HTML to Markdown

HTML to Markdown turns web content into Markdown, the plain-text format used by GitHub READMEs, documentation sites, note apps such as Obsidian and Notion, and most AI chat tools. There are two ways in. Copy part of any web page, email or document and paste it straight into the paste box, and the tool reads the formatted version from your clipboard. Or paste or open raw HTML code under “HTML code”. Either way the Markdown appears at once on the right.

The converter was written for this site and handles the things that usually go wrong: nested and numbered lists that start at any number, task-list checkboxes, code blocks that keep their language from class="language-js", tables with alignment turned into neat GitHub-style tables, and the strange markup Google Docs uses for bold and italic. Text that only looks like Markdown, such as a line starting with “#” or “1.”, is escaped so it stays plain text. You choose the style: # or underlined headings, -, * or + bullets, ``` or ~~~ fences, and inline or reference links.

It runs entirely in your browser. The HTML is read into a separate, inert document that never becomes part of this page, so pasted scripts don’t run, images don’t load, and nothing is uploaded.

1. Copy something from a web page, then click the box under “Paste from a page” and press Ctrl+V (⌘V on a Mac), or press “Paste”.
2. For raw HTML, switch to “HTML code” and type or paste it, or press “Open file” to load an .html file. “Example” shows a sample.
3. Choose a style for headings, bullets, code blocks and links. “More options” adds italic and bold markers, line breaks and images.
4. Check the result, or switch to “Preview” to see it rendered.
5. Press “Copy”, or “Download .md” to save a Markdown file.

• Two inputs: a paste box that reads formatted content from your clipboard, and an HTML code box with file opening and drag and drop.
• Headings, paragraphs, bold, italic, strikethrough, inline code, links, images, blockquotes, horizontal rules and line breaks.
• Nested bulleted and numbered lists, start numbers, loose and tight lists, and task lists with [x] checkboxes.
• Fenced code blocks with the language read from the class name, using enough backticks or tildes to hold any inside the code.
• GitHub-style tables with left, centre and right alignment, merged cells padded out, and pipes escaped.
• Style options: # or underlined headings, -, * or + bullets, ```, ~~~ or indented code, inline or numbered reference links.
• Cleans out scripts, styles, hidden elements, buttons and embeds, and understands Google Docs bold and italic.
• Live preview of the Markdown, word and element counts, copy and .md download.

• Copying from a page in Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Edge includes the formatting. If you get plain text instead, try selecting with the mouse rather than “Select all”.
• Reference links keep long paragraphs readable: the addresses move to a numbered list at the end.
• Markdown has no colours, fonts or column layouts, so those are dropped on purpose. Underlined text stays as plain text.
• Table cells in Markdown hold one line, so lists or line breaks inside a cell are joined with spaces.
• Pasted links keep the address the page used. If you paste raw code with relative links such as /about, add the site address yourself.