How to paste formatted text into iMessage

iMessage formatting is not standard Markdown

Apple documents native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough inside the Messages composer. It does not describe standard Markdown as the paste format. Pasting double-asterisk bold or hash headings therefore risks leaving the markers visible instead of producing the intended appearance.

Treat the normal composer as a rich-text destination. Keep a plain version available because clipboard behaviour can vary by Apple device, operating-system version and the app the text came from.

Apple: format text and animate messages on iPhone · Open ChatGPT to iMessage

Convert document structure into message structure

A document heading should become a short bold lead-in, not a giant heading. Lists should keep their order and indentation. Labelled links should remain clickable when the composer accepts rich clipboard content, with the URL written out in the plain fallback.

Tables do not belong in a narrow message bubble. Convert each row into a labelled line so the relationship between each heading and value survives.

• Heading → short emphasized line
• Nested list → restrained indentation
• Table row → labelled text
• Link → rich link plus readable URL fallback

Check the recipient path

Apple notes that formatted iMessage text appears as plain text on older or different operating systems. That is why the fallback needs to be readable on its own rather than depending on colour, underline or a hidden label.

Paste into Messages, check one emphasized phrase and one link, then send. If the styling is flattened, use the plain version and apply only the essential emphasis with Apple's formatting control.