Paste to Markdown
Copy from any app and paste here to get clean Markdown. Works with Google Docs, Notion, Word, email, and web pages.
To convert copied text to Markdown, copy it as you normally would, click the paste box above and press Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac). When you copy formatted text, your clipboard also holds an HTML version of it. The tool reads that HTML and turns headings, lists, links, bold, italics and code into Markdown, so you don't have to rebuild the formatting by hand.
What does the output look like?
A few paragraphs selected on a web page
<meta charset="utf-8"><h3>Before you start</h3><p>You need <strong>Node 20</strong> or later. Check with <code>node -v</code>, or see the <a href="https://nodejs.org/en/download">download page</a>.</p><ol><li>Clone the repo</li><li>Run <code>npm install</code></li></ol>### Before you start
You need **Node 20** or later. Check with `node -v`, or see the [download page](https://nodejs.org/en/download).
1. Clone the repo
2. Run `npm install`Two lines copied from Google Docs
<meta charset="utf-8"><b style="font-weight:normal;" id="docs-internal-guid-4f1c2a"><h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-weight:400;">Launch checklist</span></h2><p dir="ltr"><span style="font-weight:700;">Owner:</span><span style="font-weight:400;"> Dana. See </span><a href="https://example.com/plan"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">the plan</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">.</span></p></b>## Launch checklist
**Owner:** Dana. See [the plan](https://example.com/plan).Google Docs wraps the whole selection in a <b> tag that is not really bold, and marks real bold and italics with CSS. The converter unwraps the first and reads the second, so "Owner:" stays bold.
Text from Notepad, a terminal or any plain-text source
Agenda
- budget
- hiring *if* approvedAgenda
- budget
- hiring *if* approvedWith no HTML on the clipboard, the text is kept exactly as pasted. Nothing is escaped or reformatted.
Does pasting from Google Docs keep bold and italics?
Yes. Google Docs does not use <strong> or <em> on the clipboard. It marks bold with a font-weight:700 style and italics with font-style:italic, and the converter reads those two styles. Headings, lists and links come through as well. Other styling, such as colours and fonts, is dropped.
For a whole document, Docs' own export (File, Download, Markdown) or a .docx run through Word to Markdown also works.
What happens when I paste from desktop Word?
Desktop Word puts its style sheet in the clipboard HTML; the converter removes it. Word's bulleted lists also arrive as paragraphs that start with a · symbol rather than as a real list. For a whole document, save it as .docx and use Word to Markdown, which reads the file's structure instead of the clipboard.
When should I use this instead of URL to Markdown?
When you only want part of a page, or the page is behind a login. URL to Markdown fetches a public page and guesses the main article. Here you pick the exact text yourself, from any page your browser can show you, including your inbox, an intranet or a paywalled article you are logged in to.
How are tables, code and other pasted content handled?
| Input | What you get |
|---|---|
| Headings, links, bold (<strong>/<b>), italic (<em>/<i>) | # headings, [text](url), **bold**, _italic_ |
| Bold or italic set by CSS (Google Docs) | Kept as ** and _ |
| Bulleted and numbered lists (web, Notion, Docs) | - and 1. lists, nested levels indented |
| Word desktop bulleted lists | Paragraphs starting with · instead of a list |
| Word desktop styles | Style sheet removed; text kept |
| Tables from web pages with a header row | GFM pipe table |
| Cells copied from Excel or Google Sheets | No header row, so kept as an HTML <table>. Use Excel to Markdown |
| Code blocks with <pre><code> | Fenced block; language kept only if the HTML names it |
| Text from a code editor that copies colours (e.g. VS Code) | Arrives as styled HTML, so # and - get backslash-escaped. Paste into a plain-text app first |
| Images |  linking to the original image URL. Word desktop gives local file:// paths that won't work elsewhere |
| Emoji | Kept |
| Plain text only on the clipboard | Passed through unchanged |
How does this compare with Google Docs' Markdown export and Pandoc?
| MDConvert (this page) | Google Docs Markdown export | Pandoc | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works with | Anything you can copy | Google Docs only | Files (.docx, .html, .odt and more) |
| Reads the clipboard | Yes | Copy as Markdown, after turning on Markdown in Tools > Preferences | No, needs a saved file |
| Keeps Docs bold and italics | Yes | Yes | Yes, from a .docx download |
| Install or setup | None | None | Command-line install |
| Many documents at once | No | No | Yes |
| Your text leaves your machine | No | Stays in Google Docs | No |
For a whole Google Doc, Docs' own export is the simplest route. This page is for a selection from anywhere you can copy.
Maintained by Ankit Aglawe. Last updated .
Related Tools
Need a different format? See every tool on the Markdown converter page, or go back to the MDConvert home page.