To make text bold in WhatsApp, put an asterisk on each side of it with no spaces, like *this*, then send. WhatsApp turns it bold as the message goes out. You can also select the text and choose Bold from the formatting menu. It works on iPhone, Android, WhatsApp Web and the desktop app.
WhatsApp reads a small set of symbols around your words and applies the style when you send. There is no setting to switch on, and the symbols disappear once the message is sent.
| Style | Type this | You get |
|---|
| Bold | *text* | text |
| Italic | _text_ | text |
| Strikethrough | ~text~ | text |
| Monospace | three backticks on each side | fixed-width text |
| Inline code | one backtick on each side | highlighted code |
| Quote | > text | indented quote block |
| Bulleted list | - item or * item | bullet points |
| Numbered list | 1. item | numbered points |
Note that WhatsApp uses a single asterisk for bold. Discord and most Markdown editors use two, so a habit from another app produces the wrong result here. The Discord formatting guide shows that difference in detail.
If you do not want to remember symbols, use the built-in menu:
- Type your message in the chat box.
- Press and hold a word, then drag the handles to select the text you want.
- Tap the three-dot or "More" option in the selection bar.
- Choose Bold, then send.
The exact spot varies by app version. On iPhone it sits in the pop-up above the selected text, sometimes behind a "BIU" button. On Android look under the three-dot or "More" menu. The menu also offers italic, strikethrough and monospace, and it wraps the text in the same symbols for you.
How to bold text with asterisks
Typing the symbols yourself is faster once you know the rule.
- Type an asterisk immediately before the first word.
- Type the words you want bold.
- Type a closing asterisk immediately after the last word.
*meeting moved to 3pm* sends as meeting moved to 3pm.
The most common mistake is a stray space. * text * does not format, because WhatsApp needs the symbol touching the text on both sides. Another one is forgetting the closing asterisk, which leaves a single visible * in the message.
Combining bold with italic and strikethrough
You can stack styles by nesting the symbols. Put one pair inside the other:
- Bold and italic:
*_text_*
- Bold and strikethrough:
*~text~*
- All three:
*_~text~_*
Keep the symbols matched in reverse order on the way out, so the pair you opened last is the pair you close first. If a combination fails, check that no space sits between any symbol and the word. Our guide to strikethrough in WhatsApp covers the tilde style and its combinations in full.
Monospace is the exception. Text inside triple backticks does not take bold, italic or strikethrough, and any other symbols inside show as plain characters.
Bold on WhatsApp Web, desktop and Business
The same symbols work on WhatsApp Web and the desktop apps, so a message you draft on a laptop looks the same on a phone. WhatsApp Business accounts use the same rules in normal chats. Message templates sent through the Business API support bold, italic, strikethrough and monospace as well, and the formatting characters count toward the character limit, so long templates need checking before you send. Our note on the WhatsApp character limit has the numbers.
What to do when you want a literal asterisk
WhatsApp has no escape character, so you cannot put a backslash in front of a symbol to stop it formatting. If you need to show * or ~ as plain text, for example in a price list or a footnote marker, wrap that piece in monospace. Text inside monospace is left alone, so the asterisk shows as a normal character. Adding a space after the opening symbol also stops the formatting from triggering, though it looks slightly odd.
Bold in your status, About and profile name
Chats are not the only place people want bold. Where the symbols work depends on the field:
- Chat messages and group chats: the symbols and the menu both work.
- About text and profile name: these are plain fields, so asterisks show up as literal characters.
- Status text: behaviour can differ from chats, so check the preview before you post.
For plain fields, the workaround is Unicode bold, which uses different characters that already look bold. Type your text into the bold text generator, copy the result, and paste it into the field. Our post on WhatsApp status and About fonts explains what each field accepts. Keep names readable, because styled letters can be skipped or read one letter at a time by screen readers, and they may not match when a contact searches for you.
Markdown bold versus Unicode bold
These two get mixed up because both look bold on screen.
Markdown-style bold (*text*) is a formatting instruction. The app reads the symbols and displays the text in a heavier weight. If you copy the message somewhere else, you may get the asterisks back.
Unicode bold is a set of characters from the Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block that are drawn heavy. They keep their look anywhere they are pasted, including fields that ignore symbols. The trade-offs are accessibility and search, plus the occasional device that shows empty boxes. For chat messages, use the symbols. For plain fields, use Unicode. The platform-by-platform bold guide lays out which apps take which method.
Common problems and fixes
- Nothing turns bold. Look for a space next to an asterisk, or a missing closing asterisk. Remove the space and resend.
- Bold shows literal asterisks in a status or name. Those fields do not read symbols. Use Unicode bold.
- Bold vanishes after forwarding or copying. Some apps strip or re-render the styling. Check the result in the app you paste into.
- A whole message turned bold by accident. An asterisk earlier in the message paired with one later. Wrap the stray symbol in monospace or reword the line.
- Bold, italic and strikethrough will not combine inside code. Monospace blocks ignore other styles, so keep them separate.
If you write long announcements in a group, a small habit helps: bold only the first line or the one date or number people must not miss. A message that is bold from top to bottom gives the reader no anchor to scan for.
Practical examples worth copying
Bold does the most work when it marks the single detail a reader needs later. A few patterns that hold up in group chats and customer messages:
- Event details:
Dinner on *Friday 8 May, 7:30pm* at the corner cafe. The date and time are the only things people scroll back for.
- Order or delivery notes:
Your parcel arrives *between 2pm and 4pm*. Reply *YES* to confirm. Bold the action word so it stands out from the explanation.
- Deadlines in a group:
Forms are due *Wednesday*. Late forms are not accepted. One bold word beats a shouted paragraph.
- Lists with a heading: bold the heading line, then use
- item lines underneath so the list reads as a block.
Two habits keep messages clean. Bold one phrase per message, two at most, and never bold something you also write in capitals, since that doubles the emphasis and tires the reader. If you are drafting a long message on a laptop, you can preview the symbols first in the WhatsApp text formatter before pasting into a chat.
Accessibility notes
Markdown-style bold is friendlier to assistive technology than Unicode bold, because the underlying letters are ordinary. A screen reader reads the words normally and may or may not announce the weight. Unicode bold letters, by contrast, can be spoken one at a time as their mathematical names. That is one more reason to save Unicode styling for short labels and profile fields, and to write message bodies in ordinary characters.
