Anya Zhukova · May 30, 2024 · 6 min read WhatsApp is a popular social media app used by millions of people worldwide for instant messaging. It provides a range of features to enhance your messaging experience, including the ability to format your text. Using WhatsApp formatting options like bold, italics, and strikethrough, you can make your messages stand out and express yourself more effectively.
In this article, you’ll find a step-by-step guide on how to use these formatting options in a WhatsApp chat, whether you’re using an Android device, Apple iPhone, or WhatsApp Web on your computer.
Why Use Bold, Italics, and Strikethrough in WhatsApp Messages
Although over the years, voice and video calling on WhatsApp sort of took over the traditional messaging as the new trends, the app first started as a messenger that people used to exchange texts. And who wants to send or receive plain texts when you can use text formatting to make them stand out?
The option to format text in messaging apps allows you to add emphasis, clarity, and style to your messages. Whether you share important information, express emotions, or simply engage in a conversation, formatting options help convey your message effectively. It’s a way to underline text in your messages and make them more engaging and visually appealing.
Additionally, formatted text can be useful in group chats as an alternative to stickers or GIFs. By using bold, italics, or strikethrough, you can make specific parts of your message more noticeable and make sure the important information doesn’t get lost in the conversation.
How to Format Text in WhatsApp
Most messaging apps only allow you to send plain text. Unlike them, WhatsApp offers various formatting options to make your text messages more appealing. To diversify your WhatsApp texts, you can use bold text, italic text, strikethrough text, and monospaced text.
You can combine several formatting options to create more complex formatting styles. For example, you can use bold italics in your text message for a more dramatic effect.
There are two ways to format text on WhatsApp: by using your phone’s built-in functionality to select bold, italics, strikethrough, and monospace or by using specific formatting shortcuts.
As WhatsApp aims to provide a consistent user experience across different platforms, the formatting options work similarly on both Android and iOS devices. The same formatting techniques also work on WhatsApp Web, if you prefer using the app on your computer.
How to Format Text in WhatsApp Using the Built-in Visual Editor
The easiest way to format text in WhatsApp is by using the built-in visual editor. That way, you don’t have to remember any cheat codes or shortcuts to change the look of your text.
To format your text using the visual editor in WhatsApp, follow the steps below:
- Open WhatsApp on your device.
- Navigate to the chat where you want to send a formatted message.
- Type your message in the text box.
- On Android, tap and hold a word that you want to format. On iOS, double tap the word. This will reveal a text formatting menu. If you want to select several words, use the buttons on the sides of the text to expand the selection.
- On Android, select one of the formatting options from the menu: Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, or Monospace. If the app isn’t showing all of them, select the three-dots icon on the right side of the message box.
- On iPhone or iPad, select BIU > Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, or Monospace.
- Review your message and select Send to share it.
You can use multiple formatting options on the same word. Just repeat the process of selecting a different option again to overlap the formatting effects.
The built-in visual editor in WhatsApp makes the process of formatting your text simple. It’s a convenient option for quickly applying formatting to your messages if you don’t want to remember specific characters or codes.
How to Use Formatting Shortcuts in WhatsApp
Apart from the visual editor, WhatsApp also provides formatting shortcuts that allow you to format your text directly while typing. This method is better to use if you’re typing quickly and need to apply formatting to a big chunk of text. However, the downside of this technique is that you’ll have to remember these shortcuts or Google them beforehand every time you want to use them.
Here are the formatting shortcuts you can use:
- To format text as bold, add an asterisk (*) at the beginning and end of the desired text. Example: *text*.
- To format text as italics, enclose your text in underscores (_). Example: _text_.
- To format text as strikethrough, add a tilde (~) at the start and end of your message. Example: ~text~.
- To format text as monospace, put three backticks (“`) on each side of your text. Example: “`text“`.
These formatting shortcuts work seamlessly while typing in WhatsApp, and apply formatting to your text in real time.
How to Format Text in WhatsApp Web
If you prefer using WhatsApp on your computer through WhatsApp Web, you’ll be glad that the formatting options are also available on the web version. You can format your text using the same techniques mentioned earlier, including the built-in visual editor and formatting shortcuts.
To access WhatsApp Web, follow the steps below:
- Open a web browser on your computer and visit web.whatsapp.com.
- On your smartphone, open WhatsApp and select the three-dot menu icon > Settings (Android) or the Settings tab (iPhone).
- Select WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Web/Desktop.
- Scan the QR code displayed on the web page using your phone’s camera.
This will pair WhatsApp on your phone with the WhatsApp web client. In order for the web client to work, your phone needs to stay connected to the internet.
Once connected, you can use the same formatting options as you would on your phone to format text in WhatsApp Web. Bear in mind that, unlike on mobile, on WhatsApp Web you won’t see the applied effect until you send the message.
Chat Clearly With WhatsApp Text Formatting
Formatting text in WhatsApp is a simple yet powerful way to enhance your messaging experience. Whether you’re using the built-in visual editor, formatting shortcuts, or WhatsApp Web, you can easily apply bold, italics, and strikethrough to your text.
These formatting options allow you to express yourself more effectively, emphasize important information, and make your messages stand out.
