The quickest method is to type the message, select the exact words before sending, open Telegram’s native formatting menu, and choose Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Spoiler, Monospace, Quote or Create Link. This works in current Android, iPhone/iPad and desktop clients, although the menu name and the number of taps can vary by operating system and app version.
Do not install a formatter app or send private drafts to a third-party bot. Telegram already has the necessary tools. For ordinary users, the selection menu is also more reliable than memorizing markup characters.
How to format text on Android
- Open any chat, group or channel where you can post and type the complete message.
- Long-press a word, then drag the selection handles over the text you want to format.
- Tap the three-dot menu if Bold, Italic or other choices are not visible immediately.
- Choose the required style. For a named hyperlink, choose Create Link or Add Link, paste the full
https://address and confirm. - Check the selected text, then send the message.
Some Android skins compress the selection toolbar. Telegram’s official tips specifically note that MIUI users may need the top-right three-dot button to reveal formatting options. If Quote or another newer option is missing, update Telegram and check the overflow menu; older clients may expose a smaller list.
You can apply more than one compatible style to the same selection, for example bold plus italic. Apply one style, select the text again and apply the next. Complex combinations are harder to edit, so use them sparingly.
How to format text on iPhone or iPad
- Type the message or media caption.
- Double-tap or press and hold a word, then adjust the selection.
- Move through the iOS context menu and tap Format when it appears. Depending on the release, common options may appear directly or behind an arrow or additional menu.
- Choose Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Spoiler, Monospace, Quote or Link, as available in your installed client.
- For a link, enter the destination URL, confirm it and send only after checking the address.
The essential action is selecting text inside Telegram’s composer. The system copy-and-paste toolbar can occupy the first row, so swipe or tap the arrow instead of assuming that formatting is unavailable.
How to format text in Telegram Desktop
Type the message, select the required text with the mouse or keyboard, then right-click the selection and open Formatting. Choose the style, or choose Create Link and enter the URL. This is useful for long channel posts because you can review every formatted segment before publishing.
The official Telegram Desktop wiki documents these shortcuts for selected text:
| Result | Telegram Desktop shortcut |
|---|---|
| Bold | Ctrl+B |
| Italic | Ctrl+I |
| Create link | Ctrl+K |
| Underline | Ctrl+U |
| Monospace | Ctrl+Shift+M |
| Clear formatting | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Spoiler | Ctrl+Shift+P |
| Strikethrough | Ctrl+Shift+X |
| Quote | Ctrl+Shift+. |
These are the Ctrl-based shortcuts listed for Telegram Desktop. A separate macOS client or a different desktop build may display different keys, so use the right-click menu if a shortcut does not work rather than guessing.
What each formatting option does
| Style | Best use | Important detail |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | A key action, result or warning | Too much bold makes the message harder to scan. |
| Italic | Light emphasis, titles or side notes | It is subtler than bold. |
| Underline | A short term that needs extra emphasis | Underlined text can look like a link, so avoid ambiguity. |
| Strikethrough | Corrections, old prices or deliberately removed wording | Keep the replacement nearby. |
| Spoiler | Plot points, answers or sensitive details | Telegram hides the selection in the chat, chat list and notifications until it is tapped. |
| Monospace | Commands, filenames and small code fragments | It signals literal text and makes copying easier. |
| Quote | A cited passage or visually separated statement | Quote formatting is not the same as replying to a specific message. |
| Link | A readable label such as “official guide” | Telegram clients may show the full destination for confirmation before opening it. |
A spoiler can be combined with other compatible formatting, but hiding an entire long post is rarely friendly. Hide only the part that reveals the answer.
Telegram Premium Rich Text Editor for long posts
Telegram's July 2026 Rich Text Editor announcement adds a separate visual editor for articles and long posts. It supports headings, tables, lists, quotes, code blocks, and photos or videos placed inside a message—not only inline styles such as bold and italic. The editor allows up to 32,768 characters in one message.
At launch, the Rich Text Editor is available only to Telegram Premium users. It is different from the normal selection menu described above and from Bot API MarkdownV2. If the advanced editor is not visible, update the official app and check the account's Premium status; for an ordinary chat message, continue using the built-in formatting menu.
How to create a hyperlink without showing the full URL
- Write the visible label, such as
Telegram formatting guide. - Select only that label.
- Choose Create Link or Add Link from the formatting menu. On Telegram Desktop, use
Ctrl+K. - Paste the complete destination beginning with
https://. - Confirm and review the label before sending.
Use descriptive labels rather than “click here.” Never disguise an unrelated destination. Telegram normally gives readers a chance to inspect an inline URL before opening it, but the sender should still make the destination clear.
Telegram Markdown: consumer app versus bots
There are two different situations that are often mixed up.
In the normal Telegram composer
Telegram’s official Tips channel documents convenient composer shortcuts such as:
**bold**__italic__||spoiler||~~strikethrough~~- backticks for monospace and fenced code shortcuts on Desktop
These shortcuts are conveniences in consumer clients, not a promise that every field, web client or old app build will parse every sequence. For dependable results, especially in a scheduled channel post, use the native menu and visually check the draft. Add named links through Create Link rather than assuming that generic Markdown link syntax will convert.
In a bot or API integration
The Telegram Bot API has its own parse_mode rules. In MarkdownV2, common forms are *bold*, _italic_, __underline__, ~strikethrough~, ||spoiler||, [label](https://example.com), backticks for code and > at the beginning of a quote line. That is not the same set of markers as the consumer composer above.
MarkdownV2 also reserves many punctuation characters:
_ * [ ] ( ) ~ ` > # + - = | { } . !
Precede a reserved character with a backslash when it should be literal. Inside a link destination, a closing parenthesis and a backslash need special escaping. In source code, the language may require the backslash itself to be escaped again. If messages contain arbitrary user text, constructing Telegram message entities is often safer than concatenating Markdown. The Bot API also supports an HTML parse mode, but that does not mean users should type HTML tags into a normal chat.
For more automation context, see our guide to finding and using Telegram bots.
Troubleshooting formatting and copy/paste
- The asterisks or underscores remain visible. The current field did not convert the shortcut, the markers were incomplete, or you used Bot API syntax in the consumer app. Remove the markers and use the selection menu.
- A pasted message loses formatting. Web pages and document editors place styles on the clipboard differently. Paste as plain text, then format inside Telegram. On Desktop,
Ctrl+Shift+Nclears formatting from selected text. - Only part of a word changes. Select again and move the handles carefully. Emoji and combined characters can make a selection boundary look unusual.
- A link is not clickable. Recreate it through Create Link, include a valid scheme such as
https://, remove spaces from the address and confirm that you selected visible label text. - The wrong page opens. Edit the draft and replace the destination. Do not rely only on the label; verify the URL before posting.
- Spoiler or Quote is missing. Update the official Telegram app and inspect the expanded menu. Feature placement can differ across clients and releases.
- Formatting changes after copying between chats. Copying rendered text, copying the raw source and forwarding a message are different operations. Recheck the destination composer before sending.
For polished publishing, combine formatting with a clear workflow: our guides explain how to create a Telegram channel and how to schedule Telegram messages.