How to Make Text Bold in Discord (And Other Essential Styling Tricks)

Whether you are running a bustling gaming community, chatting with close friends, or collaborating on a project channel, Discord is where modern digital communication happens. But typing in plain white text can sometimes feel a bit flat.

If you want to emphasize a point, grab someone’s attention, or structure important server rules, mastering text formatting is a game-changer. Among all the text formatting options, bold text is the ultimate tool for adding punch and clarity to your messages.

Here is everything you need to know about making your text bold in Discord, along with a few bonus formatting tricks to level up your chat game.

The Quick Answer: How to Bold Text

Making your text bold in Discord is refreshingly simple. You don’t need a menu bar or fancy settings—all you need are asterisks.

• The Shortcut: Wrap the word or phrase you want to emphasize in two asterisks on both sides.
• Example: **This will appear bold**
• Result: This will appear bold

Note: Make sure there are no spaces between the asterisks and your text, or the formatting won’t trigger.

Alternative Method: Using Underscores

If you prefer, you can also use underscores to achieve the exact same effect.

• The Shortcut: Wrap your text in two underscores on both sides.
• Example: __This will also appear bold__
• Result: This will also appear bold

Why Use Bold Text?

Text formatting isn’t just about looking cool; it serves real communication purposes in fast-paced chat environments:

1. Hierarchy and Structure: If you are posting an announcement, bolding headings or key takeaways makes long messages readable at a glance.
2. Clarity: Emphasizing critical details (like meeting times, server rules, or specific instructions) ensures members don’t miss vital information.
3. Tone and Emphasis: In text-based chat, tone can be hard to read. Bolding helps simulate vocal emphasis, letting people know what matters most in your sentence.

Bonus: Combining Bold with Other Styles

Discord allows you to mix and match formatting tags to create unique visual hierarchy. Here is how bold plays with other styles:

• Italics: Wrap text in a single asterisk or underscore. (*italics* or _italics_)
• Bold + Italics: Combine three asterisks for bold-italics.
  • Example: ***This is bold and italic***
  • Result: This is bold and italic
• Strikethrough: Wrap text in double tildes.
  • Example: ~~strikethrough text~~
  • Result: ~~strikethrough text~~
• Underline: Wrap text in double underscores (only if you aren’t using underscores for bold).
  • Example: __underlined text__
  • Result: underlined text

Pro-Tip: Escape Formatting If You Need To

Have you ever tried typing markdown characters like asterisks as literal punctuation, only for Discord to accidentally bold your entire sentence?

You can fix this by using a backslash () right before your formatting characters. This tells Discord to “escape” the markdown and treat the symbols as normal text.

• Type: **Not bold**
• Result: **Not bold**

Mastering bold text takes only a few seconds to learn, but it completely transforms how your messages land in chat. Head over to your favorite Discord server, try out a double-asterisk, and start formatting like a pro!