We’re going to show you how to use bold, italic, strikethrough, and monospace text in WhatsApp. Although we all tend to write in plain text, you have different formatting options available that will allow you to create more detailed messages and can be useful in different contexts or environments.
We’ll show you two ways to do this. First, you can use the built-in options offered by the app. But the quickest way is to use the symbols for each format so you can apply them as you type without having to pause to tap any buttons later.
Writing the codes by hand
Let’s start by explaining the specific symbols you need to use at the beginning and end of each word or phrase to use any of the four formats. The procedure is simple, as you can do it all directly from your phone’s keyboard without any additional touches.
- Write in bold with WhatsApp : You have to put the word or phrase you want to make bold between asterisks (*): *example*.
- Writing in italics with WhatsApp : You have to put the word or phrase you want to italicize between underscores (_): \_example\_.
- Writing with strikethrough using WhatsApp : You have to put the word or phrase you want to cross out between tildes (~): ~example~.
- Writing in monospace with WhatsApp : You have to put the word or phrase you want to put in monospace between three open accents (`): “`example“`.
The best part is that when you type a word or phrase with these symbols at the beginning and end, WhatsApp will change the format before you click “Post,” allowing you to see how it looks . This way, you can check the result and change the format if you don’t like the look.
Using the drop-down menu
Another way you can select the format for a word or phrase if you don’t remember it is with the drop-down action menu. To do this, hold your finger on the word and your phone will select it. A drop-down window will then appear with the Copy and Paste options, and next to it, a three-dot icon for more actions.
Keep in mind that once you select a word, two markers will appear on either side of it, allowing you to expand your selection . This way, you can select an entire sentence or multiple words before pressing the more actions button.
Once selected, click on the three-dot icon , and several actions will appear. You can perform several different formats: bold, italics, strikethrough, and monospace. Remember that you can add different formats to the same sentence without any problems.