How to Bold Text in Discord

Master Discord Bold Text: The Ultimate Guide to Standing Out in Chat

In fast-moving Discord servers filled with hundreds of active members, a wall of plain text easily gets lost. Whether you are dropping server announcements, highlighting rules, or emphasizing a crucial point in a game lobby, knowing how to style your messages is essential.

Among all the text styling options, bold text is the most widely used and effective tool for grabbing attention.

The Quick Answer: How to Bold Text

Making your text bold on Discord takes just a couple of keystrokes. You do not need to open any special menus.

• The Syntax: Wrap your text in double asterisks (**) with no spaces between the symbols and the letters.
• Example: Type **Hello World**
• Result: Hello World

You can also achieve a bold effect using double underscores (__) in standard Markdown settings, though Discord uniquely repurposes double underscores specifically for underlining text. To stay safe and avoid unexpected layout bugs, stick to double asterisks for pure bolding.

Desktop Shortcuts for Speed

If you prefer using your mouse and keyboard shortcuts rather than typing markdown manually, Discord has built-in shortcuts for desktop and web applications:

| Operating System | Keyboard Shortcut |
|—|—|
| Windows / Linux | Highlight text and press Ctrl + B |
| macOS | Highlight text and press Cmd + B |

On mobile devices, you can either type the asterisks directly or use your phone keyboard’s native text-selection menu to apply the formatting.

Advanced Styling: Combining Bold with Other Formats

Discord allows you to stack multiple text styles together by nesting your markdown symbols. When combining styles, remember to close your markers in the correct order.

• Bold and Italic: Wrap your text in triple asterisks (***).
  • Syntax: ***This text is bold and italic***
  • Result: This text is bold and italic
• Bold and Underlined: Put double underscores on the outside and double asterisks on the inside.
  • Syntax: __**This text is bold and underlined**__
  • Result: This text is bold and underlined
• Bold and Strikethrough: Combine tildes and asterisks.
  • Syntax: **~~This text is bold and crossed out~~**
  • Result: ~~This text is bold and crossed out~~

Common Troubleshooting Tips

If your bold text is not working, check for these common mistakes:

1. Stray Spaces: Make sure there are no spaces immediately inside your asterisks. Typing ** hello ** will break the formatting and show literal asterisks instead.
2. Accidental Code Blocks: If your message is enclosed in backticks (`like this`), Discord treats everything inside as raw code and disables all markdown formatting.