WhatsApp Italic, Strikethrough & Monospace: The Full Cheat Sheet

Bold gets all the attention, but WhatsApp's other inline styles — italic, strikethrough, and monospace — are just as handy once you know them. This is a quick, complete cheat sheet you can keep open while you type, with copy-ready examples for each.

If you would rather not memorize symbols at all, the MD2WA editor lets you click buttons and copies the correct WhatsApp text for you. But these three are easy to remember.

The cheat sheet

Style	Type this	Result	Best for
Italic	_text_	text	titles, soft emphasis, asides
Strikethrough	~text~	text	changes, corrections, old prices
Inline monospace	`text`	text	codes, IDs, exact strings
Code block	three backticks	fixed-width block	multi-line text, preserved spacing

All four use single symbols (or three backticks for a block). No doubling. The symbol must touch the text, with no space in between.

Italic: _text_

Wrap text in underscores to make it italic:

Please reply by _Friday_ → Please reply by Friday.

Use italic for a lighter touch than bold — a title, a gentle emphasis, a side comment. It pairs well with bold for a heading-like line: *_Project Update_*.

Watch out: if you paste from an AI chatbot or a Markdown document, italic there is often written with asterisks (*word*), which WhatsApp reads as bold, not italic. That mismatch is one reason pasted text looks off — see Markdown vs WhatsApp Formatting.

Strikethrough: ~text~

Wrap text in tildes to strike it through:

~$50~ now $35 → $50 now $35.

Strikethrough is perfect for showing a change without deleting the original: an old price next to a new one, a cancelled time next to the new time, or a completed item on a list. It reads as "this used to be true."

Inline monospace: backticks

Wrap a short string in single backticks for monospace:

Your code is `7H2K9`.

Monospace uses a fixed-width font, which does two useful things: it visually separates technical strings from the rest of your text, and it discourages autocorrect from "fixing" things like serial numbers, coupon codes, and IDs. Use it for anything the reader must copy exactly.

Code blocks: three backticks

For multiple lines where spacing matters, use a code block: put three backticks on a line, your text on the lines below, then three backticks again. Everything inside is shown in a fixed-width font with line breaks preserved.

Code blocks are the only dependable way to keep precise alignment in WhatsApp — handy for short snippets, simple ASCII layouts, or any text where the spacing carries meaning.

Combining styles

These stack with bold and with each other:

You type	Result
*_bold italic_*	bold italic
~_struck italic_~	struck italic
*~bold struck~*	bold struck

Keep every opening symbol matched by a closing one, and do not put formatting inside backticks — text in monospace is shown literally.

Common mistakes

1. Doubling the symbols. ~~text~~ is Markdown; WhatsApp uses one tilde: ~text~.
2. Spaces inside the markers. _ text _ will not italicize.
3. Confusing italic symbols. Underscores italicize in WhatsApp; asterisks bold.
4. Expecting formatting inside code. Backticks render their contents literally.

Frequently asked questions

How do I underline text in WhatsApp? You cannot — WhatsApp has no underline. Some editors let you underline visually, but it is dropped from WhatsApp output. Use bold or italic for emphasis instead.

Is there a keyboard shortcut for these on desktop? On WhatsApp Web/Desktop, select text and use Ctrl+I for italic and Ctrl+Shift+X for strikethrough. Monospace and code blocks are typed with backticks.

Why does my pasted italic look bold? The source used *word* (Markdown-style), which WhatsApp treats as bold. Convert it to _word_, or paste through MD2WA to fix it automatically.

For the complete set of styles including lists and quotes, see The Complete Guide to WhatsApp Text Formatting. And to count characters or stay under the message limit, try the Character Counter.