Telegram Text Formatting: Bold, Spoilers, Code and Links

To format text on Telegram, select the words in the message box and pick a style from the menu that appears: bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, monospace, spoiler, quote or link. Many Telegram apps also accept quick symbols as you type, such as two asterisks on each side of a word for bold, and Telegram Desktop has keyboard shortcuts. Bots format messages by sending HTML or MarkdownV2 with their messages.

This guide covers every style, how to apply it on Android, iPhone, Desktop and Web, how links, mentions and hashtags work, how to use formatting well in channel posts, and the rules bot builders need. Because this page itself cannot show raw formatting symbols, they are described in words.

The formatting styles Telegram supports

Telegram supports a fixed set of styles. Every official app can display them, even if the ways to apply them differ.

• Bold. For headlines and key words.
• Italic. For emphasis, titles and quotes inside a sentence.
• Underline. Available in the formatting menu; use sparingly, because readers often mistake underlined text for a link.
• Strikethrough. A line through the text, useful for corrections, sold-out items or a joke "crossed-out" thought.
• Monospace (inline code). Fixed-width text, for short codes, commands, file names or wallet addresses.
• Code block (pre-formatted). Several lines of fixed-width text, keeping spaces and line breaks exactly. For code, tables written in plain text, or configuration snippets.
• Spoiler. Text hidden behind an animated blur until the reader taps it.
• Quote. A block quote, shown with a bar or a different background, for quoting someone or setting a passage apart.
• Link. Any text can carry a web link, so the reader sees words instead of a long address.

On top of these, Telegram turns certain text into active elements automatically: @mentions, #hashtags, bot commands that start with a slash, web addresses, email addresses and phone numbers.

Method 1: the formatting menu (all devices)

The menu is the most reliable method because it does not depend on remembering symbols.

Using the menu on Android

1. Type your message.
2. Long-press to select the words you want to format. Adjust the selection handles.
3. In the menu above the selection, tap the three-dot icon to see more options.
4. Choose Bold, Italic, Monospace, Strikethrough, Underline, Spoiler, Link or another style.

Using the menu on iPhone and iPad

1. Type your message and select the words.
2. In the menu that appears, tap Format (on some versions shown as a "B I U" option, or behind an arrow).
3. Choose the style.

Using the menu on Telegram Desktop

1. Select the text in the message box.
2. Right-click it.
3. Open the Formatting submenu and choose a style. The submenu also shows the keyboard shortcut for each style.

Using the menu on Telegram Web

Select text in the message box. A small formatting bar usually appears above the selection with the main styles. If it does not, check that you are using an up-to-date web version.

You can combine styles: select text that is already bold and make it italic as well.

Method 2: typing symbols as you write

Many Telegram apps convert certain symbols into formatting when you send the message. This is quicker once you know them. Here they are, described in words:

• Bold: two asterisks immediately before and after the text.
• Italic: two underscores immediately before and after the text.
• Strikethrough: two tildes before and after the text.
• Spoiler: two vertical bars before and after the text.
• Monospace: one backtick (the key often found to the left of the number 1 on many keyboards) before and after the text.
• Code block: three backticks on their own before the block and three after it. Some versions let you write a programming language name straight after the opening three backticks to enable code highlighting.

Things to know about the symbol method:

• Not every app version converts every symbol. If the symbols arrive as plain characters, use the menu instead.
• The symbols must touch the text. A space between the symbols and the word usually stops the conversion.
• It applies when you send. In most apps you see the symbols while typing and the formatting appears in the sent message.
• Underline and links have no common symbol shortcut in the apps. Use the menu or a keyboard shortcut.

Method 3: keyboard shortcuts on Desktop

In Telegram Desktop, shortcuts are the fastest way to format. Select text and press the shortcut. On Windows and Linux use Ctrl; on macOS use Cmd in place of Ctrl where shown. The usual set is:

• Bold: Ctrl and B.
• Italic: Ctrl and I.
• Underline: Ctrl and U.
• Strikethrough: Ctrl, Shift and X.
• Monospace: Ctrl, Shift and M.
• Spoiler: Ctrl, Shift and P.
• Add a link: Ctrl and K.
• Remove formatting: Ctrl, Shift and N.

Shortcuts can change between versions or conflict with other software. The right-click Formatting menu always lists the current ones, so check there if a shortcut does nothing.

Links: showing words instead of addresses

A link with descriptive text looks cleaner and tells readers where they are going.

Adding a link

1. Type the words that should carry the link, for example "read the full guide".
2. Select them.
3. Choose Link from the formatting menu, or press Ctrl and K on Desktop.
4. Paste the address and confirm.

Plain addresses

If you paste a web address on its own, Telegram turns it into a link automatically and may show a preview card below the message. You can usually remove the preview before sending by tapping the close button on it, or choose where the preview appears in newer versions.

Linking to Telegram content

Links to public channels, groups, bots and posts work the same way. A link to a specific post in a public channel opens that post directly in Telegram. This is a good way to point readers to an older post.

Hidden-link etiquette and safety

Hidden links are useful and are also how scammers disguise destinations. As a sender, make the link text honest about where it goes. As a reader, long-press or hover over a link to see the real address before opening it, especially if it promises prizes, crypto or account warnings. See how to spot Telegram scams.

Mentions, hashtags and commands

Mentions

• By username: type the @ sign followed by a username. The person gets a notification if they are in the group.
• Without a username: in a group, type the @ sign and pick a member from the suggestion list. Telegram creates a mention that shows their name and links to their profile, even if they have no username.

Use mentions with care in large groups. Mentioning many people at once is often treated as spam.

Hashtags

Type the hash sign followed by a word, without spaces. Tapping a hashtag searches for it in the chat, and in some cases across your chats or public posts. Channels use hashtags to tag recurring series, such as a weekly roundup, so readers can tap to see every post in the series.

Bot commands

A word starting with a slash, such as a bot's start command, becomes tappable in chats with bots. Tapping it sends the command.

Spoilers in depth

Spoilers hide text until the reader chooses to see it. Readers tap to reveal it.

Good uses:

• Answers to quizzes and puzzles.
• Plot details in film, book and game discussions.
• Punchlines.
• Content some readers may prefer not to see, with a short warning before it.

Spoilers on photos and videos

When sending a photo or video, many apps let you hide it behind a spoiler effect as well. In the media preview, look for a spoiler option in the menu. The media appears blurred until tapped. This is useful in groups where one person's surprise is another's ruined ending.

What a spoiler does not do

A spoiler is a display effect, not protection. Anyone can tap it, notifications may show the hidden text in a preview, and forwarded copies keep the spoiler but not secrecy. Do not use spoilers to hide private information.

Quotes

Block quotes

Select text in the message box and choose Quote from the formatting menu. The text appears as a quoted block in the sent message. Use it to quote a source, a customer review or a previous announcement.

Newer versions may also allow a long quote to be collapsed, so readers see a few lines and tap to expand. This keeps long quotes from dominating a post.

Quoting part of a message in a reply

When replying, many versions let you select part of the original message and reply to just that part. The reply then shows the selected text as a quote. This makes conversations in busy groups much clearer, because readers can see exactly which sentence you are answering.

Monospace and code: more useful than they look

Tap to copy

In Telegram's apps, tapping monospace text usually copies it. That makes monospace ideal for anything readers need to copy exactly: a promo code, a command, a file name, a crypto address. Readers tap once instead of fiddling with a selection.

Code blocks for structure

A code block keeps spaces and line breaks exactly as written. Besides code, it is handy for simple aligned lists, timetables or ASCII diagrams, because fixed-width letters line up. Keep blocks narrow, as long lines scroll sideways on phones.

Syntax highlighting

Some versions highlight code blocks by language when you name the language after the opening backticks. If highlighting does not appear, the code is still shown correctly in fixed width.

Formatting in channel posts

Formatting is where a channel's posts become easy or hard to read. A few principles:

1. Bold the headline or first line. On a phone, readers decide from the first line whether to read on.
2. One idea per paragraph. Use line breaks generously; a wall of text loses readers.
3. Bold only the essentials. If half the post is bold, nothing stands out.
4. Use italic for titles and soft emphasis, not whole paragraphs.
5. Put codes and addresses in monospace so readers can copy them with a tap.
6. Use spoilers for answers and reveals to invite interaction.
7. Use descriptive link text. "Full schedule" is better than a bare address.
8. Keep emoji purposeful. One emoji as a bullet or a section marker helps scanning; ten in a line distracts.

Example: before and after

Example only. Before: a single block of text announcing an event, with the date, address and registration link all inside one long paragraph and the link pasted as a raw address.

After:

• First line in bold: the event name and date.
• A short paragraph saying what it is.
• The address on its own line.
• A link with the text "Register here".
• A spoiler hiding the surprise guest's name, with a note to tap.

The information is the same; the second version can be scanned in seconds.

For more ideas, see Telegram channel post ideas and pinned message examples.

Editing formatted posts

You can edit a sent post or message to fix formatting. Select the text in the edit box and apply or remove styles, then save. Editing a channel post does not send a new notification to subscribers.

Captions

Photos, videos and files can have formatted captions too. Captions have a shorter maximum length than messages, so put long text in a separate message if needed. Our guide to Telegram character limits explains how lengths work.

Line breaks, paragraphs and lists

Telegram has no bullet-list or heading style, so structure comes from line breaks and simple characters.

Making a new line

• On phones, the return key on the keyboard adds a new line, and the send button sends.
• On Telegram Desktop, pressing Enter usually sends the message, and Shift with Enter adds a new line. In the settings you can switch to sending with Ctrl and Enter instead, which makes Enter add new lines. Writers of long posts often prefer that.

A blank line between paragraphs makes posts much easier to read on small screens.

Making lists

Start each line with a simple marker: a dash, a number followed by a full stop, or one consistent emoji. Keep one item per line, and keep items short. A list of five short lines is easier to scan than the same information in one sentence full of commas.

For step-by-step instructions, numbers help readers keep their place and refer back ("I'm stuck at step 3").

Section markers

In long posts, a bold line on its own works as a section heading. Some channels add one emoji at the start of each section heading so readers can find sections by shape as they scroll. Pick one style and use it every time; consistency is what makes it scannable.

Does formatting survive forwarding, copying and scheduling?

• Forwarding keeps the original formatting, including spoilers and links.
• Copying text from a Telegram message and pasting it into another Telegram chat usually keeps the formatting in current apps.
• Scheduled messages keep their formatting when they are sent.
• Editing keeps the formatting you leave in place and lets you change it.
• Copying to other apps usually turns it into plain text, or into that app's nearest equivalent.
• Exports of chat history keep formatting in the HTML version and store it as separate text pieces in the JSON version.

Custom emoji and Premium

Telegram Premium lets users add custom emoji, from emoji packs, inside message text. They behave like characters in the text, and recipients without Premium can see them in messages. Channels may also be able to use custom emoji in some places once they meet certain boost levels; check your channel's settings, as these options change.

Custom emoji are decoration, not formatting. Use them the same way as regular emoji: as markers and accents, not as a replacement for words. If you are weighing Premium as a channel owner, read is Telegram Premium worth it for channel owners.

Formatting with accessibility in mind

Some of your readers use screen readers, enlarged text or translation. Formatting choices affect them more than most.

• Descriptive link text helps screen readers. A screen reader announces the link text, so "Register for the workshop" is useful while a bare address is read out character by character.
• Emoji are read aloud by name. A line of ten emoji becomes a long string of words. Use few, and avoid putting emoji in the middle of sentences.
• Do not rely on formatting alone for meaning. "Items in bold are sold out" fails for someone who cannot see bold. Write "sold out" instead.
• Spoilers need a hint. Put a short note before a spoiler saying what it hides, such as "Answer:", so readers know whether to reveal it.
• Text in images cannot be read or translated. Put important information in the message text, not only in a picture.

These habits also help everyone else: clear link text, fewer emoji and plain words make posts faster to read for all.

Formatting etiquette in groups

Groups are conversations, not channels, and heavy formatting reads differently there.

• Keep chat messages plain. Bold and quotes are for things people need to notice, such as an answer to a question or a correction.
• Use quote replies to make it clear which message you are answering in a busy group.
• Spoiler what others might not want to see, such as film endings or the answer to a puzzle another member posted.
• Admins can format rules and announcements, since those are meant to stand out. Bold the key rules and keep the rest plain. See how to write Telegram group rules.

Formatting for bot builders

Bots cannot use the app's menu. They send formatting with each message, in one of three ways. The Bot API documentation is the authority on the details; this section explains the concepts and the traps.

Option 1: HTML parse mode

Set the parse mode to HTML and wrap text in a small set of supported tags:

• the b or strong tag for bold;
• the i or em tag for italic;
• the u or ins tag for underline;
• the s, strike or del tag for strikethrough;
• a span tag with the tg-spoiler class, or the tg-spoiler tag, for spoilers;
• the a tag with an href for links, including links that mention a user by id;
• the code tag for inline monospace;
• the pre tag for code blocks, optionally containing a code tag with a language class for highlighting;
• the blockquote tag for quotes, with an expandable variant in newer API versions.

Only these tags are supported. Any other tag causes an error. The characters for less-than, greater-than and ampersand must be written as HTML entities when they appear as plain text, or the message fails to parse.

HTML is often the easiest choice for bots, because only those three characters need escaping.

Option 2: MarkdownV2 parse mode

MarkdownV2 uses symbols similar to the ones people type in the apps, with stricter rules. The trap is escaping. Many punctuation characters have a special meaning and must be preceded by a backslash when you want them as plain text. The list includes the underscore, asterisk, square brackets, round brackets, tilde, backtick, greater-than sign, hash, plus, minus, equals, vertical bar, curly braces, full stop and exclamation mark.

Forgetting to escape a full stop or a hyphen in user-supplied text is the most common reason a bot's message fails with a "can't parse entities" error. If your bot inserts text it did not write, such as a user's name, escape that text before inserting it, or use HTML instead.

Option 3: legacy Markdown

An older Markdown mode still exists for compatibility. It supports fewer styles and has its own quirks. New bots should use HTML or MarkdownV2.

Option 4: entities

Instead of a parse mode, a bot can send plain text plus a list of entities, each with a type, an offset and a length. This avoids escaping entirely, because nothing in the text is interpreted. The catch is that offsets and lengths are counted in UTF-16 code units, which means some emoji and characters count as two. Calculate offsets with a function that counts UTF-16 units, or your formatting will drift.

Entities are also what you receive when your bot reads a formatted message, so understanding them helps when processing users' messages.

Practical tips for bots

1. Pick one parse mode and use it everywhere in the bot.
2. Escape any user-supplied text before inserting it.
3. Test messages that contain names with symbols, emoji and non-Latin scripts.
4. If a message fails to parse, log the exact text the bot tried to send. The error usually names the position.
5. Keep formatting light. A bot message that is bold from top to bottom is as hard to read as a person's.

Example: the greeting that broke

Example only. A community bot greets new members with "Welcome, NAME!" sent in MarkdownV2, with NAME replaced by each member's display name. It works for weeks, then fails for a member called "J. Smith - Design". The full stop and the hyphen in the name were not escaped, so Telegram could not parse the message, and the greeting was never sent. The exclamation mark in the template had been escaped by hand, which is why the problem only appeared with certain names.

Two fixes work:

1. Escape every special character in the name before inserting it, using a small helper function the bot calls on any outside text.
2. Switch the greeting to HTML parse mode, where the name only needs the less-than, greater-than and ampersand characters escaped.

The developer chooses HTML, adds a test with awkward names, and the greeting works for everyone.

If you are new to bots, start with how to create a Telegram bot with BotFather.

Troubleshooting formatting

The symbols appear instead of formatting

Your app version may not convert symbols, the symbols may not be touching the text, or there may be a space inside them. Use the formatting menu instead.

Formatting disappears when pasting

Text copied from another app often loses its formatting when pasted into Telegram, or brings formatting Telegram does not support. Paste as plain text and re-apply styles with the menu. Text copied from one Telegram message to another usually keeps its formatting.

The recipient does not see the formatting

They may be using a very old app or an unofficial client that does not support every style. Notification previews also show plain text. In the chat itself, an up-to-date official app shows all styles.

A link does not work

Check that the address is complete, including the beginning, and that there are no spaces in it. Links to private chats only work for people who are members.

I cannot remove formatting

Select the text and use "remove formatting" or the plain option in the formatting menu, or the clear-formatting shortcut on Desktop. In the worst case, delete the text and type it again.

Common mistakes

• Bolding everything. Emphasis only works when it is rare.
• Underlining for emphasis. Readers expect underlined text to be a link.
• Hiding scams behind honest-looking link text, or trusting link text without checking the address. Always check the real destination.
• Using spoilers for private information. Anyone can tap them.
• Long code blocks on mobile. Wide blocks force sideways scrolling.
• Bots inserting unescaped user names in MarkdownV2. One stray full stop breaks the message.
• Counting entity offsets in characters instead of UTF-16 units. Emoji shift everything after them.

FAQ

How do I make text bold on Telegram?

Select the text and choose Bold from the formatting menu, or type two asterisks before and after the text in apps that support it, or press Ctrl and B on Telegram Desktop.

How do I send a spoiler on Telegram?

Select the text and choose Spoiler from the formatting menu, or type two vertical bars before and after it. For photos and videos, use the spoiler option in the media preview.

Can I change the font or text colour?

No. Telegram does not offer custom fonts or colours in messages. Monospace is the only alternative font, and colour comes from the app's theme, not the message.

Why does my formatting look different on another device?

All official apps display the same styles, but each draws them in its own design. Very old or unofficial apps may not support newer styles such as quotes or spoilers.

Can I format my channel description or bio?

Descriptions and bios are plain text with limited automatic links, such as usernames and web addresses. Rich formatting is for messages and posts. Our guide on writing a channel description covers what works there.

Which parse mode should my bot use?

HTML is usually easiest, because only three characters need escaping. MarkdownV2 is fine if you escape carefully. Entities avoid escaping but need correct UTF-16 offsets.

Summary

Select text and use the formatting menu on any device to apply bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, monospace, spoiler, quote or link. Speed it up with typed symbols in apps that support them and keyboard shortcuts in Telegram Desktop. Use monospace for anything readers should copy, spoilers for reveals, and descriptive link text that honestly names the destination. In channel posts, keep emphasis rare and paragraphs short. Bots should pick HTML, MarkdownV2 or entities, escape user text and count entity offsets in UTF-16 units.