# Formatting & Markdown

Cozy runs on plain Markdown. Your formatting (bold, headings, lists, links) is written right into the file as ordinary Markdown symbols, so your entries stay readable in any app, forever.

You don’t have to know Markdown to use it, though. Cozy gives you a toolbar and shortcuts, and shows the symbols only when you’re editing the text they belong to.

## The floating toolbar

[Section titled “The floating toolbar”](#the-floating-toolbar)

Select any text and a small toolbar floats just above it, with **Bold**, _Italic_, Strikethrough, Code, Highlight, Link, Quote, Heading, Lists, and buttons for [a photo or a voice note](https://cozyjournal.app/docs/writing/media/) one click away. No hunting through menus.

## The slash menu

[Section titled “The slash menu”](#the-slash-menu)

Type `/` at the start of a line, or after a space, and a menu opens right at your cursor with everything you can add: headings, lists, checklists, quotes, links, photos, audio, a date or time, a horizontal rule. Keep typing to narrow it down (`/check` finds the checklist), then press Enter. Each row shows its keyboard shortcut, and Escape closes the menu without touching your writing.

## Keyboard shortcuts

[Section titled “Keyboard shortcuts”](#keyboard-shortcuts)

On macOS these use **⌘**; on Windows they use **Ctrl**. Cozy shows the right keys for your keyboard throughout the app.

Action

Shortcut

Bold

⌘B

Italic

⌘I

Strikethrough

⌘⇧X

Code

⌘E

Highlight

⌘⇧H

Headings (levels 1–6)

⌘1 – ⌘6

Bullet list

⌘⇧8

Numbered list

⌘⇧7

Insert a photo or video

⌘⇧I

Insert a date

⌘⇧D

Edit tags

⌘⇧T

Log a tracker

⌘⇧M

Writing mode

⌘⇧F

The full list lives in **Settings → Shortcuts**, grouped by what it does. You can also run any of these from the [⌘K command bar](https://cozyjournal.app/docs/organizing/search/) if you’d rather search for them by name.

Checkboxes work with `-`, `*`, or `+` bullets, so a line like `- [ ] water the plants` becomes a checkable to-do.

## Formatting reveals itself as you write

[Section titled “Formatting reveals itself as you write”](#formatting-reveals-itself-as-you-write)

Put your cursor anywhere inside a **bold** word, a link, or an image and its Markdown appears so you can edit it, then tucks away again the moment you move on. Click anywhere on a heading and its `#` shows; leave, and it’s hidden. You get clean text to read and the raw Markdown right when you need it.

## macOS text replacements

[Section titled “macOS text replacements”](#macos-text-replacements)

Cozy respects the shortcuts you’ve set up in **System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements**. Type your abbreviation and it expands on a space or punctuation mark, the same way it does everywhere else on your Mac. Replacements skip code blocks, so your shorthand won’t fire where you’re writing code.

## Insert a date or time

[Section titled “Insert a date or time”](#insert-a-date-or-time)

Use **Insert → Date/Time** to drop a formatted date or time into your entry. Dates are written in whatever [language Cozy is running in](https://cozyjournal.app/docs/help/faq/).

## Right-to-left writing

[Section titled “Right-to-left writing”](#right-to-left-writing)

Write in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Urdu and each paragraph picks up its own direction from the words in it. You can mix languages in one entry: an English note above an Arabic paragraph, a Hebrew line in the middle of a list, and each one reads the way you wrote it. Every list item works the same way. Code blocks always stay left to right, whatever language surrounds them.

## A serif option

[Section titled “A serif option”](#a-serif-option)

If you like to write in a serif typeface, you can switch the editor’s font to serif. One setting covers the title and the body, so the two always match. It’s a small thing, but a nice one for long entries.

## It’s still just Markdown

[Section titled “It’s still just Markdown”](#its-still-just-markdown)

Because everything is plain Markdown, you can open an entry in any other editor and it reads exactly as you’d expect. Nothing about your writing is locked to Cozy.

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Writing entries](https://cozyjournal.app/docs/writing/entries/) [Next  
Photos, video & audio](https://cozyjournal.app/docs/writing/media/)

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Formatting & Markdown | Cozy Docs
Source: https://cozyjournal.app/docs/writing/formatting/
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