Paste an AI reply into an email or Word file and the ** and ## come along with it. Paste it here, strip the symbols, and copy clean plain text.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. What you enter is never sent anywhere.Your input is never sent anywhere.
DetailsConversion options
Syntax found in your input
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If the reader needs the source, turn on "Keep link URLs" before you copy. If your text has a table, scan the output once, because columns are separated by spaces and are not lined up.
Why ChatGPT and Claude text shows ** and ## when you paste it
ChatGPT and Claude write their replies in Markdown. In the chat window, **bold** shows up as bold text and ## Heading shows up as a heading. Paste the same reply into an email, a Word file, or a plain text field and the symbols stay on the page exactly as typed.
This tool removes those symbols and keeps your words. Paste the text on the left and copy the plain text from the right. Nothing is uploaded; the conversion runs in your browser.
It handles bold, italic, strikethrough, headings, links, images, tables, blockquotes, bullet lists, and code. You can choose whether links keep their URLs, whether images keep their alt text, how bullets look, and whether em dashes become hyphens.
When to remove Markdown symbols before you paste
Emailing a ChatGPT draft
Send a reply from Outlook or Gmail without asterisks around key phrases and pound signs above each section.
Pasting into Word or a text box
Word and most plain text fields do not turn Markdown into formatting, so the symbols would show up as typed.
Saving notes or meeting summaries as .txt
Download an AI-written summary as a text file that anyone can read without knowing Markdown.
Filling forms, CMS fields, or spreadsheet cells
Product descriptions, form answers, and cell values look like typos when they carry stray ** or ## marks.
How to remove Markdown formatting from AI text
- Paste your Markdown text into the left box, or click "Load sample text" to see an example.
- Set the options below the boxes: keep or drop link URLs, keep or drop image alt text, bullet style, and em dashes.
- The plain text appears on the right as you type.
- Click "Copy plain text" or "Download .txt".
Note: Everything runs in your browser. The text you paste is not sent to a server.
Limits and edge cases
- The tool uses pattern matching, not a full Markdown parser. A symbol that was never formatting can be removed too: in "2 * 3 * 4" both asterisks are deleted. Read the output before you send it.
- Numbered list markers (1., 2.) are not changed. Only -, *, and + list markers are converted or removed.
- A table row is only treated as a table if it starts and ends with a | character. Cells are joined with two spaces and columns are not aligned.
- Code inside ``` fences and `backticks` is copied through unchanged. A code fence that is never closed with a second ``` is left as is.
- With "Remove inline HTML tags" on, anything shaped like a tag outside code is deleted, including placeholders such as <name>.
- Keep the symbols if you are pasting into an app that reads Markdown, such as GitHub or Notion.
Markdown syntax and what is left after conversion
Examples use the default options unless a row says otherwise.
| Syntax | You paste | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | **Key point** | Key point |
| Italic | *emphasis* | emphasis |
| Strikethrough | ~~old price~~ | old price |
| Heading | ## Summary | Summary |
| Inline code | `npm install` | npm install |
| Code block | ```js ... ``` | The code only, fences removed |
| Link | [Docs](https://example.com) | Docs (or Docs (https://example.com) with Keep link URLs on) |
| Image |  | Sales chart (alt text only; nothing if alt text is off) |
| List item | - Item A | • Item A |
| Blockquote | > Note | Note |
| Table row | | Item | Price | | Item Price (the |---| row is deleted) |
Strip the symbols or keep them?
The answer depends on where the text is going next.
Why the symbols appear in the first place
An AI reply is text written in Markdown. The chat window reads that text and shows it formatted. When you copy it into an app that does not read Markdown, the formatting marks stay visible.
Check where you are pasting
GitHub and Notion read Markdown, so the symbols can stay there. Email clients, Word, and most plain text fields do not, so convert first.
Markdown symbols are not HTML tags
Markdown uses marks like **, ##, and [text](url). HTML uses tags like <b>. This tool targets Markdown, and an option also removes stray HTML tags mixed into the text.
Pick link and table options before you copy
Dropping a link leaves only its text. Turn on Keep link URLs if the reader needs the source. Tables lose their pipes and separator row, so check that each row still reads clearly.
Common paste problems and fixes
An email goes out with ** and ## still in it
You paste a ChatGPT draft into an email, hit send, and the recipient sees asterisks around phrases and pound signs above each section.
💡 See the solution▼
A table turns into rows of pipes and dashes
A Markdown table pasted into an app that does not render tables becomes lines of | and --- characters that are hard to read.
💡 See the solution▼
Link text loses its URL
After the symbols are removed, you can no longer tell where a link pointed.
💡 See the solution▼
Find and replace breaks your code
Removing every * or # by hand also deletes characters inside code samples, so the code stops working.
💡 See the solution▼
Questions about stripping Markdown
Q.Why do ** and ## show up when I paste a ChatGPT or Claude reply?
A. ChatGPT and Claude write replies in Markdown, a plain-text format where **bold** and ## Heading mark the formatting. The chat window turns those marks into bold text and headings. An email editor, a Word file, or a plain text field does not, so the symbols appear exactly as typed.
Q.Which Markdown syntax does this tool remove?
A. Bold (** and __), italic (* and _), strikethrough (~~), headings (# to ######), inline code, code fences, links, images, list markers (-, *, +), blockquotes (>), horizontal rules, table pipes, footnote references like [^1], reference-style links, and backslash escapes such as \*. Numbered list markers like 1. are left as they are.
Q.What happens to tables and code blocks?
A. For a table, the |---|---| separator row is deleted and the cells in each row are joined with two spaces. Columns are not lined up. For a code block, only the opening and closing ``` lines (and the language tag) are removed. The code inside is copied through unchanged, and the same goes for inline code in backticks.
Q.Can I keep the URLs from links?
A. Yes. Turn on "Keep link URLs" and [Docs](https://example.com) becomes Docs (https://example.com). With the option off, only the link text is kept.
Q.Does it remove HTML tags too?
A. Yes, with the "Remove inline HTML tags" option, which is on by default. It deletes tags such as <br> and <b> and keeps the text between them. Anything shaped like a tag outside a code block is removed, including a placeholder such as <name>, so turn the option off if your text contains those.
Q.Can it replace the em dashes (—) that AI text often contains?
A. Yes. Turn on "Replace em dashes (—) with hyphens". Each em dash, together with the spaces or tabs around it, becomes a spaced hyphen ( - ). The option is off by default, and it does not touch text inside code.
Q.Is my text uploaded to a server?
A. No. The conversion runs in your browser with JavaScript, and the text you paste is not sent to our server.
Q.Can I turn the plain text back into Markdown?
A. No. The symbols are deleted, so the original formatting cannot be rebuilt from the result. Keep a copy of the original reply if you may need it again.
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