[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":148},["ShallowReactive",2],{"content-/markdown-to-text":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":13,"extension":14,"meta":15,"navigation":142,"path":143,"seo":144,"sitemap":145,"stem":146,"__hash__":147},"content/markdown-to-text.md","Markdown to Text: Remove Markdown Formatting Online",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":9},"minimark",[],{"title":10,"searchDepth":11,"depth":11,"links":12},"",2,[],"Convert Markdown to plain text in your browser. Strips #, *, _, backticks and link syntax, keeps link text, lists, tables and code as clean text. Copy it or download a .txt file.","md",{"layout":16,"sections":17,"schema":132},"default",[18,24,46,59,62,64,92,127],{"type":19,"mode":20,"badge":21,"headline":22,"subheadline":23},"markdownTool","text","Free • Online • Private","Markdown to Plain Text","Paste Markdown or open an .md file and get clean plain text with the formatting removed. Copy it or download a .txt file. It all runs in your browser.",{"type":25,"title":26,"items":27},"features","Remove Markdown Formatting, Keep the Words",[28,31,34,37,40,43],{"title":29,"description":30},"No leftover symbols","#, *, _, backticks and [text](url) syntax are gone, the words stay",{"title":32,"description":33},"Links you can keep","link text stays, and you can add each URL in parentheses after it",{"title":35,"description":36},"Readable lists","bullets become \"- \" or \"• \", numbered lists keep their numbers, nesting is indented",{"title":38,"description":39},"Tables as text","columns are lined up with spaces, or separated by tabs for pasting into a spreadsheet",{"title":41,"description":42},"Code kept as text","code blocks keep their content and line breaks, without the fences",{"title":44,"description":45},"Nothing is uploaded","conversion happens on your device, with no server and no account",{"type":47,"title":48,"steps":49},"howItWorks","How to Convert Markdown to Plain Text",[50,53,56],{"title":51,"description":52},"Paste or open","Paste Markdown into the left panel, such as a ChatGPT answer or a README, or drop an .md file on the page.",{"title":54,"description":55},"Choose the style","Pick dash or dot bullets, aligned or tab-separated tables, and whether to keep link URLs.",{"title":57,"description":58},"Copy or download","Click Copy text to put the plain text on your clipboard, or Download .txt to save it as a file.",{"type":60,"markdown":61},"articleContent","## What gets converted\n\nThe tool parses the Markdown with the marked library first, the same way a viewer would render it, and then writes out the text. That is why only real formatting is removed: an asterisk inside a code sample, or one escaped as `\\*`, stays put. Each row below matches the tool's actual output.\n\n| Markdown | Converted? | Plain text output |\n|---|---|---|\n| `# Heading` | Yes | Heading, on its own line |\n| `**bold**`, `*italic*`, `~~strike~~` | Yes | bold, italic, strike |\n| `` `inline code` `` | Yes | inline code |\n| `[text](https://example.com)` | Yes | text, or text (https://example.com) with Keep link URLs on |\n| `![alt](image.png)` | Yes | The alt text |\n| `- item` and `* item` | Yes | - item, or • item |\n| `1. item` and nested lists | Yes | Numbers kept, nested items indented |\n| Task lists `- [x] done` | Yes | - [x] done |\n| Pipe tables | Yes | Columns aligned with spaces and a dashed header line, or tab-separated |\n| Fenced code blocks | Yes | The code with its indentation, without the fences |\n| `> quote` | Yes | The quoted text, without the marker |\n| `---` horizontal rule | Yes | A blank line |\n| Two trailing spaces (a hard line break) | Yes | A line break |\n| Single line breaks inside a paragraph | Partial | Joined into one line, as a renderer would show them |\n| Raw HTML | Partial | Tags removed, text kept; scripts and styles dropped entirely |\n| YAML front matter | Partial | Its lines appear as text at the top; delete them |\n| Footnotes and math | No | Left as their source characters |\n",{"type":60,"markdown":63},"## Common problems and fixes\n\n### Cleaning up text from ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini\n\nAI assistants answer in Markdown, so copying a reply into an email, a form or a plain text field often brings along `**`, `###` and `-` symbols. Paste the reply into the left panel and copy the plain text from the right. If you'd rather keep the formatting for Google Docs, Word or Gmail, use [Markdown to Google Docs](/markdown-to-google-docs) instead, which copies rich text.\n\n### My paragraphs became one long line\n\nMarkdown treats a single line break inside a paragraph as a space, and so does this tool, so text that was wrapped at a fixed width comes out as one line per paragraph. Blank lines between paragraphs are kept. If you need each line kept, end it with two spaces in the source before converting.\n\n### The table doesn't line up after pasting\n\nThe aligned table style pads columns with spaces, which only lines up in a monospaced font. In a word processor or an email, choose the Tabs style, or paste the tab-separated version into a spreadsheet.\n\n### I need the link addresses\n\nBy default only the link text is kept. Turn on **Keep link URLs** to add each address in parentheses after its text. Links that point to a spot on the same page, starting with `#`, are left as text only.\n\n## Other ways to strip Markdown\n\n- **Pandoc.** `pandoc -f gfm -t plain notes.md -o notes.txt` writes plain text from the command line, good for batches.\n- **Code libraries.** In JavaScript, the remark processor with the strip-markdown plugin, or the remove-markdown package, removes the syntax inside your own scripts.\n- **Copy from a rendered view.** Open the file in a [Markdown viewer](/markdown-viewer) or on GitHub, select the rendered text and copy it. That works for a quick paragraph, but tables and lists lose their layout.\n- **Find and replace.** Deleting `*` and `#` by hand is quick for one line, but it also deletes the asterisks you meant to keep and leaves the link syntax behind.\n",{"type":65,"title":66,"items":67},"faqs","Markdown to Text FAQ",[68,71,74,77,80,83,86,89],{"question":69,"answer":70},"How do I remove Markdown formatting from text?","Paste the Markdown into the left panel or drop an .md file on the page. The right panel shows the plain text with the syntax removed. Click Copy text or Download .txt.",{"question":72,"answer":73},"How do I get rid of asterisks and hashtags in ChatGPT answers?","Those symbols are Markdown. Paste the answer into the left panel and copy the plain text from the right; headings, bold, bullets and links are turned into ordinary text. To keep the formatting in Google Docs or Gmail instead, use [Markdown to Google Docs](/markdown-to-google-docs).",{"question":75,"answer":76},"How do I convert an .md file to a .txt file?","Drop the .md file on this page, check the plain text on the right, and click Download .txt. The download keeps the file's name with a .txt extension. Simply renaming the file to .txt keeps all the Markdown symbols in the text.",{"question":78,"answer":79},"Why not just delete the symbols with find and replace?","Markdown symbols mean different things in different places. An asterisk can be bold, a bullet or a literal character, and an underscore can be emphasis or part of a file name. This tool parses the Markdown first, then writes out the text, so only real formatting is removed.",{"question":81,"answer":82},"What happens to links?","The link text is kept and the brackets and URL are removed. Turn on Keep link URLs to add each address in parentheses after its text, so nothing is lost.",{"question":84,"answer":85},"How are tables converted?","Aligned mode pads each column with spaces so the table lines up in a monospace font, with a dashed line under the header row. Tabs mode separates cells with tab characters, which paste cleanly into Excel or Google Sheets.",{"question":87,"answer":88},"What happens to code blocks?","The code is kept exactly, with its indentation and line breaks. Only the fences and the language name are removed.",{"question":90,"answer":91},"Is my text uploaded anywhere?","No. Everything runs in your browser. The Markdown is never sent to a server.",{"type":93,"title":94,"items":95},"relatedArticles","More Markdown Tools",[96,101,106,110,114,118,122],{"name":97,"badge":98,"description":99,"link":100},"Markdown to PDF","Tool","Download a PDF with selectable text and clickable links, built in your browser.","/markdown-to-pdf",{"name":102,"badge":103,"description":104,"link":105},"Text to Markdown","Reverse","Go the other way: turn a .txt file into a .md file.","/txt-to-markdown",{"name":107,"badge":98,"description":108,"link":109},"Markdown to Google Docs","Keep the formatting: copy Markdown as rich text for Docs, Word or Gmail.","/markdown-to-google-docs",{"name":111,"badge":98,"description":112,"link":113},"Markdown Viewer","Open an .md file and read it rendered, with tables, task lists and code.","/markdown-viewer",{"name":115,"badge":98,"description":116,"link":117},"Markdown to HTML","Turn Markdown into clean HTML, as a fragment or a full document.","/markdown-to-html",{"name":119,"badge":98,"description":120,"link":121},"Markdown to Word","Download a .docx with real Word headings, lists and tables.","/markdown-to-word",{"name":123,"badge":124,"description":125,"link":126},"Markdown Converter","All Formats","Convert PDF, Word, HTML, CSV, Excel and more into Markdown, in the browser.","/markdown-converter",{"type":128,"title":129,"subtitle":130,"cta":131},"ctaBanner","Need the formatting back?","Turn a .txt file into Markdown, or convert PDF, Word and HTML files to Markdown in your browser.",{"text":102,"link":105},{"howTo":133,"softwareApplication":135},{"name":48,"description":134},"Remove Markdown formatting in the browser with Craft Markdown",{"name":136,"applicationCategory":137,"operatingSystem":138,"offers":139},"Craft Markdown to Text Converter","UtilitiesApplication","Web Browser",{"price":140,"priceCurrency":141},"0","USD",true,"/markdown-to-text",{"title":5,"description":13},{"loc":143},"markdown-to-text","IUZ5IoqAqCIGxVpdNjjnACDIk0OC9aS6E-C97ieXtWE",1791690569802]