In this quick guide on Reddit formatting, I’ll help you understand the formatting tags and the syntax you can use in your comments to increase readability and engagement.
Table of Contents
1. Basic Reddit Formatting
2. Links
3. Lists
4. New Lines & Paragraphs
5. Tables
6. Headlines
1. Reddit Formatting – The Basics
1.1 Italics
To make a text italic, enclose it in asterix “*” or underscores “_”.
For example:
We all want *our links* to stay on the _first page_.
becomes
We all want our links to stay on the first page.
1.2 Bold
Same as italic, but with double asterix “**” and double underscore “__” like this:
We all want **our links** to stay on the __first page__.
becomes
We all want our links to stay on the first page.
1.3 Quoting
You can quote your text on Reddit by simply using the “<“ symbol. You can also nest quoted text, like this:
We all want our links to stay on the first page. >The problem is that it's hard. >>So how to make it work ? >>>Read RedditSecrets.com
becomes
We all want our links to stay on the first page.
The problem is that it’s hard.
So how to make it work ?
Read RedditSecrets.com !
1.4 Superscript text
You can suprescript your text using the carot symbol “^”. Note that you can also stack superscripts:
Redditor 1^Redditor 2^Redditor 3
becomes
Redditor 1Redditor 2Redditor 3
1.5 Strikethrough text
Strikethrough your text using a double tilde “~~”:
Part of this text will be ~~deleted~~.
becomes
Part of this text will bedeleted.
1.6 Inline Code (Monospaced Text)
Sometimes you want to add a code snippet on the same line in your comment. You can format you Reddit comment like that with inline code using the following symbol ” ‘ “
We have an inline code here: 'Console.WriteLine();'
becomes
We have an inline code here: Console.WriteLine();
It’s a little bit hard to see the difference here, but it works fine on Reddit.
1.6 Block Code (Monospaced Text)
If you want to add a monospaced block of code, start the line with 4 spaces (illustrated with ░) like this:
░░░░Console.WriteLine();
░░░░░░░░foreach (string line in lines)
░░░░░░░░░░░░Console.WriteLine(line);1.7 Escaping Special Characters
All right, but what happens if we actually want to print “*some important word*” in our comment ? Here’s where escaping comes into place:
We have an important \*keyword\* here.
which will ignore the special characters and leave only the asterix:
We have an important *keyword* here.
2. How to post a link on Reddit
2.1 Simple Links
If you wonder how to post links in comments in reddit, it is done with the following syntax:
[Link To Reddit](https://reddit.com)
which becomes
Link To Reddit
2.2 Link Hover Text
If you want to add an HTML title tag to your link, i.e. displaying text on hover, do it like this:
[Hover Me](https://reddit.com "This link points to Reddit")
becomes
Hover Me
2.3 Linking to a Sub-Reddit
If you want to link to a sub-reddit, instead of adding the whole URL you can just use:
/r/pics
which will render
/r/pics
Reddit will automatically detect the sub-reddit and add the link for you.
2.4 Escaping Brackets in URLs
If your URL contains brackets, you’ll have to escape them:
[Reddit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit_(site))
this will render
Reddit)
Notice the extra character at the end ? So to fix it, escape it:
[Reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit_(site\))
results in the correct form
2.5 Links can’t begin with WWW
An important note is that your link should have the URI scheme included. For example, this will not work:
[Reddit](www.reddit.com)
but this will
[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com)
Supported schemes are:
- http://
- https://
- ftp://
- mailto:
- steam://
- irc://
- news://
- mumble://
- ssh://
2.5 Using Spoiler Tags
And finally, there is a relatively new feature that allows you to add spoiler text to your comments and posts. Here’s how it works
[Spoiler](/s "write spoiler-text inside quotes")
This spoiler formatting is similar to a link, but when you hover on “Spoiler” the actual text next to it will be revealed. For a demonstration, check Reddit’s Spoiler Tag announcement.
3. Adding Lists
3.1 Unordered Lists
In order to create an unordered list, you can use either “*”, “+” or “-“
* Item 1 + Item 2 - Item 3
becomes
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
3.2 Ordered Lists
For ordered lists, simply use a number with a period at the end.
2. Item 1 1. Item 2 3. Item 3
becomes
- Item 2
- Item 1
- Item 3
4.Paragraphs and Line Breaks
4.1 New Lines
In order to format a line break on Reddit, you can’t just hit enter. For example, this will not work
First Line↵ Second Line
You need to add 4 spaces:
First Line░░░░↵ Second Line
which will actually render a new line.
4.2 Paragraphs
Creating a paragraph is actually simplier. Just hit enter twice:
First Line↵ ↵ Second Line
5. Creating Tables
Now, if you are a web developer you will probably vomit after reading this, but here’s how you format tables with Reddit:
Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 :--|:--:|--: row 1| row 1 | row 1 row 2 | row 2 | row 2 row 3 | row 3| row 3 row 4| row 4| row 4 row 5| row 5| row 5 row 6| row 6| row 6
Two important things here:
- The first row is the columns row and is always bolded
- The second row is with the strange :–|:–:|–: symbols represents the text alignment for the column above
So
- :–: is center-aligned
- :– is left-aligned
- –: is right-aligned
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 row 1 row 1 row 1 row 2 row 2 row 2 row 3 row 3 row 3 row 4 row 4 row 4 row 5 row 5 row 5 row 6 row 6 row 6
6. Headlines & Horizontal Lines
6.1 Headlines
As you can see Reddit’s Formatting syntax can actually be quite powerful. You can also add headlines inside your comments by simply adding hash tags before your text. For example
# Heading 1 ## Heading 2 ### Heading 3
6.2 Horizontal Lines
To format a horizontal line, simply put 3 asterix symbols next to each other like this
***
which will create a horizontal line
7. Reddit Formatting Help Tool
At the end of this guide, I think there’s a tool that deserves a mention and that’s the ReddiFormat Chrom extension by Chris Goulding. So feel free to give it a shot and share your impressions !
