Format messages

Add bold, italic, headings, code, lists, and other formatting to your messages.

Root supports Markdown, a lightweight syntax for formatting text. You can apply formatting in two ways:

• Formatting toolbar: Select text and click a formatting button (or use a keyboard shortcut)
• Markdown syntax: Type special characters directly, like **bold** or *italic*

Both methods produce the same result—the toolbar buttons insert Markdown syntax for you.

Basic formatting

Desktop

Select text and use the formatting buttons below the message field, or use keyboard shortcuts:

Format	Button	Shortcut	Markdown
Bold	B	Ctrl+B	**text**
Italic	I	Ctrl+I	*text*
Strikethrough	S	—	~~text~~
Inline code	</>	—	`code`

Mobile

1. Type your message.
2. Select the text you'd like to format.
3. Tap the Aa button to show formatting options.
4. Tap Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, or Code to apply formatting.

You can also type Markdown syntax directly:

Format	Markdown
Bold	**text**
Italic	*text*
Strikethrough	~~text~~
Inline code	`code`

Headings

Structure longer messages with headings. Root supports six levels of headings.

Desktop

Start a line with one or more # symbols followed by a space. The number of # symbols sets the heading level:

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

Mobile

Start a line with one or more # symbols followed by a space. The number of # symbols sets the heading level:

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

Links

Share URLs in your messages.

Desktop

Paste a URL directly: Type or paste a URL and Root automatically makes it clickable.

Check out https://example.com for more info.

Add custom link text: Use Markdown syntax to display text instead of the URL.

Check out [this site](https://example.com) for more info.

Mobile

Paste a URL directly: Type or paste a URL and Root automatically makes it clickable.

Check out https://example.com for more info.

Add custom link text: Use Markdown syntax to display text instead of the URL.

Check out [this site](https://example.com) for more info.

Lists

Create bulleted or numbered lists to organize information.

Desktop

Bulleted list: Start each line with - or * followed by a space.

- First item
- Second item
- Third item

Numbered list: Start each line with a number followed by . and a space. You can use 1. for every item—Markdown automatically numbers them in sequence.

1. First item
1. Second item
1. Third item

Mobile

Bulleted list: Start each line with - or * followed by a space.

- First item
- Second item
- Third item

Numbered list: Start each line with a number followed by . and a space. You can use 1. for every item—Markdown automatically numbers them in sequence.

1. First item
1. Second item
1. Third item

Blockquotes

Use blockquotes to reference or highlight text from another source.

Desktop

Start with > followed by a space:

> This is a blockquote.

For a multi-line quote:

> This is a blockquote.
> This is part of the same blockquote.

The > is optional after the first line:

> This is a blockquote.
It can span multiple lines, this will be part of the blockquote.

This won't be part of the blockquote because of the empty line.

Mobile

Start with > followed by a space:

> This is a blockquote.

For a multi-line quote:

> This is a blockquote.
> This is part of the same blockquote.

The > is optional after the first line:

> This is a blockquote.
It can span multiple lines, this will be part of the blockquote.

This won't be part of the blockquote because of the empty line.

Inline code

Use inline code to highlight short code snippets, commands, or technical terms within a sentence.

Desktop

Wrap text in single backticks:

Use `console.log()` for debugging.

You can also select text and click the Code button (</>) in the formatting toolbar.

Mobile

Wrap text in single backticks:

Use `console.log()` for debugging.

Code blocks

Use code blocks to share multi-line code snippets or preformatted text.

Desktop

1. Select the Code button (</>) in the formatting toolbar, or type three backticks (```) on a new line.
2. Type or paste your code.
3. Close the block with three backticks on a new line.

To specify a programming language for syntax highlighting, add the language name after the opening backticks:

```json
{ "key": "value" }
```

Mobile

Type three backticks (```) on a new line, add your code, then close with three backticks on a new line.

To specify a programming language, add the language name after the opening backticks:

```json
{ "key": "value" }
```

Supported languages for syntax highlighting

Root supports syntax highlighting for the following languages. Use the Language name value after the opening backticks (for example, ```csharp).

Language	Language name
AsciiDoc	asciidoc
Batch (Windows)	bat
C	c
C++	cpp
C#	csharp
Clojure	clojure
CoffeeScript	coffeescript
CSS	css
Dart	dart
Diff	diff
Dockerfile	dockerfile
F#	fsharp
Git commit/rebase	git-commit, git-rebase
Go	go
Groovy	groovy
Handlebars	handlebars
HLSL	hlsl
HTML	html
INI	ini
Java	java
JavaScript	javascript, js
JSON	json
Julia	julia
LaTeX	latex, tex
Less	less
Log	log
Lua	lua
Makefile	makefile
Markdown	markdown, md
Objective-C	objective-c
Pascal	pascal
Perl	perl
PHP	php
PowerShell	powershell, ps1
Pug	pug
Python	python
R	r
Razor	razor
Ruby	ruby
Rust	rust
SCSS	scss
ShaderLab	shaderlab
Shell/Bash	shellscript, bash, sh
SQL	sql
Swift	swift
TypeScript	typescript, ts
Typst	typst
Visual Basic	vb
XML	xml
YAML	yaml

tip

Language names are case-insensitive. Both JSON and json work the same way.

Markdown reference

Format	Syntax	Result
Heading 1	# text	Heading level 1
Heading 2	## text	Heading level 2
Heading 3	### text	Heading level 3
Heading 4	#### text	Heading level 4
Heading 5	##### text	Heading level 5
Heading 6	###### text	Heading level 6
Bold	**text**	bold text
Italic	*text*	italic text
Strikethrough	~~text~~	strikethrough
Inline code	`code`	inline code
Code block	```code```	Multi-line code
Code block with syntax highlighting	```language	Highlighted code
Blockquote	> text	Quoted text
Bulleted list	- item or * item	• List item
Numbered list	1. item	1. List item
Link (auto)	https://example.com	Clickable URL
Link (custom text)	[text](url)	Clickable link