Markdown Line Breaks

To force a visible line break in Markdown:

• Add two trailing spaces at the end of a line, then press Enter.
• End the line with a backslash (\) — explicitly supported by CommonMark.
• Use the HTML <br> tag when your target platform allows inline HTML and you need an explicit break.
• Leave a blank line if you actually want a new paragraph, not just a new line.

Rendering can vary slightly between GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM), CommonMark, and other processors — preview before publishing.

Soft Break#

This is line one.
This is line two.

Most parsers merge these into one paragraph, commonly rendering the join as a space — but this is processor-dependent, not a universal rule. Fine for readable source files, not reliable for an actual visible break.

Hard Break (Two Trailing Spaces)#

First line.··
Second line.

(·· represents two trailing spaces — shown only to make them visible.)

This is the traditional Markdown syntax and is supported by GFM and most modern processors.

Backslash Break#

First line.\
Second line.

CommonMark explicitly supports this method. Many developers prefer it over trailing spaces because the backslash is visible in the raw source — nothing invisible to accidentally delete.

Paragraph Break (Blank Line)#

This is the first paragraph.

This is the second paragraph.

The standard way to separate ideas in articles, documentation, and long-form content. See Markdown Paragraphs for the full rules.

The <br> Tag#

First line<br>
Second line

Use it when your target platform supports inline HTML and an explicit break is easier to read in the source than trailing spaces. Multiple <br> tags can add vertical spacing, but a paragraph break is usually the cleaner way to do that.

GitHub Flavored Markdown supports all four methods — two trailing spaces, backslash, <br>, and blank lines for new paragraphs — which is why README files, Issues, and Wikis can mix them freely. For more GitHub-specific formatting rules, see GitHub Markdown. Outside GitHub, behavior varies by tool and configuration, so always preview in the actual platform you're publishing to before relying on a specific method.

They look similar but do different jobs: a line break moves text to the next line within the same paragraph; a paragraph break (blank line) starts an entirely new block of text.

For most documentation, articles, and blog posts, paragraph breaks are the better default — they're what readers expect and what most style guides recommend. Reach for a line break only when specific lines genuinely need to stay visually separate but logically connected — an address, a stanza of a poem, a stack of contact details.

Address:

MDConvertHub<br>
New Delhi<br>
India

Contact information:

Email: support@example.com<br>
Website: https://example.com

Poetry:

The sun will rise.<br>
The birds will sing.<br>
A brand new day begins.

Release notes:

Version 2.0 Released<br>
Performance Improvements<br>
Bug Fixes<br>
New Markdown Features

• Default to paragraph breaks for normal content — they're more readable and match standard writing conventions.
• Reserve hard breaks and <br> for genuinely line-sensitive content — addresses, poetry, contact blocks — not regular paragraphs.
• Use methods consistently for similar situations — for example, paragraph breaks for normal text throughout, and <br> for every address block, rather than switching approach for the same type of content without a reason.
• Preview on the actual publishing platform before shipping, particularly if you're relying on <br> or a tool-specific backslash behavior.