HTML to Markdown Converter
Paste HTML and get readable Markdown. The converter keeps what matters, headings, paragraphs, emphasis, links, images, lists, tables, quotes and code blocks, and drops scripts, styles and the wrappers that only exist for layout.
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Free to use
How to use HTML to Markdown
- Paste HTML or open an .html file.
- Choose the heading style, list marker and link style you prefer.
- Select Convert to Markdown.
- Copy the Markdown or download it as a .md file.
HTML to Markdown features
Complete element support
Headings, emphasis, links, images, nested lists, block quotes, horizontal rules and code.
Tables
HTML tables become GitHub-style Markdown tables.
Code blocks with language
A language class on a code element is carried over to the fenced code block.
Noise removed
Scripts, style sheets, forms, frames and other non-content elements are left out.
Style options
# or underlined headings, - or * bullets, inline or reference-style links.
Safe and private
The HTML is parsed without being executed, and nothing is uploaded.
When to use HTML to Markdown
- Moving articles from a CMS or an old website into a Markdown-based system.
- Turning a web page or an email into notes.
- Converting documentation written in HTML for a static site generator.
- Preparing content for a README, a wiki or an AI prompt, where Markdown is more compact than HTML.
HTML to Markdown FAQ
Which HTML elements can be converted?
Everything Markdown can express: h1 to h6, p, strong, em, del, a, img, ul, ol, li, blockquote, pre, code, hr, br and tables. Elements with no Markdown equivalent, such as div and span, are unwrapped, so their text is kept and the tag disappears.
What happens to CSS classes, colours and layout?
They are dropped. Markdown describes structure, not appearance, so fonts, colours, columns and spacing cannot be represented. The result is the content in the order in which it appears in the HTML.
How are tables handled?
A table with a header row becomes a Markdown table with pipes and a separator line. Cells that contain lists, several paragraphs or merged cells are beyond what Markdown tables support and are flattened to their text.
Is the HTML executed during conversion?
No. It is parsed into an inactive document in which scripts cannot run and images and frames are not loaded. Script and style elements are then removed from the output.
What is the difference between inline and reference links?
Inline links put the address directly after the link text. Reference links put a short label in the text and collect the addresses at the end of the document, which keeps paragraphs readable when there are many long URLs.
Can I convert a whole web page?
Yes, paste its full source. Navigation menus, footers and sidebars are content too as far as HTML is concerned, so they will appear in the result. For a clean article, paste only the HTML of the article element.
From markup for browsers to text for people
HTML and Markdown describe the same kind of document, headings, paragraphs, lists, links, at different levels of detail. HTML is exhaustive and written for browsers, with attributes, classes and nested containers. Markdown is a shorthand written for people, with just enough syntax to mark structure. Converting HTML to Markdown is therefore a process of simplification: keep the structure that Markdown can express and let go of everything else.
The conversion walks through the HTML element by element. A heading becomes a line beginning with hashes, a strong element becomes text between double asterisks, an anchor becomes link text in square brackets followed by its address, and a list becomes lines with markers and indentation that mirror the nesting. Elements that only group things for styling are transparent. Their content is processed, and the wrapper leaves no trace.
How clean the result is depends on how clean the HTML was. Content written with semantic elements converts almost perfectly. Pages assembled by visual editors, with empty paragraphs, line breaks used for spacing and headings faked with bold text, convert into Markdown that reflects the same habits. A quick review is worthwhile: remove leftover navigation, check that headings descend in order and look at any tables.
There are good reasons to make the move. Markdown files are small, readable in any editor and friendly to version control, where a change shows up as a change to a sentence and not to a line of nested tags. They are also the native input of static site generators, documentation tools and many note-taking applications, so content converted once can be reused widely.