Overview
WhatsApp supports lightweight markup in chats. Surrounding text with special characters applies formatting on send in mobile and desktop clients.
Formatting works in individual and group chats; some business API messages may strip styles.
Implementation
Bold: wrap with asterisks *text*. Italic: underscores _text_. Strikethrough: tildes ~text~. Monospace: backticks `text`. Combine carefully—nested styles behave inconsistently across clients.
On desktop, type markers manually; on mobile, long-press may show format menu in newer versions.
When implementing guidance from Bold, Italic and Strikethrough in WhatsApp, start in a controlled environment that mirrors production versions of operating systems, runtimes, and network policies. Capture a baseline before changes: export configs, snapshot VMs, or tag releases in source control so rollback stays straightforward if behavior regresses.
Document prerequisites, expected outcomes, and verification steps in a short runbook. Automated checks—smoke tests, health endpoints, or query validations—catch regressions early when platforms receive patches. Security belongs in every workflow: apply least privilege, rotate secrets, and review audit logs after deployment.
If results differ across machines, compare environment variables, permission models, time zones, and regional settings. Intermittent issues often trace to caching layers, stale DNS, or duplicated services bound to the same port.
Example
*bold* _italic_ ~strike~ `code`
*_bold italic_* (combined)Tips
- Avoid spaces between markers and text.
- URLs may break if asterisks overlap.
- WhatsApp Business templates use different rules.
- Test on recipient device if formatting is critical.
- Re-verify after reboots, certificate renewals, or failover exercises.
- Align monitoring and alerts with the failure modes described in this guide.
- Keep vendor documentation links handy for breaking changes between versions.
- Pair automation with a manual spot check during initial production rollout.