WhatsApp has a handful of built-in text formatting options that most people never discover. Without installing anything extra, you can make your messages bold, italic, strikethrough, or even monospaced. All it takes is wrapping your text in a few special characters.
If you have ever wondered how someone sent a bold name in a group chat or crossed out a word for comedic effect, this guide will walk you through every option. Let's start with the most popular one.
To make text bold, place an asterisk (*) on each side of the word or phrase you want to emphasize. There should be no space between the asterisk and the text.
Bold is the formatting style you will use most often. It is perfect for drawing attention to a key detail in a long message, highlighting someone's name in a group announcement, or marking a deadline that absolutely cannot be missed. A single bold word in the middle of a paragraph stands out immediately.
One thing to watch out for: if you leave a space after the opening asterisk, the formatting will not kick in. * hello* stays as plain text. Keep the asterisks snug against the words.
Wrap your text in underscores (_) to make it italic. The rules are the same as bold: no spaces between the underscores and the text.
Italic works well when you want to convey tone without using emojis. A gentle thank you so much feels different from a plain one. It is also the standard way to reference book titles, movie names, or foreign phrases. If you are quoting someone, italics give the message a natural, spoken quality.
Strikethrough requires a tilde (~) on each side of the text. On most phone keyboards, you will find the tilde in the symbols section.
Strikethrough is surprisingly versatile. Use it to correct yourself mid-sentence for a bit of humor, show that a price has been reduced, or indicate that a task has been completed. In group chats, it is a quick way to update information without deleting the original message.
People also use strikethrough for playful sarcasm. Crossing out what you "really" think before writing the polite version is a classic WhatsApp move that always gets a laugh.
Here is where it gets fun. WhatsApp lets you stack formatting codes together. Want bold italic? Nest the symbols inside each other. The key is to open and close each pair in the correct order.
You can even combine all three at once, though readability starts to suffer at that point. For most messages, pairing two styles together is the sweet spot. Bold italic is great for section headers in long messages, while bold strikethrough works nicely for showing a dramatic price drop.
Wrap text in three backticks (```) to display it in a fixed-width monospace font. This style is especially useful for sharing code snippets, terminal commands, or anything that benefits from precise character alignment.
Monospace also works as a visual separator. If you are sending a structured list, phone number, or tracking code, the monospace font makes it easy to read and copy. For a deeper dive into this formatting style, check out our complete guide to monospace text in WhatsApp.
| Format | Syntax | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | *text* |
text |
| Italic | _text_ |
text |
| Strikethrough | ~text~ |
|
| Monospace | ```text``` |
text |
| Bold Italic | *_text_* |
text |
These formatting codes work on Android, iPhone, WhatsApp Web, and the desktop app. They have been part of WhatsApp for years, so even people on older versions of the app will see your formatted text correctly.
If you prefer not to remember the syntax, you can also select text in the WhatsApp input field and choose formatting from the context menu on most devices. But once you get the hang of typing the symbols directly, it becomes second nature. Most people find the asterisk shortcut for bold so natural that they start using it in other apps too.
Want to apply these formats without memorizing any syntax at all? Try our Text Formatter tool to apply bold, italic, strikethrough, and monospace visually, then copy and paste straight into WhatsApp.
Skip the syntax. Format your WhatsApp messages instantly.
Open the Text Formatter →For more creative ways to level up your WhatsApp messages, explore our guides on hidden text tricks and professional formatting for business chats.