How do I convert a Google Doc to Markdown?

Open the doc, select the text (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A), copy it (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C), and paste it into the box at the top of this page (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V). The Markdown appears immediately. Use Copy Markdown to put it on your clipboard or Download .md to save a file.

Can Google Docs export Markdown?

Yes. Since 2024, File, Download, Markdown (.md) saves the document as Markdown, and Copy as Markdown is available on the right-click menu once you turn on Tools, Preferences, Enable Markdown. Pasting here works too, and also handles Word, email and web pages.

Does it keep bold, italics, headings and lists?

Yes. Google Docs marks bold and italic with inline styles rather than tags; the converter reads those styles and writes Markdown bold and italic. Headings become # headings, bulleted and numbered lists become - and 1. lists, and links become text links.

Are tables converted?

Yes. Tables come out as GitHub-flavored Markdown pipe tables with the first row as the header. Several paragraphs in one cell stay in that cell, separated by tags. Markdown tables have no merged cells, so check any table that uses them.

What happens to images?

Images from Google Docs come through as Markdown image links to Google's temporary copies, which are not meant to last. For documents with images, download the doc as .docx and use the Word to Markdown converter, or save the images separately.

Can I paste from Microsoft Word?

Yes. Copy from Word (desktop or Word for the web) and paste. Word's mso- styling is removed, and its lists, which Word pastes as styled paragraphs, are rebuilt as Markdown lists. For a whole .docx file, drop the file on the Word to Markdown converter.

Can I paste plain text?

Yes. If the clipboard has no rich text, the converter keeps your paragraphs as they are. If the plain text is HTML source (copied from View Source), it is converted as HTML.

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser with JavaScript. The pasted text never leaves your device, and the site has no server that could receive it.

Free • Instant • Private

Google Docs to Markdown

Copy from Google Docs, Word, a web page or an email, paste it here, and get clean Markdown. Headings, bold, italics, lists, links and tables are kept. Nothing leaves your browser.

Paste rich text from Google Docs, Word, a web page or an email

Press Ctrl+V to paste. Formatting (headings, bold, lists, links, tables) is kept. Nothing leaves your browser.

or instead. Dragging a file onto the page works too.

Simple Process

How to Convert a Google Doc to Markdown

Select the text in your Google Doc

Press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on a Mac) for the whole document, or drag to select one section, list or table.

Copy it

Press Ctrl+C or Cmd+C. The formatting is copied along with the text.

Paste into the box above

Press Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. The Markdown appears right away; copy it or download it as a .md file.

Benefits

Why Copy and Paste?

Nothing to set up

no add-on, no setting to switch on and no file to download; copy and paste is the whole process

Convert part of a document

select one section, a table or a single list and convert only that

Works with rich text from anywhere

Word, Outlook, Gmail, Notion, Confluence, or any web page

Keeps the structure

headings, bold, italics, lists, links and tables become Markdown syntax

Drops the styling

fonts, colors and sizes are left behind, which is what Markdown is for

Private

the conversion runs in your browser; the text is never uploaded

What gets converted

When you copy from Google Docs, your browser puts a formatted HTML version of the selection on the clipboard. The converter cleans it up (Google Docs marks bold and italic with inline styles rather than tags, and wraps everything in a bold tag that isn't really bold) and converts it to Markdown with the Turndown library. Here is what comes through.

In Google Docs or Word	Converted?	Markdown output
Heading 1 to Heading 6	Yes	`#` to `######` headings
Bold, italic, strikethrough	Yes	`bold`, `italic`, `~~strike~~`
Links	Yes	`[text](url)`
Bulleted and numbered lists	Yes	`- item` and `1. item`
Word's pasted lists (mso-list paragraphs)	Yes	Rebuilt as real Markdown lists, nesting included
Line breaks inside a paragraph (Shift+Enter)	Yes	A Markdown line break (two trailing spaces)
Tables	Yes	Pipe tables, with the first row as the header
Table cells with several paragraphs	Yes	Kept in one cell, with each paragraph separated by a `<br>` tag
Images	Partial	An image link to Google's copy of the picture, which isn't meant to be permanent
Monospace fonts used for code	Partial	Plain text; Markdown only knows code that is marked as code
Underline, highlight, superscript, subscript	Partial	The text is kept without the formatting
Fonts, colors, sizes, alignment	No	Removed
Comments	No	Not part of what gets copied

Use Cases

Rich Text to Markdown Use Cases

Publish a Google Doc on a Markdown site

Draft in Google Docs with comments and suggestions, then paste the final text here and drop the .md file into Hugo, Jekyll, Astro, Docusaurus or a GitHub README.

Move notes into Obsidian or Notion

Copy a doc, paste it, and save the Markdown into your notes app with headings and lists intact.

Paste from Word or Outlook

Word's clipboard HTML is full of mso- styling. The converter strips it and rebuilds the lists so you get plain Markdown.

Feed a document to an AI assistant

Markdown keeps the structure a model needs without the formatting baggage of a .docx. Paste, copy, and drop it into ChatGPT or Claude.

Google Docs' own Markdown export

Since July 2024 Google Docs can export Markdown itself, and if you only ever convert from Google Docs it's worth knowing:

File > Download > Markdown (.md) saves the whole document as a .md file.
Copy as Markdown puts a selection on your clipboard as Markdown. Turn it on first under Tools > Preferences > Enable Markdown, then right-click the selection.

This page is still handy when you are copying from somewhere other than Google Docs (Word, Outlook, Gmail, Notion, a web page), when you'd rather not change a setting on a shared or work account, or when you want to see the Markdown and fix it before you save it.

Common problems and fixes

The text came out with no formatting

Some apps and browser extensions put only plain text on the clipboard. Copy again with a normal Ctrl+C or Cmd+C rather than a "copy as plain text" command, and make sure you are copying from the document itself, not from a preview or print view.

Images show as links or don't load

Google Docs copies images as links to temporary copies on Google's servers. They may stop working later, so don't rely on them. Download the images separately, or use File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx) and convert the file with the Word to Markdown converter.

A table cell shows `<br>` tags

Markdown table cells hold a single line, so when a cell in your doc contains several paragraphs or a list, the converter keeps them in the same cell and separates them with a <br> tag. GitHub and most Markdown renderers show that as a line break. If you want plain text in the cell, join its content into one paragraph before copying.

The document title isn't a heading

Only text in the Heading 1 to Heading 6 styles becomes a Markdown heading. Text that is simply large and bold, or set in a Title style, may paste as an ordinary paragraph. Apply a Heading style in Google Docs and copy again.

Other ways to convert Google Docs to Markdown

Google Docs' built-in export, described above.
The Docs to Markdown add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace converts inside the document.
Pandoc. Download the doc as .docx, then run pandoc -f docx -t gfm doc.docx -o doc.md. Add --extract-media=media to save the images as files.

FAQ