Writing tools

Everything here is in the Format menu (the Table menu for tables, the File menu for templates) and the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P). On macOS, use Cmd for Ctrl and Option for Alt.

Text formatting

Select text and apply a format, or apply it with nothing selected to insert the markers and type inside them. Applying the same format again removes it.

Format	Shortcut	Result
Bold	Ctrl+B	**text**
Italic	Ctrl+I	*text*
Strikethrough	Ctrl+Shift+X	~~text~~
Inline code	Ctrl+E	`text`
Insert link	Ctrl+K	[text](https://)

With the cursor inside an existing link, Insert Link (Ctrl+K) selects its address so you can change it. Format → Remove Link turns the link at the cursor, or every link in the selection, back into plain text (images stay).

Headings

Command	Shortcut
Heading 1 to 6	Ctrl+Alt+1 to Ctrl+Alt+6
Normal text (remove the heading)	Ctrl+Alt+0
Promote heading (### → ##)	Ctrl+Alt+=
Demote heading (## → ###)	Ctrl+Alt+-

Promote and demote work on every selected heading and stay within H1–H6.

Rename a heading

Put the cursor on a heading and press F2 (Format → Heading → Rename Heading…, or right-click it in the Outline). Type the new text and Markpion changes the heading and every #anchor link to it in the document (and wiki links such as [[#Old name]]), in the same edit (Ctrl+Z undoes it). If other Markdown files in the open folder link to the heading (guide.md#set-up), it lists how many and offers to update them too; files with unsaved changes are skipped, and each changed file keeps its previous version in File History. When two headings have the same text, their anchors are numbered (#notes, #notes-1), and links to both are kept pointing at the right one. On a #tag, F2 renames the tag instead; see Tags.

F2 also renames labels: on a footnote such as [^1], every reference to it and its definition get the new label; on a link reference such as [text][guide], [guide][] or a [guide]: … definition, every link using that label and the definition change together ([guide][] becomes [guide][manual], so its text stays).

Number headings

Format → Heading → Number Headings numbers every heading, as in specifications and policies: ## 1. Introduction, ### 1.1 Purpose, #### 1.1.1 Scope. A single H1 title at the top of the document isn't numbered. After you add, remove or move sections, run it again to renumber. Format → Remove Heading Numbers takes the numbers off again. Both are one edit, so Ctrl+Z undoes them, and a table of contents in the document is updated too.

Only numbers with a dot count as existing numbers (1., 2.3), so a heading such as "2024 Roadmap" or "10 Tips" keeps its text. Numbering changes the headings' anchors (#1-introduction instead of #introduction); Check Links finds links elsewhere that need updating. To change one heading's text, use Rename Heading, which updates the links for you.

Select a section

Edit → Select Section (or right-click a heading in the Outline → Select Section) selects the section at the cursor: its heading, its text and its subsections. Run it again to select the section it belongs to, and so on up to the top-level section. It's a quick way to copy, cut or replace a whole section.

Move a section

Format → Heading → Move Section Up and Move Section Down move the section at the cursor (its heading, its text and all its subsections) above the previous section or below the next one at the same level. Sections don't leave their parent: a ### under one ## never jumps into another. Lines inside code blocks that start with # are not treated as headings.

You can also move sections from the Outline:

• Drag a heading onto another one: a line shows where it will go, and the section (with its subsections) is placed just before that heading. Drop it below the last heading to move it to the end. Dragging can also move a subsection into another part of the document.
• Right-click a heading and choose Move Section Up or Move Section Down.
• Focus a heading and press Alt+↑ / Alt+↓. Focus stays on the moved heading, so you can press the keys repeatedly.

Every move can be undone with Ctrl+Z. Moving works on # headings; underlined (setext) headings can't be dragged.

Lists, quotes and tasks

Command	Shortcut
Bulleted list	Ctrl+Shift+8
Numbered list	Ctrl+Shift+7
Task list (- [ ])	Ctrl+Shift+9
Check / uncheck task	Ctrl+Enter
Quote	Ctrl+Shift+.

The list commands work on all selected lines, and applying one again removes it. Check / Uncheck Task works on the tasks on the selected lines: if any is open, all are checked; otherwise all are unchecked. On a line that isn't a task, Ctrl+Enter keeps its usual behaviour. You can also tick tasks by clicking their checkboxes in the preview.

Blocks

• Code Block (Ctrl+Alt+C) inserts a fenced code block. Type the language after the backticks.
• Insert Table inserts a two-column table to fill in; the toolbar's Table button asks for the size first. Format Table (Ctrl+Alt+T) aligns it, the Table: Insert/Delete Row and Column commands change its shape, and Sort Table by Column sorts it. See Tables.
• Insert Math Block puts $$ lines around the selection (or an empty formula), and Inline Math wraps the selection in $…$. See Math.
• Insert Flowchart, Sequence Diagram, Gantt Chart or Pie Chart (Mermaid) inserts a small working diagram to edit, with its first line selected. See Mermaid diagrams.
• Horizontal Rule inserts ---.
• Toggle Comment (Ctrl+/) wraps the selected lines, or the cursor's line, in an HTML comment (<!-- … -->): the text stays in the file but doesn't appear in the preview or in exports. Press it again to remove the comment.
• Insert Footnote (Ctrl+Alt+R) inserts the next numbered reference, such as [^1], at the cursor and adds its definition at the end of the document, where the cursor moves so you can type the note. See Footnotes.

Links

• Autocompletion: type ]( to get a list of the workspace's Markdown files, ![]( for images, and ](# for the headings in the document; after a file name, as in ](guide.md#, you get that document's headings. After ][, as in [text][, you get the reference labels the document defines ([label]: address lines), with their addresses; after [^ in text, the footnotes it defines. Picking one adds the closing ] if it's missing. Type a colon and two letters, such as :roc, to pick an emoji shortcode (🚀 :rocket:); it isn't offered inside code or right after a letter or digit, so times like 10:30 are left alone.
• Follow a link from the editor: hold Ctrl (Cmd on macOS) and click it; links are underlined while the key is down. From the keyboard, put the cursor on a link and press Alt+Enter (Format → Open Link at Cursor). Web addresses open in your browser, #heading links move to the heading, links to Markdown files open them in a tab (at the heading after #), and a reference link such as [text][id] goes to its [id]: … definition. Links inside code are left alone. Ctrl+click elsewhere still adds a cursor.
• Paste a URL over a selection to turn the selected text into a link.
• Peek at a linked document: hover over a link to another Markdown document (including a wiki link) and the start of it appears, or the start of the section when the link names a heading.
• See a picture without the preview: hover over an image link (![alt](path), a [id]: picture.png definition or an <img> tag) in the editor and the picture appears above it. Local pictures need the document to be saved, so their path can be found.
• Format → Link Style → Reference Links turns inline links and images such as [text](address "title") into [text][1], with a numbered [1]: address "title" line at the end of the document, so paragraphs with long addresses stay readable. Links to the same address (and title) share one definition, and existing definitions are reused. Format → Link Style → Inline Links does the opposite for [text][label], [label][] and [label] references, and removes the definitions nothing uses anymore. Both work on the selection, or the whole document when nothing is selected, and Ctrl+Z undoes them in one step. Links in code are left alone.
• Link to a heading: right-click it in the Outline and choose Copy Link to Heading or Copy Markdown Link, or run Copy Link to Current Heading from the command palette to copy the #anchor of the section the cursor is in.
• The link check finds links that point nowhere.

Table of contents

Format → Insert / Update Table of Contents inserts a linked, nested list of the document's headings at the cursor, between two markers:

<!-- toc -->
- [Installation](#installation)
  - [Windows](#windows)
<!-- tocstop -->

It lists the top two heading levels below the title (a single H1 at the top is left out). Run the command again to update it, or leave Keep the table of contents up to date on save on in Settings and it updates each time you save. The links use the same anchors as the preview and GitHub.

Date and time

Format → Insert → Date inserts today's date (2026-09-30), and Date and Time adds the time (2026-09-30 14:05), in your computer's time zone: the same formats templates use for and .

Front matter

Format → Insert → Front Matter adds a front matter block at the top of the document with a title (its first heading, else the file name), today's date and empty tags, with the title selected so you can change it. If the document already has front matter, the cursor moves to its end instead. See Front matter.

Today's note

File → Open Today's Note opens today's note in the journal folder of the open folder, named by the date (journal/2026-09-30.md). The first time each day it's created from the Daily journal template, or from templates/Daily journal.md in your folder if you have one.

Snippets

Format → Insert → Snippet… inserts a piece of text at the cursor: a collapsible section (<details>), a keyboard key (<kbd>) or a task list, plus any Markdown file in a folder named snippets at the top of your open workspace. Snippets can use the same placeholders as templates (below), such as , and marks where the cursor goes. The selected text, if any, is replaced.

Templates

File → New from Template… starts a new document from a template:

• Meeting notes
• Project README
• Blog post (with front matter)
• Decision record (ADR)
• Weekly status report
• Changelog
• Daily journal

Any Markdown file in a folder named templates at the top of your open workspace appears in the list too, so a team can share its own templates. File → Save as Template… saves the document you're editing there (the folder is created if needed).

Templates can contain placeholders, which are filled in when the document is created:

Placeholder	Replaced with
{{date}}	Today's date, for example 2026-09-25
{{time}}	The time, for example 14:05
{{datetime}}	Date and time
{{year}}	The year
{{week}}	The ISO week number
{{title}}	The template's name
{{cursor}}	Where the cursor is placed