---
title: "Markdown plugin"
description: "The Markdown Premium plugin detects pure markdown from a paste event within a TinyMCE editor instance."
canonical_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/latest/markdown/"
md_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/latest/markdown/index.md"
version: "latest"
last_updated: "2026-05-07T01:07:43Z"
tokens: 1050
---
# Markdown plugin

> **Note:** This plugin is only available for [paid TinyMCE subscriptions](/pricing/).
The Markdown Premium plugin detects pure markdown from a paste event within a TinyMCE editor instance.

## Using the Markdown plugin

### How it works

The **Markdown** Premium Plugin detects if pure markdown is pasted into the TinyMCE editor instance.

If markdown content is detected during a paste event, the editor will:

- attempt to convert the markdown into HTML
- add an undo level before the conversion, allowing the original plain text to be restored

> **Tip:** Below are useful keyboard shortcuts for pasting in `plain-text` format when using the Markdown plugin within TinyMCE.
> 
> To paste text without formatting use:
> 
> - **Windows**: `Ctrl+Shift+V`.
> - **Mac**: `Cmd+Shift+V`.
> These shortcuts allow pasting of `plain-text` which removes existing formatting (such as bold, italics, or different fonts). This is particularly useful when copying Markdown syntax (text) from websites or documents as it ensures the text is pasted into the new location without the original HTML formatting.

## Basic setup

To setup the Markdown plugin user-interface in the editor:

- add `markdown` to the `plugins` option in the editor configuration;

For example:

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',  // change this value according to your html
  plugins: 'markdown',
});
```

> **Note:** For information on bundling this plugin with module bundlers, see [Bundling TinyMCE - Overview](../bundling-guide/).

## Interactive examples

**Example**

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea.markdown',
  plugins: [
    "markdown", "advlist", "anchor", "autolink", "charmap", "code", "fullscreen",
    "help", "image", "insertdatetime", "link", "lists", "media",
    "preview", "searchreplace", "table", "visualblocks",
  ],
  toolbar: "undo redo | styles | bold italic underline strikethrough | alignleft aligncenter alignright alignjustify | bullist numlist outdent indent | link image",
  height: 600,
  content_style: 'body { font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size:16px }'
});
```

## Options

The following configuration options affect the behavior of the Markdown plugin.

## `markdown_symbols` option

The `markdown_symbols` option allows you to define `key/value` pairs where the `key` represents a symbol in your content and the `value` represents the replacement for that symbol.

**Type:** `Object`

**Default value:** The `markdown_symbols` object accepts the following key-value pairs by default currently:

```js
{
  C: '©',
  TM: '™',
  R: '®'
}
```

### Example: using `markdown_symbols`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',  // change this value according to your HTML
  plugins: 'markdown',
  markdown_symbols: {
    C: '©',
    TM: '™',
    R: '®'
  }
});
```

> **Note:** Additionally, if the **Emoticons** plugin is enabled and properly set up, emojis surrounded by colons (:) will also be replaced. This feature allows for a broader range of replacements, including emojis represented by image files. For example, `:smile:` will be translated to the corresponding emoji, if configured.

> **Note:** In Markdown content, it’s important to enclose key symbols like `"C"` within parentheses, as in `"(C)"`, to ensure proper conversion; note that they are **case-sensitive**, so `"(c)"` *will not be transformed*.

## Commands

The Markdown plugin provides the following TinyMCE commands.

| Command | Description |
| --- | --- |
| MarkdownInsert | Insert new markdown content into the editor as HTML |

Examples
```js
tinymce.activeEditor.execCommand('MarkdownInsert', false, 'paragraph');
tinymce.activeEditor.execCommand('MarkdownInsert', false, '**bold**');
tinymce.activeEditor.execCommand('MarkdownInsert', false, '# Header');
```

## APIs

The Markdown plugin provides the following APIs.

The editor.plugins.markdown.getContent() API supports the Markdown plugin.

The API converts the current TinyMCE document from HTML into valid Markdown syntax.

The `editor.plugins.markdown.getContent();` API does not require configuration from the user

```ts
interface PluginAPI {
  getContent: () => Promise<string>
}
```

## Example

TinyMCE document content:

```html
<h3>Heading</h3>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<ul>
  <li>Item 1</li>
  <li>Item 2</li>
</ul>
```
API output:

```js
### Heading

This is a paragraph.

* Item 1
* Item 2
```