Rich text in Airtable is based on a variation of Markdown, a lightweight and readable syntax for formatting. You can use Markdown in the following areas in Airtable:
Headers
A line that starts with one to three # characters, followed by one whitespace character, represents a first level to third level headers respectively.
Markdown syntax
# First level header
## Second level header
### Third level header
Result
Bold and Italic
Text surrounded by a single * or _ pair will be formatted as italic (meaning emphasis in Markdown); text surrounded by a double ** or __ pair will be formatted as bold (meaning strong emphasis in Markdown). You can combine them with other inline formats.
Markdown syntax
*This text will be italic*
_This will also be italic_
**This text will be bold**
__This will also be bold__
_Combine them for **bold italic**_
Result
This text will be italic
This will also be italic
This text will be bold
This will also be bold
Combine them for bold italic
Strikethrough
Text surrounded by a ~~ pair will be formatted as strikethrough. This is not supported in the base description.
Markdown syntax
~~This text will be strikethrough~~
Result
This text will be strikethrough
**Apologies for any confusion as our web support tool does not allow for strikethrough text
Lists
There are three types of list items: unordered, ordered, and checkbox. You can mix and match different types of list items of the list. To create indented list items, pad the list item with 4 leading spaces.
Unordered List
You can use either - or * as an unordered list marker.
Markdown syntax
- Item 1
- Item 2
* Indented item 1
* Indented item 2
Result
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Indented item 1
- Indented item 2
Ordered List
Starting a line with a number and a period will automatically convert to a list. This is not supported in the base description.
Markdown syntax
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
1) Item 2a
2) Item 2b
Result
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 2a
- Item 2b
Checkbox List
Starting a line with “[ ]” or “[x]” will begin a checkbox list.
Markdown syntax
[x] Checked item 1
[ ] Unchecked item 2
[x] Subitem 1
[ ] Subitem 2
Result
Links
There are two types of links: inline and reference.
An inline link has the form of [Link text](link URL), where the URL is specified inline. A reference link has the form of [Link Text][Label Name], where the label references a link definition. A link definition is a line with the form [Label name]: URL. It can be placed anywhere in the text and will be removed when converted to rich text cell value.
Links within Email Automations
If you are using one of our email automations, you may run into a problem when referencing links with underscores (i.e. www.example.com/_go_). In these cases you can use the backtick character (`) to wrap a single URL, or a code block(```) to wrap multiple URLs, to ensure those URLs stay URLs.
Markdown syntax using backticks
`www.example.com/this_is_an_example`
Markdown syntax with a code block
```
www.example.com/this_is_an_example_1
www.example.com/this_is_an_example_2
```
Blockquotes
A blockquote is a line that starts with > and then followed by the quote content. This is not supported in the base description.
Markdown syntax
> Roses are red
> Violets are blue
Result
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Inline Code
Text surrounded by a ` pair will be formatted as inline code (with monospace typeface).
Markdown syntax
`apiKey` is your secret API token.
Result
apiKey is your secret API token.
Code Blocks
A code block is one or more lines of code surrounded by code fences. A code fence is a line that is a sequence of at least 3 consecutive backticks (`) or tildes (~). The closing code fence must be the same type as the opening code fence (backticks or tildes), and with at least as many characters as the opening fence sequence.
The line with the opening code fence may optionally contain some text following the code fence. This is called the info string. Some Markdown implementation use this string for code block syntax highlighting. Airtable currently does not utilize the info string and it will be discarded when converting Markdown text to rich text cell value.
Note that we do not support indented code blocks in the original Markdown.
Markdown syntax
```
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
quit
end tell
```
Result
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
quit
end tell
Line Breaks
Every line break will be treated as a hard line break. Note that this behavior differs from original Markdown.
Markdown syntax
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Result
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Multiple Line Breaks
We support using the <br> HTML tag while sending emails that require multiple line breaks.
Result
Ignoring Formatting
You can use backslash (\) before any Markdown syntax character to escape the formatting.
Markdown syntax
\*This is not italic\*
Result
*This is not italic*
Other text formatting
Unless specified above, additional text formatting for other data types (e.g. currencies, dates, numbers) aren't currently available.