The Auto-Formatting Bold Issue
Google Docs attempts to anticipate your formatting needs based on standard typing patterns. A common feature of its auto-correction engine involves Markdown-style syntax shortcuts. Specifically, if you type text surrounded by double asterisks (e.g., **important text**) or double underscores (e.g., __important text__), Google Docs will automatically strip the symbols away and convert the enclosed text into a rich-text bold font.
While this is a fantastic time-saver for users familiar with Markdown, it is intensely frustrating for technical writers, programmers, or anyone writing raw code documentation. If you are trying to write a tutorial where asterisks represent pointers in C++, or if you are deliberately writing a raw Markdown document to be exported to a GitHub readme, Docs will constantly ruin your syntax by converting your code into rich text bolding. To maintain strict control over your document and ensure your asterisks remain visible, you must disable this auto-formatting.
How to Stop Automatic Bolding
You can turn off this specific Markdown conversion via the Preferences menu.
- Open a document in Google Docs.
- Look at the top toolbar and click on Tools.
- Select Preferences from the dropdown menu.
- In the Preferences window, make sure you are on the General tab.
- Look for the checkbox labelled Automatically detect Markdown.
- Click the checkbox to remove the checkmark.
- Click the blue OK button to save your changes.
From now on, Google Docs will stop intercepting your double asterisks and underscores. Your text will remain exactly as you typed it as plain text, ensuring your code snippets and technical formatting remain intact.