I’m working with a Telegram bot and trying to send formatted messages using markdown parse mode. I want to create hyperlinks that also have bold text formatting, but I can’t get it to work properly.
I’ve tested several different markdown combinations but none seem to work:
[**link text**](https://example.com)
**[link text](https://example.com)**
** [link text](https://example.com) **
I’m also having trouble combining bold and italic formatting together:
***Bold and Italic***
_**Bold and Italic**_
Is there a correct way to combine these formatting options in Telegram’s markdown implementation? I’ve been struggling with this for a while and would appreciate any guidance on the proper syntax.
Had this same problem last year with a notification bot. Switched to HTML parse mode and never looked back - way easier than wrestling with markdown. For bold links, just use <b><a href="https://example.com">link text</a></b> and it works every time. MarkdownV2’s escaping is honestly a nightmare - you’ve got to escape dots, hyphens, parentheses, and who knows what else. Makes your code messy and breaks constantly. HTML mode is dead simple. Set parse_mode=‘HTML’ in send_message and use regular HTML tags. Want bold + italic? <b><i>text</i></b> beats trying to remember how many asterisks you need. All my bots use HTML now.
wrap it like this instead - [**bold link**](https://example.com) works in regular markdown. put the asterisks inside the brackets, not outside. for bold+italic use ***text*** with no spaces between asterisks
Telegram’s markdown parser can be frustrating, especially when it comes to formatting like bold hyperlinks. For bold links, you’ll want to use **[link text](https://example.com)**, but remember that this only works with MarkdownV2. If you’re still on the old Markdown mode, switch to parse_mode=‘MarkdownV2’. When it comes to combining bold and italic, you can use ***Bold and Italic*** in MarkdownV2. However, keep in mind that you’ll need to escape certain characters. Personally, I find it easier to use HTML parse mode for complex formatting: <b><i>Bold and Italic</i></b> and <b><a href="https://example.com">link text</a></b> work seamlessly without needing to worry about escaping characters.