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Confluence wiki markup guide

Paste Markdown into Confluence

Why pasted Markdown shows up as plain text in Confluence, and the two reliable ways to get it rendering: converted wiki markup or the editor's markdown handling.

Direct answer

Pasting raw Markdown into a Confluence page does not render it — Confluence treats it as plain text. Convert the Markdown to Confluence wiki markup first, then paste it through Insert > Markup (choose Confluence wiki), or rely on the new Cloud editor's limited on-type Markdown shortcuts for simple formatting.

Open Markdown to Confluence converter

When to use this

  • You pasted a Markdown doc into Confluence and see literal ## and ``` characters.
  • A README, spec, or AI-generated Markdown draft needs to become a real Confluence page.
  • You need headings, tables, and code blocks to survive the paste, not just bold text.

Steps

  1. Convert the full Markdown document to Confluence wiki markup with the converter.
  2. In Confluence, open the page editor and choose Insert > Markup.
  3. Select 'Confluence wiki' as the format, paste the converted markup, and confirm the preview.
  4. Insert it into the page and spot-check tables, code blocks, and links.
  5. For quick one-off formatting in the Cloud editor, type Markdown (like ## or **bold**) directly — it converts as you type, but only for simple elements.

Example conversion

Markdown input
## Rollout plan

**Owner:** platform team

- Enable the flag in staging
- Watch error rates for 24h

```bash
kubectl rollout status deploy/api
```
Confluence wiki output
h2. Rollout plan

*Owner:* platform team

* Enable the flag in staging
* Watch error rates for 24h

{code:language=bash}
kubectl rollout status deploy/api
{code}

Common mistakes

  • Do not paste raw Markdown and assume Confluence will detect it — it renders as literal text.
  • Do not rely on on-type Markdown shortcuts for tables or fenced code blocks; they are the elements that most often break.
  • Do not skip the Insert > Markup preview — a malformed table row silently collapses into plain text.

FAQ

Does Confluence support Markdown natively?
Only partially. The Cloud editor converts some Markdown as you type (headings, bold, lists), but pasting a whole Markdown document does not render it. For full documents, convert to Confluence wiki markup and use Insert > Markup.
Where is Insert > Markup in Confluence?
In the page editor toolbar, open the + (Insert) menu and choose Markup. Pick 'Confluence wiki' as the format, paste your converted markup, and Confluence shows a live preview before inserting.
Why do my code blocks paste as plain text?
Markdown code fences (```) mean nothing to Confluence. They must become {code} macros — for example {code:language=bash} — which is exactly what the converter outputs.
Is this different in Confluence Data Center or Server?
The wiki markup route works everywhere — Cloud, Data Center, and Server all accept Confluence wiki markup through the Insert Markup dialog. Only the on-type Markdown shortcuts vary by editor version.

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