## Workflow

How to Paste Markdown into Gmail — Formatted, One Click

Published March 2026

You wrote something in Markdown. Now you need to email it via Gmail with all the formatting intact. No extensions, no command-line tools, no copy-pasting into a web converter. Here's how.

## The Problem

Gmail doesn't understand Markdown

You write release notes, project updates, or documentation in Markdown. The formatting is perfect in your editor. Then you paste it into Gmail and get a wall of raw ## symbols, **asterisks**, and - [ ] checkboxes.

Gmail doesn't render Markdown. It expects rich text — HTML under the hood. You need to convert your Markdown to rich text before pasting it in.

## Method 1

Markdown Here (browser extension)

Write raw Markdown directly in Gmail's compose window, then click the Markdown Here extension icon to render it in place.

Pros

  • Works inside Gmail without leaving the browser

Cons

  • Chrome-only (no Safari, limited Firefox support)
  • Requires installing and trusting a browser extension
  • Can break formatting unpredictably with complex Markdown
  • You have to write Markdown inside Gmail — can't use your existing .md files

## Method 2

pandoc (CLI)

pandoc notes.md -o output.html
open output.html
# Select all → Copy → Paste into Gmail

pandoc converts Markdown to HTML. You open the HTML in a browser, select all, copy, and paste into Gmail's compose window.

Pros

  • Extremely powerful, supports many output formats

Cons

  • Requires terminal and Homebrew/pip install
  • Multi-step: convert, open, select, copy, paste
  • Overkill when all you want is "paste into Gmail"

## Method 3 (Recommended)

ShowMeMyMD — one click

Open your .md file in ShowMeMyMD. Click "Copy Rendered" and paste directly into Gmail. One click. Native. Private — nothing leaves your Mac.

What gets preserved:

  • Headers with proper sizing
  • Bold, italic, and inline code
  • Ordered and unordered lists
  • Code blocks with syntax highlighting
  • Tables with alignment
  • Links (clickable in Gmail)

Gmail receives clean rich text. No raw Markdown symbols, no broken formatting, no manual cleanup needed.

## Step by Step

Three steps to formatted Markdown in Gmail

  1. 1. Open your file. Double-click any .md file in Finder. ShowMeMyMD renders it instantly.
  2. 2. Click "Copy Rendered". One button in the toolbar. The formatted content is now on your clipboard as rich text.
  3. 3. Paste into Gmail. Cmd + V in Gmail's compose window. Your formatting is preserved — headers, bold, lists, code blocks, tables.

No browser extension. No CLI. No third-party website. Open, click, paste into Gmail.

## Tips

Gmail-specific tips

  • Use Cmd+V, not Cmd+Shift+V. The regular paste preserves rich text formatting. Shift+V pastes as plain text and strips your formatting.
  • Tables work. Gmail supports HTML tables. Your Markdown tables paste as real formatted tables.
  • Code blocks stay formatted. Inline code and fenced code blocks paste with their background styling intact.
  • Also works everywhere else. The same workflow works for pasting into Outlook, Slack, Notion, Google Docs, and more.

## Keep Reading

Learn more about the Copy Rendered feature in ShowMeMyMD. Read our full guide to pasting Markdown into any email client. Or see how to paste Markdown into Outlook.

Write in Markdown. Paste it into Gmail.

Open any .md file, click Copy Rendered, paste into Gmail. Headers, bold, code blocks, tables — all preserved. $2.99 on the Mac App Store.

Download on theMac App Store