WhatsApp Tricks: How to Send Italic, Bold, Strikethrough, Monospaced Text Messages

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WhatsApp’s functionality extends far beyond sending messages and sharing media. In an effort to enhance user interaction, the app allows for text formatting—giving you control over the emphasis and presentation of your words. With simple commands, you can make text bold for impact, italicize for emphasis, strike through for correction, or change to monospace for a typewriter-like aesthetic. These formatting options contribute to clear communication and can be applied swiftly within your conversations.

Understanding how to manipulate text in WhatsApp improves your messaging experience and ensures that your messages stand out. Whether you’re looking to draw attention to a specific point or simply make your messages more visually appealing, the process is straightforward. The app supports these features across its various platforms, ensuring that whether you’re on a mobile device or using the web application, your ability to format text remains seamless.

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Formatting Text with Emphasis in WhatsApp

To apply bold formatting to your text in WhatsApp, you can use either of the two methods:

  • Using Shortcuts: Place an asterisk (*) before and after the text you wish to embolden. For instance, writing *important* will change the text to important.
  • Using Menu Options:
    1. Write your message in the chat box.
    2. Press and hold on your message to highlight it.
    3. From the popup options, tap on the “BIU” button.
    4. Select ‘Bold’ from the menu.

After text selection and applying the bold format, WhatsApp will immediately show your text as bold. It will appear as important to your recipients, indicating emphasis.

How to Italicise a Text on Whatsapp

Italicizing text in WhatsApp messages is a straightforward process. To emphasize a portion of your message, you can enclose the desired text with underscores. Here’s a condensed guide on how to do that:

  • Begin with your message in the text entry field.
  • Encase the text you want to be italicized with underscores, like so: _Text_.
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Alternatively, for a more interactive approach:

  • Write your message and highlight the section you wish to italicize.
  • Look for the BIU button that appears and tap it.
  • Choose ‘Italic’ from the available options.

Once formatted, the text you’ve italicized will immediately reflect the change before you send your message, appearing in the conversation as: Text.

How to Strikethrough a Text on WhatsApp

If you want to cross out certain words in your WhatsApp messages, you can do so easily by applying the strikethrough formatting. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Begin by Opening a Chat: Launch WhatsApp and open a conversation with the contact you wish to message.
  2. Type Your Message: Write your desired message in the text input area.
  3. Apply Strikethrough Manually: To manually apply strikethrough, enclose your text with tildes (~). For instance, writing ~example~ will be displayed as example once sent.
  4. Use the Formatting Shortcuts:
    • For Android users: Once your text is typed, tap and hold to select it. A menu will pop up. Tap on the Bold, Italic, Underline (BIU) icon and choose the strikethrough option.
    • iPhone users should double-tap the text to bring up the formatting options and then select the strikethrough as desired.

Applying the strikethrough effect can help you convey corrected mistakes, indicate revisions, or simply add emphasis in a more visual manner. Once the ~ symbols are placed around your text, WhatsApp will instantly recognize this formatting and the text will appear struck through to the recipient.

Applying Monospace Formatting to WhatsApp Messages

To apply a monospace font to your WhatsApp messages, follow these steps:

  • Type out your message in the chat box.
  • To bracket your message for monospace formatting, place three backticks (“`) at the beginning and end of your desired text.
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Alternatively, you can do the following:

  • Write your message and then select it by long-pressing the text.
  • A menu will pop up; choose the Bold, Italic, Underline options if available, or press “More”.
  • From the additional options, select Monospace.

Your finalized message will appear in a monospace font, distinguishing it from other texts. This could look like this:

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎

Monospacing text alters its appearance by giving each character the same width, setting it apart from the default styling in WhatsApp chats.

Common Questions Regarding WhatsApp Features

Adjusting Text Size in WhatsApp

To alter the text size within WhatsApp on your mobile device:

  1. Launch the WhatsApp app.
  2. Proceed to the ‘More’ options and select ‘Settings’.
  3. Navigate to ‘Chats’, then tap on ‘Font Size’.
  4. Choose your preferred size: Small, Medium, or Large.

This process will change the text size to better suit your reading preference.

WhatsApp’s Standard Font

The standard typeface employed by WhatsApp for its messaging service is the Helvetica font.

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About Author

Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.