IntelliTechs ยท Nov 05, 2026
You format WhatsApp text by typing a symbol on both sides: asterisks for bold, underline marks for italic, tildes for strikethrough.
This table follows WhatsApp's own Help Center. Put the symbol right against the text on both sides.
On mobile, the method WhatsApp's help page describes is typing the symbols yourself.
Desktop has a shortcut. According to the Help Center, after you type your text in the message field, double-click it and pick Bold, Italic, Strikethrough or Inline code.
Bold, italic and strikethrough can be stacked. For bold italic, open with both symbols and close with both in reverse order:
Formatting helps when a message holds something people will look for later. A few uses that work well:
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