How to Italicize Text in Discord (Step by Step)
Discord uses a stripped-down version of Markdown to handle text formatting. Italics are the second-most common format people learn, right after bold, and they're useful for emphasis, titles of works, inner thoughts when role-playing, or just adding a softer tone to a sentence. The good news: italics in Discord are dead simple, and once you remember the two syntax options below you'll never have to look them up again.
The first option is the asterisk method. Type one asterisk, then your text, then one asterisk: *this is italic*. When you hit Enter, Discord strips the asterisks and shows the text in italics. It works in any message box — direct messages, server channels, threads, replies, even forum posts.
The second option is the underscore method. Type one underscore on each side: _this is also italic_. It produces the exact same visual result. The reason both exist is that Markdown was designed so writers could pick whichever character was easier to type, depending on their keyboard layout and surrounding text.
When to Use Asterisks vs Underscores
Most regular Discord users default to asterisks because they nest cleanly with bold. Bold uses two asterisks (**bold**), so combining bold and italics is just three asterisks on each side: ***bold italic***. Trying to do the same with underscores is messier and harder to read at a glance.
Underscores have one advantage: they don't conflict with text that contains literal asterisks. If you're quoting code, a math formula, or any string with stars in it, switching to underscores avoids accidentally formatting half your sentence. Underscores also fit better when you're typing fast and don't want to hold Shift.
There is one trap with underscores: they don't work inside a word. Typing snake_case_variable won't italicize "case" — Discord (and Markdown generally) treats word-internal underscores as part of the word. If you need mid-word italics, like unbelievable, you must use asterisks: *un*believable.
Combining Italics With Other Discord Formatting
Italics nest with every other Discord format. The rule of thumb: outermost format on the outside. So underline-bold-italic becomes __***max emphasis***__ — underline wraps bold which wraps italic. Reverse the order and Discord will only render the outer two.
You can also italicize inside a blockquote. Start your line with > followed by a space, then add your italic syntax inside: > *quoted in italics*. The block-quote bar appears on the left and the text is rendered in italics.
One exception: italics do not work inside inline code (`...`) or code blocks (```...```). Everything inside backticks is displayed as literal monospaced text, so any asterisks or underscores show up as plain characters. If you need italic monospace, you'll have to copy from a Unicode italic-font generator and paste the styled characters instead.
Italic Usernames, Server Names, and Channels
Discord intentionally strips Markdown from anything that isn't a message — usernames, server names, channel names, role names, even bot bios. So you can't simply wrap your nickname in asterisks. The common workaround is Unicode italic characters: a generator (like our Fancy Text Generator) produces real Unicode characters that look like italic letters, and Discord accepts those because they are plain text rather than Markdown. The trade-off is that screen readers and search may not recognize them as the normal letters they imitate.