What Is an HTML to Markdown Converter?
An HTML to Markdown converter takes HTML markup — the angle-bracket tags that structure web pages — and transforms it into equivalent Markdown syntax. Markdown is a lightweight plain-text format created by John Gruber in 2004, designed to be readable as-is while still convertible to HTML. Converting in the reverse direction (HTML → Markdown) is essential when you need to move content from web pages, CMS platforms, or rich-text editors into Markdown-based systems.
This tool parses your HTML using the browser’s built-in DOMParser, walks the document tree, and produces clean Markdown output. No libraries are loaded, no data leaves your browser, and the conversion is instant.
How to Convert HTML to Markdown
- Paste your HTML code into the input area — a full page or just a fragment
- Click the “Convert” button or press
Ctrl+Enter - Review the Markdown output on the right
- Copy the result with the Copy button or
Ctrl+Shift+C
You can adjust conversion options in the settings panel: choose your preferred heading style (ATX # or Setext underline), bold marker (** or __), and list bullet character (-, *, or +).
Supported HTML Elements
| HTML Element | Markdown Output | Example |
|---|---|---|
<h1> to <h6> | # to ###### | # Heading 1 |
<p> | Plain text with blank lines | Paragraph text |
<strong>, <b> | **bold** | **bold text** |
<em>, <i> | *italic* | *italic text* |
<a href="..."> | [text](url) | [Click here](https://example.com) |
<img> |  |  |
<ul>, <li> | - item | - List item |
<ol>, <li> | 1. item | 1. First item |
<pre><code> | Fenced code block | ```code``` |
<code> | `inline code` | `variable` |
<blockquote> | > quote | > Quoted text |
<hr> | --- | --- |
<table> | Pipe table | ` |
<br> | Two trailing spaces or newline | Line break |
Common Use Cases
Migrating Blog Content to a Static Site Generator
When moving a WordPress or Ghost blog to Hugo, Jekyll, or Gatsby, you need to convert existing HTML posts into Markdown files. Paste the HTML source of each post into this tool and get clean Markdown ready to drop into your content/ directory.
Converting Documentation for GitHub
GitHub renders Markdown natively in READMEs, wikis, and issues. If your documentation is stored as HTML (from a legacy system or Confluence export), convert it to Markdown for seamless GitHub integration.
Cleaning Up Rich-Text Editor Output
WYSIWYG editors like TinyMCE, CKEditor, and Quill produce HTML that is often bloated with inline styles and unnecessary <span> tags. Converting to Markdown strips the noise and gives you clean, portable content.
Content Management Systems
Platforms like Notion, Obsidian, and many headless CMS systems use Markdown as their native format. Converting HTML snippets to Markdown makes content transfer between platforms seamless.
HTML to Markdown vs. Manual Conversion
Manual conversion is feasible for short snippets but quickly becomes impractical for longer documents. A single web page can contain hundreds of nested elements — headings, lists, tables, links, and code blocks — that all need correct Markdown syntax. This tool handles the structural mapping automatically, including edge cases like nested lists, tables with alignment, and code blocks with language hints.
Tips for Better Conversion Results
- Strip non-content elements first. If pasting a full page, the tool automatically ignores
<script>,<style>,<nav>, and<footer>tags, but removing them manually can produce cleaner output. - Use semantic HTML. The converter works best with semantic tags (
<strong>instead of<span style="font-weight:bold">). Inline CSS styles are not converted to Markdown equivalents since Markdown has no concept of styling. - Check nested structures. Deeply nested lists and tables may need minor manual adjustments after conversion.
- Preserve code blocks. If your HTML contains
<pre><code>blocks, the converter will produce fenced Markdown code blocks. Language hints fromclass="language-js"are preserved.