Summary
A Markdown to HTML converter turns Markdown syntax such as # headings, **bold** and pipe tables into the HTML tags (h1, strong, table) that a browser displays. To convert Markdown to HTML free and privately here, paste your text into the Markdown input box or click Open .md file, then click Copy HTML for the markup alone, or Copy Full Document or Download HTML for a complete page with CSS. Conversion runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded, as the Network tab in DevTools will show.
The engine is the open-source marked library in GitHub Flavored Markdown mode, with footnotes added. Unsafe HTML such as scripts is removed by default. If you would rather write with a toolbar and a side-by-side preview, open the Markdown editor; to go the other way, use the HTML to Markdown converter.
Table of Use: Markdown In, HTML Out
| Markdown element | You type | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Heading | # Release notes | <h1>Release notes</h1> |
| Emphasis and strikethrough | **bold** *italic* ~~old~~ | <strong>bold</strong> <em>italic</em> <del>old</del> |
| Table with alignment | A divider row of |:--|:-:|--:| under the header row | <table> with <thead> and <tbody>; cells get align="left", "center" or "right" |
| Task list | - [x] Done | <li><input checked="" disabled="" type="checkbox"> Done</li> |
| Fenced code | ```python on its own line, then the code | <pre><code class="language-python">…</code></pre>, with < written as < |
| Bare web address | https://example.com | <a href="https://example.com">https://example.com</a> |
| Footnote | Text[^1] and, elsewhere, [^1]: The note | <sup><a href="#fn-1" id="fnref-1" class="footnote-ref">1</a></sup> plus a <section class="footnotes"> list at the end |
| Embedded script | <script>alert(1)</script> | Removed while Remove unsafe HTML is ticked; kept as written when it is unticked |
Features
- Four ways to take the result: compared below. The HTML box and the preview update as you type.
- Three built-in styles: GitHub Style (the base stylesheet), Dark Mode (a #1e1e1e page with light text) and Minimal (a Georgia serif at 18 px in a 650 px column). Under Templates, add your own CSS; it is applied after the base stylesheet, so a rule like
body { max-width: 720px }is enough. - Safe by default: unsafe HTML is stripped from the code and from the preview, which runs in a sandboxed frame. Unticking Remove unsafe HTML changes the HTML code only.
- Plain input: the .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd and .txt file types are accepted, and lines and characters are counted under the input box.
| Button | What you get | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Copy HTML | The converted markup only, on the clipboard | Pasting into a CMS, template or email editor |
| Copy Full Document | A complete page with doctype, title and the selected style's CSS | Saving it yourself or pasting it into a file |
| Download HTML | The same page as a .html file named after your first heading (converted.html without one) | Publishing or sharing a standalone page |
| Print / Save as PDF | Your browser's print dialog for the cleaned document | A PDF of the formatted text |
Limits worth knowing: the converter does not save your Markdown, so reloading resets it to the sample. Headings do not get id attributes, and code is not coloured; use the code syntax highlighter for that. To show a literal tag such as <div> in the output, escape it first with the HTML entity encoder.
How to Use the Markdown to HTML Converter
- Paste or type in the Markdown input box, click Open .md file, or click Load sample. If the box holds your own text, you are asked before it is replaced.
- Pick a look in the Style menu: GitHub Style, Dark Mode, Minimal, or a custom template you saved under Templates with Save Template.
- Read the result in the HTML output box, or click Show Preview to see it rendered; click Show HTML Code to switch back.
- Leave Remove unsafe HTML ticked unless you need the parser output untouched.
- Click Copy HTML, Copy Full Document, Download HTML or Print / Save as PDF. Clear empties the input.
Afterwards, check the markup in the HTML previewer, tidy it with the HTML beautifier, or shrink it with the HTML minifier.
Who Can Use It
Developers who keep documentation in Markdown and need HTML for a site, bloggers moving a draft into a CMS, and newsletter writers who want clean markup for an email tool all start from the same step: paste, copy. Publishing a post? Give it a URL with the slug generator and a search snippet with the meta tag generator. Revising an old version? Compare drafts in the text diff tool.
FAQs
How do I convert Markdown to HTML?
Paste or type your Markdown into the Markdown input box, or click Open .md file. The HTML appears on the right as you type. Click Copy HTML for the markup alone, or Copy Full Document or Download HTML for a complete page with its CSS. Show Preview displays the rendered result in the selected style before you copy anything.
Is it safe to convert Markdown to HTML online?
With this converter, yes: the text is parsed in your browser and is not sent to ZipConvert, which you can confirm in the Network tab of DevTools. Custom CSS styles you save are kept in this browser's local storage. The Markdown itself is not saved, so reloading the page puts the sample back; copy or download your result first.
What is the difference between Copy HTML and Copy Full Document?
Copy HTML puts only the converted markup on the clipboard: headings, paragraphs, lists and tables, with no html, head or body tags. That is what you paste into a CMS or an email editor. Copy Full Document copies a complete page, including doctype, title, viewport tag and the selected style as an inline stylesheet. Download HTML saves that same full page as a file.
What does the Remove unsafe HTML option do?
Markdown may contain raw HTML. With the box ticked (the default), script, iframe, style and form tags, event-handler attributes such as onerror, and javascript: links are removed from the HTML, while tags like details and kbd stay. Unticked, you get the parser output exactly as written, scripts included, so only do that with text you trust. The preview and PDF are always cleaned.
Why do my line breaks disappear in the HTML?
In Markdown, a single newline inside a paragraph is just a space, so two lines become one paragraph. Leave a blank line to start a new paragraph, or end the line with two spaces to get a br tag. This converter follows that standard behaviour.
Why do GitHub alerts, @mentions and emoji shortcodes not convert?
Those belong to the GitHub website, not to the Markdown format. A [!NOTE] alert, @octocat, #123 and :smile: are left as plain text inside an ordinary paragraph or blockquote. Tables, task lists, strikethrough, footnotes and bare-URL autolinks, which are part of GitHub Flavored Markdown, are converted.
How do I add syntax highlighting to the converted code?
The converter adds no colours, but every fenced code block keeps its language as a class, for example <code class="language-python">. Highlighters such as Prism and highlight.js look for exactly that class, so loading one of them on your site colours the blocks. Without a language after the opening fence, no class is added.
How do I save the converted Markdown as a PDF?
Click Print / Save as PDF. Your browser opens its print dialog for the converted document only, styled with the selected template, and you choose Save as PDF as the destination. The browser prints with your system fonts, so other scripts and emoji come out as shown in the preview.