WhatsApp messages do not have formatting buttons in the typing box, but they do have formatting. A few symbols around your words turn plain text into bold, italic, strikethrough, or monospace. Once you know the symbols, you can emphasize the important part of any message in seconds.
This guide covers every built-in format, how to combine them, and the mistakes that stop formatting from working.
Bold: asterisks around the text
To make text bold, put an asterisk on each side of it. Typing *hello* sends hello in bold. Use bold for the one thing the reader must not miss: a date, a price, a decision, or a key instruction. Bold works best in small doses. A whole paragraph in bold is no easier to read than plain text.
Italic: underscores around the text
To italicize text, put an underscore on each side of it. Typing _hello_ sends hello in italic. Use italic for soft emphasis, titles, or a gentle aside. Italic is subtler than bold, which makes it good for tone: a suggestion rather than an instruction.
Watch out for one trap: underscores inside words or usernames can accidentally trigger italic formatting. If a word contains underscores, WhatsApp may format part of it. When that happens, reword the message or add a space to break the pattern.
Strikethrough and monospace
For strikethrough, put a tilde on each side: ~hello~ sends struck-through text. Use it for corrections, price changes, or playful edits, such as showing an old plan replaced by a new one.
For monospace, put three backticks on each side: ```hello``` sends fixed-width text. Monospace is useful for code, addresses, or anything where spacing must line up. A single backtick on each side formats a short inline code snippet instead.
Lists and quotes
WhatsApp also supports simple lists and quotes. Start a line with a hyphen and a space for a bullet point, or a number, a period, and a space for a numbered step. Start a line with a greater-than sign and a space for a quoted block. These are handy for instructions, shopping lists, and meeting notes sent as messages.
Lists only work when each item starts on its own line. If you type everything on one line, WhatsApp will not split it into a list for you.
Combining formats
You can combine formats on the same words. For bold and italic together, nest the symbols correctly: *_hello_* sends bold italic text. The general rule is that the symbol you open first should close last. Getting the nesting order wrong is the most common reason combined formatting fails.
Test combinations before sending an important message. Type the formatted text, check the preview in the chat box, and fix the symbols if the preview looks plain. WhatsApp shows the formatting in the preview, so you can catch mistakes before you send.
Formatting on phone versus desktop
You can also format without typing symbols. On Android, select the text and choose bold, italic, or strikethrough from the menu. On iPhone, select the text and use the BIU option. On WhatsApp Web, the same symbols work in the typing box. The symbols are the most reliable method across all versions, because they work everywhere and do not depend on menus that differ by device.
Try the free formatter
Typing symbols by hand is fine for a short message, but for a long announcement it is easy to miss a symbol. The tool below formats your text and builds a share link you can send directly. Open the full WhatsApp Text Link Formatter tool on its own page.
Quick reference
Bold: *text*. Italic: _text_. Strikethrough: ~text~. Monospace: ```text```. Bold plus italic: *_text_*. Learn those five patterns and you can format any WhatsApp message without an app, an extension, or a menu hunt.