondering if anyone found any solution to this, we really need to add tables to our tickets but for various reasons cannot switch to Rich Text...
Any help would be much appreciated!
Cheers
0
Brett Bowser
Hey Jiri,
Have you had a chance to look at our app marketplace? It looks like there's a Tables app created by Sparkly that will accomplish what you're looking for.
I hope this helps!
0
Jiri Fait
Hi Brett,
thanks for the suggestion but the App is useless if you have Markdown, it works only with Rich Text. We already tried and verified with the app developer. There seems to be no way how to add tables if you use Markdown... :(
0
Brett Bowser
Hey Jiri,
Thanks for getting back to me! I did some testing with markdown and tried creating a table but it doesn't look like this is possible in Zendesk. I'd recommend creating a feedback post in our Support Feedback Topic for our product managers to review.
I appreciate you taking the time to share this with us!
0
Stacy Areas
Currently I am using rich text and would like to move over to markdown. I'm seeing once markdown is enable all preexisting macros are not convert and are messy looking. Is there a way to have this convert easily or would I need to update macros manually?
0
Edgar Comper
Hi Stacy,
When you enable the Markdown option under Admin > Settings > Tickets, you must enable the 'Include plain text fallback' option to prevent your existing macros from being messy. (learn more here https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001236988-Creating-macros-for-tickets#topic_o1b_myd_yy).
Unfortunately, there is no way to bulk enable this option. This must be done manually.
Edgar | Technical Support Engineer | EMEA
0
Nick Vincent-Maloney
Where is strike-through?
1
Brett Bowser
Hey Nick,
Great question!
I did some testing on my end and it doesn't look like strike-through is supported when using markdown which explains why it's not documented here.
Let us know if you have any other questions.
-1
Nick Vincent-Maloney
Confirming it's not there is the first thing I did. I'm asking where it is, because it's silly it's not there. I never understand why companies choose to not implement certain things. I suppose there might be a good reason (though I' dubious about this), but sheesh...
0
TR|BLTP|Umut Talazgil|AH|TR|PB
Hi, I want add an image like this but 2 links at same time. I will click to image, and i will go two link at same time. Is it possible? How can I do it?
0
Amie Brennan
Hi Umat,
What you're trying to do isn't currently possible with Markdown in Zendesk.
Best,
Amie
0
Chris Fassano
The CKEditor was enabled in our account (we use Agent Workspace). I noticed that the syntax isn't rendered when it's copy & pasted into the comment field. Is that expected behavior?
1
Jonas Jansson
We are creating tickets via the API zendesk.com/api/v2/tickets but we have to use an agent and use it with submitter_id for markdown to take effect otherwise the markdown formatting is just presented in plain text ... is there another solution for it to work?
The above sulution unfortunately disables SLA policies
0
Gab Guinto
Hi Chris,
That's right, it is the expected behavior. The composer will only render markdown texts when manually entered or typed into the comment box and not when pasted from the clipboard.
I've seen discussions about plans to improve this behavior in the future, but there's no ETA yet at this time. I recommend that you to follow Zendesk’s release notes to be notified of product enhancements as they are released.
Thanks Chris!
0
Gab Guinto
Hi Jonas,
Since end-users actually don't have the ability to use Markdown in their comments, the text will not be rendered if the submitter or author id passed along with the api call is an end-user. Markdown will be respected only if you use a staff member's user ID as update/comment author. I'm afraid that there is currently no workaround for this.
Alternatively, you can use html formatting instead of markdown. Html tags for text formatting should work for end users.
Thanks Jonas!
1
prakash.sati
Hello,
Is there a code for Vertical rule line as well?
0
Mikhail Filimonov
It seems like after that change the raw Markdown support disappeared after switching from Standard Agent Interface to Agent Workspace :( Now it only some Markdown-compatible shortcuts in the WYSIWYG editor.
https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/4418873093018-Raw-Markdown-support-in-Agent-workspace
0
Rob Mensching
Is there a schedule posted somewhere when the rest of the "Not supported, yet" items will be implemented? For example, the lack of Link is a major loss of functionality from the old, simple editor.
6
Ashley Woten
Hi!
I suggest an update to the table, the Heading row. It mentions 'up to six levels' in the Entered text column and 'up to four levels' in the Comments column.
Testing in the composer, it looks to only be up to 4. Thanks!
0
Dave Dyson
0
Teresa Preston
Hello! I'm attempting to add an image that isn't hosted to dynamic content. I'd like to see the post about this, but the link is broken.
0
Brett Bowser
Thanks for bringing this to our attention! It looks like this user tip is no longer available as it was created around 10 years ago and is now outdated.
I will follow up with our documentation team to have this link removed. In the meantime, you could try the following steps which I believe was mentioned by Evan in his post:
Please note this does not work if you have Private Attachments enabled (Admin > Tickets > Attachments).
Also, make sure you click the attachment link in the ticket to open the attached image in a modal box. Then, right-click the image and select click Copy image URL. Do not click on the image link before opening the attachment, which opens a new browser tab. The URL in the new browser tab will not work, as this includes a temporary token.
I hope this helps!
0
Mike Fishman
Is there a setting within the admin console to disable markdown? Our team is getting frustrated by hyphens being changed to bullets automatically when entering internal notes. Even though they can CMD+Z to undo the bullet, I'd like to know if it can be shut off to not happen in the first place. I cannot find anything related to markdown or auto-bullets when reviewing settings in the admin center. I could be overlooking it if it's labeled differently though.
0
Christine
The option to choose a ticket comment format option is visible to the Owner or Admins of the account.
The formatting option available is either Rich content or Markdown and can be changed by the Owner or any Admin by accessing the Admin Center > Object and rules > Settings > Comments option.
Although, when selecting any of the formatting options both will change a hyphen into a bullet when entering text and there's no way to disable this feature. When typing a text instead of typing "- + space + undo to remove the bullet", you can backspace instead and the bullet formatting will be removed. Or you can just type "- + without any spaces" so the bullet won't appear on your notes.
Hope this helps.
0
Jorge - Leafworks
Hi,
I know the question was already asked, I just want to know if it is going to be implemented or not. We have customers that work in several languages and want to translate their macros in an easy way. We first thought to replace the content of the macro by a dc, this does not work for macros though (html content in dc for macros). We've found another solution with the markdown language, but one important drawback is that the link syntax is not supported. Therefore my question: Could you please clarify if this syntax is going to be supported?
Thanks in advance.
4