How to Change Text Style in Discord – Full Formatting Guide

Discord allows users to customize their messages using text formatting options to make conversations more engaging. Discord’s Markdown syntax makes it easy to modify text styles, whether you want to bold text, italicize words, or even change text color.

This guide will walk you through different ways to change text formatting in Discord, from basic styles to advanced color tricks.

Understanding Markdown in Discord

Discord uses Markdown syntax, a simple text formatting language commonly used in chat applications and forums. Markdown allows users to style text without needing special tools or formatting menus. Instead, you can apply effects using certain symbols directly within your message.

For example, if you want to make text bold, instead of clicking a formatting button, you enclose the text in double asterisks (**bold**). This makes it easy to add styling on the go, whether chatting in a server, direct message, or a group chat.

Markdown in Discord is processed in real-time, meaning you can see how the text will appear before sending the message. However, Markdown doesn’t support more advanced text styling options like fonts or extensive color choices, so users rely on workarounds for colored text formatting.

How to Change Text Style in Discord

Discord offers a variety of text styles, including bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough. Each style serves a different purpose, such as highlighting important information, emphasizing certain words, or making your messages visually distinct.

Bold, Italics, and Underlined Text Formatting

These formatting styles help emphasize words or phrases in your messages.

• Bold Text: Use double asterisks (**bold**) → bold. This is ideal for highlighting important information or making message headers stand out.
• Italic Text: Use single asterisks (*italic*) or underscores (_italic_) → italic. This style is commonly used for emphasis, such as stressing a word in a sentence.
• Bold Italics: Use triple asterisks (***bold italics***) → bold italics. This is useful when you need both emphasis and bold styling.
• Underlined Text: Use double underscores (__underlined__) → underlined. This style is great for making text stand out in lengthy messages.
• Strikethrough Text: Use double tildes (~~strikethrough~~) → strikethrough. This often indicates edits, corrections, or humor in conversations.

Adding Strikethrough and Spoiler Effects

Sometimes, you may want to hide text until a user interacts with it or cross out text to indicate corrections or sarcasm.

• Strikethrough: Use ~~ before and after your text to apply strikethrough → ~~crossed out~~. This is commonly used to show outdated or incorrect information in messages.
• Spoiler Tags: Use || around the text to hide it from view → ||hidden message||. This feature is useful for sharing movie spoilers, surprises, or sensitive content. Users must click on the message to reveal the hidden text.

Spoiler tags can be combined with other formatting styles, such as bold or italics, to enhance how messages appear when revealed.

Using Code Blocks for Single and Multi-Line Code

You can use code blocks if you’re sharing code snippets or want to display text in a monospace format. These are especially useful in tech and gaming communities where users share coding scripts, bot commands, or formatted instructions.

• Single-line Code: Use one backtick before and after the text → `code`
• Multi-line Code Block: Use three backticks before and after the text →

“`
multiple
lines
of code
“`

Multi-line code blocks preserve formatting and spacing, making them ideal for displaying scripts, instructions, or error messages without breaking the text structure.

How to Change Text Color in Discord (Using Syntax Highlighting)

By default, Discord does not provide built-in text color options, but you can create colored text using syntax highlighting. This method involves using code blocks and specifying a programming language that affects how Discord renders the text.

Steps to Color Text in Discord:

1. Type triple backticks (“`) to start a code block.
2. Specify a syntax language like diff, ini, or css.
3. Type your message using the formatting rules for that language.
4. Close the code block with three more backticks.

Examples of Colored Text:

• Red Text (diff)
  
  “`diff
  – This text will be red
  “`
• Green Text (diff)“`diff
  + This text will be green
  “`
  
• Blue Text (ini)“`ini
  [This text will be blue]
  “`
  

Since Discord does not officially support colored text, these workarounds rely on programming syntax to display different colors. Depending on the Discord theme (dark/light mode), some colors may appear differently.

Advanced Text Styling and Formatting Tips

You can combine multiple formatting options to create unique styles. For example:

• __**Bold and Underlined**__ → Bold and Underlined
• ***Bold Italics with Spoiler ||hidden||*** → Bold Italics with Spoiler ||hidden||
• ~~__Strikethrough Underline__~~ → Strikethrough Underline

Using block quotes (> text) can help organize messages, making discussions more explicit. You can also use bullet points, numbered lists, and line breaks to structure your messages in servers and group chats effectively.

If you want to enhance your formatting, some Discord bots offer advanced styling, such as embedding formatted messages, creating colored text, or generating decorative ASCII text.

Common Issues When Formatting Text in Discord

Although Markdown is simple, some users face issues when formatting text:

• Text not formatting correctly: Ensure you’re using the correct number of symbols (*, _, ~, etc.).
• Colored text not appearing: Some syntax highlighting languages may not work in all cases. Try using diff, ini, or css.
• Markdown not working on mobile: Certain Markdown features may display differently on mobile devices.

If your formatted text isn’t displaying correctly, try editing and retyping the formatting symbols to ensure no extra spaces or misplaced characters.

Conclusion

Changing text style in Discord is simple by using Markdown formatting and syntax highlighting. Whether you want to bold, italicize, underline, strikethrough, or color your text, these features enhance readability and message engagement. Learning Markdown will help you customize your messages, structure your responses, and make conversations more visually appealing.

Try experimenting with different styles and share your formatted messages in your favorite Discord servers!