Markdown collapses a single newline into a space — pressing Enter once does not start a new line in the output. To force a line break, end the line with two spaces, or leave a blank line to start a new paragraph:
Line one with two trailing spaces··
Line two, same paragraph.
A blank line starts a new paragraph.
What's the difference between a line break and a paragraph?
- Two trailing spaces produce a
<br>— the next line hugs the previous one (an address, a poem, a sign-off). - A blank line produces a new
<p>— with visible vertical spacing between the blocks.
Choose by how much visual separation you want.
Is there an alternative to invisible trailing spaces?
Yes — a backslash at the end of the line is a CommonMark-standard line break and, unlike trailing spaces, survives editors that trim whitespace on save:
Line one\
Line two
You can also write <br> directly wherever inline HTML is allowed; it's the only way to force a break inside a table cell.
Why does my new line work on GitHub but not elsewhere?
Some renderers treat every single newline as a real break ("soft break as hard break" mode): GitHub comments and issues do this, as do Discord, Reddit, and many note apps. But GitHub README files, standard CommonMark, and most static site generators collapse single newlines. That asymmetry is why text written in one place reflows in another — use explicit breaks (trailing spaces, backslash, or <br>) and it renders the same everywhere.
How do you add extra blank space between paragraphs?
Multiple blank lines collapse into one paragraph break — markdown ignores the extras. To force more vertical space, insert <br> on its own lines between paragraphs, or use spacing controls if the target supports them (CSS, LaTeX). A markdown-only document has no "double blank line" concept.