One of the most common issues developers encounter when writing in Markdown concerns the use of backticks. Backticks (`) are used in Markdown to denote code blocks, but what if you want to use a backtick within a code block? This post will explain how to escape backticks in Markdown, helping you efficiently write code examples without interference from Markdown’s rendering.

Why Backticks are Important in Markdown

First things first, let’s clarify why backticks play an important role in Markdown. Backticks are used to create inline code elements and block codes.

For instance, a single backtick is applied for an inline code.

`This is an inline code.`

While triple backticks are utilized for block codes.

This is a block of code

Yet, a question remains: what if you want to use a backtick within a code block? Or more specifically, to display a backtick in the rendered Markdown which usually requires escaping.

Escaping Backticks in Markdown

To escape backticks when displaying code blocks in Markdown documentation, you need to use more backticks for the outer fence than are present in the inner code. For inline code containing backticks, you can use double backticks.

Here’s a basic example. Imagine you want to present this piece of JavaScript code:

const sayHello = `Hello, World!`;

Here’s how you’d escape it:

```javascript
const sayHello = `Hello, World!`;
```

When displaying code blocks that contain backticks, you need to use four backticks to wrap the example (as shown above).

For Inline Code with Backticks

For inline code that contains backticks, you can use double backticks:

Use `backticks` like this in inline code

This will correctly render as:

const sayHello = `Hello, World!`;

This technique proves crucial when you’re crafting code examples with JavaScript’s template literals or shell commands.

Additional Resources

For more detailed usage of backticks and other Markdown elements, kindly refer to our other posts:

Wrapping Up

Markdown is an efficient way to plainly format text that can be easily converted into HTML. However, as we’ve found, using backticks within a code block is a common stumbling block for many Markdown users. By using double backticks, you can escape backticks in your code and avoid any formatting interruptions in your documents.

Whether you’re writing technical documentation, creating a GitHub README, or crafting a blog post, this backtick escaping technique will undoubtedly come in handy. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks in our upcoming articles on mastering Markdown.