Google Docs Markdown: paste, import, export and copy

Updated November 3, 2026

Google Docs supports Markdown. Check Tools → Preferences → Enable Markdown and Docs converts **bold**, # headings and [links](url) as you type, adds "Paste from Markdown" and "Copy as Markdown" to the right-click menu, and — with or without the setting — opens .md files and downloads any document as one (File → Download → Markdown). Every statement below comes from Google's help article and its 2022 and 2024 launch posts; where Google is silent, the table says so.

Six ways Markdown gets in and out of Google Docs

You want to	Where	How	On by default	Needs "Enable Markdown"
Type Markdown, get formatting	Docs, Slides, Drawings	Just type bold, # Heading, [text](url)…	No	Yes
Paste Markdown as formatted text	Docs	Right-click → Paste from Markdown	No	Yes
Copy formatted text as Markdown	Docs	Select → right-click → Copy as Markdown	No	Yes
Export the whole document	Docs	File → Download → Markdown (.md)	Yes	No
Import a .md file	Docs or Drive	File → Open → Upload, or Drive: right-click → Open with → Google Docs	Yes	No
Export by API	Drive API	files.export with mimeType text/markdown	Yes	No

Markdown shortcuts Google Docs recognises

Type this	Docs makes	In GFM	Note
`text or _text_`	Italic	Same
`text or __text__`	Bold	Same
`*text* or ___text___`	Bold italic	Same
`~text~`	Strikethrough	GFM uses ~~text~~	Single tilde in Google's help
`# + space … ###### + space`	Heading 1–6	Same	Docs only; the space is required
`[text](https://…)`	Link	Same	No space before the parenthesis
`* or - + space`	Bulleted list	Same	Listed in the 2022 announcement
`1. + space`	Numbered list	Same	"Various ways to start a numbered list"
`[] + space`	Checkbox	- [ ] in GFM	No space between the brackets
`code`	Not in Google's list	Inline code	Docs has a code-block building block instead
`> quote`	Not in Google's list	Blockquote
`\| a \| b \|`	Not in Google's list	Table	Insert → Table
`![alt](url)`	Not in Google's list	Image	Insert → Image

Markdown Google Docs converts as you type

With Tools → Preferences → "Enable Markdown" checked, Docs, Slides and Drawings autocorrect these markers the moment you finish typing them. Headings are Docs-only.

Bold, italic, both, strikethrough

This is **bold**, this is _italic_, this is ***both*** and this is ~struck~.

This is bold, this is italic, this is both and this is ~~struck~~.

Asterisks or underscores both work (one pair for italic, two for bold, three for both). Strikethrough is a SINGLE tilde in Google's help, not the ~~double tilde~~ of GitHub Flavored Markdown.

Bold and italic guide →

Headings 1–6 (Docs only)

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Type the number signs at the start of a paragraph, a space, then the text. Google's help stresses the space: "#Heading" without it stays plain text. Slides and Drawings do not convert headings.

Headings guide →

Link

Open a file in [Google Docs](https://docs.google.com/document/).

Open a file in Google Docs.

No space between the closing bracket and the opening parenthesis, or Docs leaves the brackets as text.

Link guide →

Lists and checkboxes (older autocorrect)

- bulleted item
* also a bulleted item
1. numbered item
[] checkbox item

bulleted item
also a bulleted item

numbered item

checkbox item

Google's 2022 announcement lists "* or - followed by a space", numbered-list starts and "[] followed by a space" as the autocorrections that existed before the 2022 expansion. [] is the Docs checkbox shortcut; GFM spells it - [ ].

Checkbox guide →

Paste from Markdown

A normal paste keeps the asterisks and hashes as literal text. The documented route is the right-click menu: copy the Markdown, right-click in the document and choose "Paste from Markdown". It is off until "Enable Markdown" is checked.

A document to paste

## Release notes

**Shipped:** the new importer.

- Faster uploads
- Fewer timeouts

See the [changelog](https://example.com/changelog).

Release notes

Shipped: the new importer.

Faster uploads
Fewer timeouts

See the changelog.

Google's help documents the menu item, not an element-by-element list of what it converts. Headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, links and lists are the elements Google names elsewhere on the same page; check tables, code blocks and footnotes in the result before trusting them.

Tidy the Markdown before you paste it →

Download as Markdown and Copy as Markdown

File → Download → "Markdown (.md)" writes the whole document as a .md file and is on by default. Select text, right-click and choose "Copy as Markdown" to put Markdown on the clipboard; that item also needs "Enable Markdown".

Round-trip test document

# Round trip

Paragraph with **bold**, _italic_ and a [link](https://docs-md.com).

1. First
2. Second

| Column | Column |
| --- | --- |
| cell | cell |

```
code block
```

Footnote reference.[^1]

[^1]: The footnote.

Round trip

Paragraph with bold, italic and a link.

First
Second

Column	Column
cell	cell

code block

Footnote reference.¹

The footnote. ↩

Paste this with "Paste from Markdown", then File → Download → Markdown (.md) and open the file in the markdown viewer. Whatever came back unchanged is safe to rely on in your own documents; whatever flattened to plain text is not documented as supported.

Open the downloaded .md in the viewer →

Import a .md file as a Google Doc

In Docs: File → Open → Upload, pick the .md file, and it opens as a new document. In Drive: upload the file, right-click it and choose Open with → Google Docs. Both are on by default.

What a .md file is

README.md
notes.md
meeting-2026-11-03.md

A .md file is plain text with Markdown markup inside. Any text editor opens it; Docs converts the markup into real headings, lists and links on import. For a .docx instead, convert the Markdown first and upload that.

Markdown to Word (.docx) converter →

What Google documents, and what it does not

Google's help lists the elements the typing shortcuts handle but publishes no conversion table for paste, import or export. This table separates what Google states from what you have to test.

Markdown element	In Google's help	Notes
Headings 1–6	Yes	Typing shortcut in Docs; part of every Google example
Bold, italic, bold italic	Yes	Asterisks or underscores
Strikethrough	Yes	Google writes it with one tilde; GFM readers expect two
Links	Yes	[text](url)
Bulleted and numbered lists, checkboxes	Yes (2022 announcement)	Autocorrect existed before the Markdown toggle
Tables	Not documented	Run the round-trip test above and check the .md
Code blocks	Not documented	Docs has a separate code-block building block
Footnotes	Not documented	Docs footnotes exist; whether they map to [^1] is not stated
Images	Not documented	A .md file can only reference images by URL or path
Comments, suggestions, page breaks, columns	No Markdown equivalent	Markdown has no syntax for them

Does Google Docs support Markdown?

Yes, in four ways, all documented in Google's help: it autocorrects Markdown as you type (headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, links) once "Enable Markdown" is checked in Tools → Preferences; it converts a pasted Markdown document with the right-click item "Paste from Markdown"; it puts Markdown on the clipboard with "Copy as Markdown"; and it imports .md files (File → Open) and exports the document as a .md file (File → Download → Markdown). Import and export are on by default; the typing, paste and copy features are off until you enable Markdown.

How do I enable Markdown in Google Docs?

Open a document, go to Tools → Preferences and check "Enable Markdown". The same checkbox exists in Google Slides and Google Drawings. Google launched the setting on 29 March 2022 under the name "Automatically detect Markdown"; the July 2024 announcement and the current help article call it "Enable Markdown". It is a per-user setting with no admin control.

How do I paste Markdown into Google Docs?

Copy the Markdown, right-click in the document and choose "Paste from Markdown". Docs converts it to formatted content. A plain Ctrl/Cmd+V keeps the markup characters as text. The menu item appears only when "Enable Markdown" is checked in Tools → Preferences. Google added it on 16 July 2024 together with "Copy as Markdown", import and export.

Clean up the Markdown first →

How do I import a Markdown file into Google Docs?

In Docs: File → Open → Upload, select the .md file, and it uploads and opens as a Google Doc. In Google Drive: upload the .md file, right-click it and choose Open with → Google Docs. Import is on by default and does not need the Markdown preference. If you need a Word file instead, convert the Markdown to .docx and upload that.

Markdown to Word converter →

How do I export a Google Doc as Markdown?

File → Download → Markdown (.md). The download is a plain-text file whose formatting is written as Markdown markup, ready for GitHub, Obsidian, a static site or an AI tool. To export only part of a document, select it, right-click and choose "Copy as Markdown" (requires "Enable Markdown"). Developers get the same output from the Drive API by exporting the file with the MIME type text/markdown.

What "Export as Markdown" means, and what to do with the file →

Does Google Docs convert tables, code blocks and footnotes to Markdown?

Google's help article names headings, bold, italic, strikethrough and links; it does not publish an element-by-element list for import, export or paste. Treat tables, code blocks, footnotes and images as unverified: paste the round-trip test document on this page, download it as .md and open the file in a Markdown viewer to see what survived in your account.

Markdown viewer →

Why do my asterisks and hashes stay visible in Google Docs?

Either "Enable Markdown" is unchecked in Tools → Preferences, or the text was pasted with an ordinary paste instead of "Paste from Markdown". Autocorrect also only fires as you type the closing marker; it does not reformat text that is already in the document. Select the text and use Paste from Markdown, or import the content as a .md file.

Related tools and sheets

Open a downloaded .md in the markdown viewer, turn Markdown into a .docx that Docs opens with Markdown to Word, tidy a file before pasting with the formatter, or share the Markdown as a link. Compare with the Notion and Confluence sheets, or read what "Export as Markdown" means.