The Unwanted Formatting
Markdown is a popular, lightweight markup language used by writers and developers to format text using standard keyboard characters (like typing **bold** to create bold text). Google Docs recently introduced a feature that automatically recognizes common Markdown syntax and instantly converts it into rich text formatting as you type.
While this is incredibly useful for users familiar with Markdown, it can be extremely disruptive for users who are just trying to write normal text or code snippets. If you type a hash symbol (#) to indicate a number, Docs might suddenly turn your entire sentence into a massive Heading 1. If you type asterisks around a word for emphasis in a code block, Docs will turn it bold and delete the asterisks. You can disable this automatic Markdown recognition to regain control of your keystrokes.
How to Disable Markdown Auto-Formatting
You can turn off this specific automation in the Google Docs Preferences menu.
- Open any document in Google Docs.
- Click on the Tools menu in the top menu bar.
- Select Preferences from the dropdown list.
- A popup window will appear. It usually opens to the “General” tab by default.
- Look down the list of checkboxes for the option labelled Automatically detect Markdown.
- Uncheck the box next to this option.
- Click the blue OK button at the bottom of the window to save your changes.
From now on, when you type standard Markdown characters (like *, #, or -), Google Docs will leave them exactly as you typed them, rather than attempting to convert them into formatting or lists.