Markdown Basics for GitHub Beginners

Markdown is a lightweight text formatting syntax used on GitHub. It can be applied to READMEs, issues, pull requests, agent instruction files, discussions, wikis, and comments, and some HTML tags can also be used alongside it. Learning Markdown makes documents easier to read, and the same skills carry over to note-taking apps and documentation tools outside of GitHub.

To practice, go to the Code tab of a repository, select Add file > Create new file to create a .md file, enter syntax in the Edit screen, and check it with Preview. You only need to commit when you want to save, and after testing a list, press Enter twice to return to normal text.

The basic syntax is as follows.

• Use the number of # characters, like #, ##, ###, to divide headers.
• One * or _ gives italic, two give bold, and three give both.
• Add > in front of each line to make a blockquote.
• Adding numbers creates an ordered list, while using -, *, or + creates an unordered list. The numbers don't need to be in order like 1, 2, 3 — Markdown interprets them automatically. Nesting is done with four-space indentation.
• A single backtick creates inline code, and three backticks create a multi-line code block. Spaces and line breaks inside the three backticks are rendered as-is.
• Use [text](URL) for a link and ![alt text](URL) for an image. On GitHub, dragging and dropping an image automatically generates the Markdown.

Just mastering this much can make READMEs and project notes far clearer. For more detailed syntax, you can continue with GitHub Docs' basic formatting syntax, code blocks, and quickstart guides.