Markdown in FUTO Notes (syntax, tables, code, and images)

FUTO Notes saves every note as a plain .md file and supports CommonMark plus the GitHub extensions: tables, task lists, strikethrough, and bare URLs as links. You type markdown directly, and the editor formats it in place, hiding the syntax on every line except the one you’re editing.

How the live preview works

The editor shows formatting instead of symbols. Headings show large, **bold** shows bold, and [[wikilinks]] show as links, with the #, **, and brackets hidden.

The markdown comes back on the line that has the cursor, so you can see and edit it. Move the cursor to another line and the symbols hide again. When the editor isn’t focused, every line shows formatted.

Tables, dividers, and images show as the thing itself until you move the cursor into them.

The editor works on the text of the file directly. It doesn’t reformat markdown you haven’t touched, and opening a note never changes it. The one exception is numbered lists: when you edit a numbered list, FUTO Notes renumbers it.

Supported markdown syntax

Element	Syntax
Headings	`#` through `######` at the start of a line
Bold	`bold` or `__bold__`
Italic	`italic` or `_italic_`
Strikethrough	`~~struck~~`
Inline code	`code`
Code block	``` or `~~~` on its own line, optionally followed by a language
Blockquote	`>` at the start of a line. Quotes can nest (`> >` )
Bullet list	`-` , `*` , or `+`
Numbered list	`1.`
Task list	`- [ ]` or `- [x]`
Divider	`---`, `***`, or `___` on its own line
Link	`[text](https://example.com)`, `<https://example.com>`, or a bare `https://` or `www.` address
Image	`![](image.png)`
Wikilink	`[[Note title]]` (see wikilinks)
Tag	`#tag` (see folders and tags)
Table	GitHub-style pipe table (see tables)

Click or tap a task’s checkbox to toggle it between [ ] and [x]. The note saves on its own.

Formatting without typing the syntax

Desktop: select text on one line to open a toolbar with Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, Inline code, and Link. The keyboard shortcuts are in keyboard shortcuts.
iOS and Android: while you type, a toolbar above the keyboard has Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, Link, Heading, Block quote, Bullet list, Ordered list, Task list, Indent and Outdent (on a list line), and two image buttons. Heading steps through heading 1, 2, and 3, then back to plain text.

Type / at the start of a line to open the Insert block menu. Keep typing to filter it, use the arrow keys to move, and press Enter or Tab to pick. Escape closes it.

Item	Inserts	Also matches
Paragraph	Plain text (removes a heading or list marker)	`text`, `p`
Heading 1, 2, 3	`#` , `##` , `###`	`h1`, `h2`, `h3`, `title`
Bullet list	`-`	`ul`, `list`
Numbered list	`1.`	`ol`, `number`
Task list	`- [ ]`	`todo`, `checklist`, `checkbox`
Blockquote	`>`	`quote`
Code block	A fenced code block	`code`, `pre`, `fence`
Divider	`---`	`hr`, `rule`, `separator`
Table	A two-column table with one empty row	`grid`, `cells`
Image	Opens a file picker (desktop)	`img`, `picture`, `photo`

Links

Type [text](url) and the link formats once the cursor leaves the line. A bare https:// or www. address shows as a link as you type it.

Clicking or tapping a link opens it in your system browser. Only the link text itself is clickable, so clicking the empty space after a link puts the cursor there instead. To edit a link, click past the end of its line or move there with the arrow keys, and its markdown shows.

The Link button in either toolbar wraps the selected text as [text]() with the cursor ready for the address. With nothing selected, it inserts [](). Selecting a whole [text](url) link and pressing Link removes the link and keeps the text.

Tables

FUTO Notes reads and writes GitHub-style pipe tables:

| Item   | Qty |
|--------|----:|
| Apples |   3 |

Type /table to insert one. While the cursor is outside it, a table shows as a grid you can type into directly:

Key	What it does
Tab	Next cell. Past the last cell, adds a row
Shift+Tab	Previous cell
Enter	Adds a row below and moves into it
Down at the end of a cell / Up at the start	Cell below / cell above
Escape	Leave the table

On desktop, hovering over the table shows controls above each column and beside each row: a grip to drag the column or row to a new position, a plus button (Add column to right, Add row below), an alignment button that cycles the column through left, center, and right, and a delete button. These controls are hidden on phone-width screens.

To edit the table as markdown, move the cursor into its lines with the arrow keys and the source shows.

Code blocks and syntax highlighting

Start a fenced code block with ``` or ~~~ and a language name, such as ```python, or use /code. Pressing Enter on an empty line just above the closing fence removes that line and moves the cursor past the fence, out of the code block.

These languages are highlighted. The names in parentheses also work as the fence tag, and case doesn’t matter:

JavaScript (js, node, mjs, cjs), TypeScript (ts), JSX, TSX
Python (py), Rust (rs), Go (golang), C (h), C++ (cpp, cc, hpp), C# (csharp, cs), Objective-C (objc)
Java, Kotlin (kt), Scala, Dart, Swift, PHP, Ruby (rb), Perl (pl), Lua, R, Haskell (hs)
HTML (htm), CSS, JSON (json5, jsonc), XML (svg), YAML (yml), TOML, Markdown (md), SQL, Vue
Shell (bash, sh, zsh), PowerShell (ps1), Dockerfile (docker), diff (patch)

A code block in any other language still displays as a code block, without color. Wikilinks and tags inside code are plain text.

Front matter

FUTO Notes has no special support for YAML front matter (a --- block at the top of a file). It stays in the file exactly as written, since the editor doesn’t reformat text you haven’t edited, but it displays as ordinary markdown, so the opening --- shows as a divider.

Images

How you add an image depends on the platform:

Desktop: paste an image, such as a screenshot or a browser’s Copy Image, or type /image to choose a file.
iOS and Android: use the camera or photo button in the keyboard toolbar (Take photo or Choose from library). On Android you can also paste an image.

Each way copies the image into the top level of your notes folder under a generated name, such as image-1755176705123-3fa9c1d2e4b7.png on desktop or image-20260814-130425.png on iOS and Android, and inserts a link such as ![](image-20260814-130425.png) at the cursor. The image is its own file next to your notes, not embedded in the .md file. See where FUTO Notes stores your notes to find that folder.

Supported formats are JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, SVG, BMP, ICO, AVIF, and HEIC. The image shows in place of its ![](…) text.

With sync turned on, image files sync along with your notes, so an image you add on one device shows up on the others.

Deleting the ![](…) text removes the image from the note but leaves the file in your notes folder. On desktop, the sidebar’s Images view lists every image in your vault and can delete one.

An image with a web address, such as ![](https://example.com/cat.png), is loaded from that server when the note is shown, so opening the note contacts it.

Next steps

Wikilinks: link one note to another with [[ ]].
Keyboard shortcuts: every formatting and editing key on desktop.
File format: how notes and images are saved on disk.
Download FUTO Notes to try the editor.