Text & markupFree Markdown converter

Markdown to Plain Text

Strip Markdown down to clean, readable plain text: no asterisks, hashes or pipes, but paragraphs, lists and tables kept in shape. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.

Highlights

Real Markdown parser
Five output options
Converted on your device
No sign-up

How to Convert Markdown to Plain Text

This tool removes Markdown formatting and leaves the words, laid out the way you'd read them: paragraphs, list items on their own lines, and tables as columns.

It reads your Markdown with a real parser, not find-and-replace, so escaped characters, code and nested formatting come out right. Everything happens in this browser tab and nothing is uploaded.

Choose how it comes out

Links — just the link text, or the text with the address in brackets.
Lists — keep the - and 1. markers, or drop them.
Tables — space-aligned columns to read, or tab-separated rows to paste into a spreadsheet.
Code and spacing — keep or drop code blocks, and collapse extra blank lines.

To use this tool, start with Step 1 below. In Step 1: Add Markdown, paste or type Markdown, open a .md file, or load the example. In Step 2: Copy plain text, pick your options, then copy the text or download it as a .txt file.

Step 1 of 2

Add Markdown

Paste or type Markdown, open a .md file, or load the example. The preview updates as you type.

or drop a file here. It stays on this device.

.md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd or .txt · up to 10 MB

Markdown

0 characters · 0 lines

Preview

Your formatted document will appear here.

Keep line breaksEach line you type stays on its own line, as in GitHub comments and notes apps. Turn off for strict Markdown, where lines next to each other join into one paragraph.

Step 2 of 2

Copy plain text

Choose how links, lists, tables and code come out. The text updates as you change an option.

Markdown to text guide

Markdown without the markup

Markdown reads well as source, but symbols like ** and ## get in the way when you paste into an email, a form, a CMS or a plain-text field. This tool gives you just the words, with the structure kept.

The basics

How does Markdown to plain text work?

Your Markdown is parsed into a document tree, the same step a Markdown renderer takes. The tree is then written out as text instead of HTML.

Parse

A GitHub-flavoured Markdown parser reads your text, including tables, task lists and footnotes.

Resolve

Escapes are unescaped, reference links are looked up and HTML is reduced to its text.

Lay out

Paragraphs, list items and table rows each get their own lines, using your options.

Tidy

Trailing spaces and extra blank lines are removed, ready to copy.

What carries over

Markdown elements as plain text

What happens to each piece of Markdown syntax.

Markdown	Plain text	Good to know
# Headings	The heading text	On its own line, with a blank line around it.
bold, italic, ~~strike~~	The words only	Nested and mixed emphasis is handled correctly.
\* escaped characters	*	Escaped symbols come out as the literal character.
Lists	One item per line	Bullets and numbers optional. Nesting is kept as indentation.
Tables	Aligned or tab-separated	Aligned columns respect left, centre and right alignment.
[Links](…)	Text, or text (URL)	Reference-style links are resolved.
``` Code blocks	Kept or dropped	Kept exactly, indentation included.
<html>	Text inside the tags	<br> becomes a line break and entities are decoded.

Use cases

When to convert Markdown to plain text

Wherever formatting symbols would show up as clutter.

Emails & messages

Paste notes or AI answers into an email without stray asterisks and hashes.

Forms & CMS fields

Fill plain-text fields, descriptions and character-limited boxes cleanly.

Word counts

Count the real words in a draft without Markdown symbols adding to the total.

Text-to-speech

Give a screen reader or voice tool text without symbols it would read aloud.

Spreadsheets

Turn Markdown tables into tab-separated rows that paste straight into cells.

SMS & app stores

Prepare release notes and listings for places that don't render Markdown.

Set expectations

Good to know

Plain text has no formatting at all, so a few things can't be shown.

Limit 1

Emphasis is gone

Bold and italic carry meaning that plain text can't show. Reword if it matters.

Limit 2

Images

Only their alt text remains.

Limit 3

Front matter

YAML front matter at the top of a file isn't recognised. Delete it first.

Common questions

Markdown to plain text FAQ

Quick answers about stripping Markdown formatting from text.

How do I convert Markdown to plain text?

Paste your Markdown into Step 1, open a .md file, or press Load example. The plain text appears in Step 2 straight away. Choose how links, lists, tables and code should come out, then copy the text or download it as a .txt file.

Why not just delete the * and # characters?

Find-and-replace breaks easily. It removes asterisks you meant to keep (\*), mangles code, leaves reference links half-finished and can't tell a list from a sentence that starts with a number. This tool reads the Markdown the way a Markdown renderer does, then writes out only the text.

Is my Markdown sent to a server?

No. The Markdown is stripped down to text right in your browser tab, and none of it is sent anywhere. Nothing is saved, so it's gone when you refresh.

What happens to links?

Choose Text only to keep just the words people would click, or Text (URL) to add the address in brackets, like the docs (https://example.com). Reference-style links are looked up, and links whose text is already the address aren't written twice.

What happens to tables?

Aligned columns pads each column with spaces so the table reads well in a fixed-width font, such as in an email or terminal. Tab-separated puts a tab between cells, so you can paste the rows straight into Excel or Google Sheets as cells.

Can I remove the bullets and numbers from lists?

Yes. Untick List bullets and numbers and every item stays on its own line, without the - or 1. in front. Nested items stay indented. Task list items keep [x] or [ ] so you can still tell what's done.

What happens to code blocks and inline code?

Inline code keeps its text without the backticks. Code blocks are kept exactly as written, including indentation, or you can leave them out entirely by unticking Code blocks.

What happens to HTML in my Markdown?

Tags are removed and the text inside them is kept, so <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> becomes Ctrl. Line breaks written as <br> become real line breaks, and entities like & become the character they stand for.

Why are my wrapped lines joined together?

In Markdown, a single line break inside a paragraph is just a wrap, and the paragraph is one line of text. The plain text follows that rule. Lines ending in two spaces or a backslash are hard breaks and stay on separate lines.

What happens to footnotes and images?

Footnote references become [1], [2] and so on, with the notes listed at the end. Images are replaced by their alt text, so describe your images well.

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