YouTube Text Formatter
Format YouTube descriptions, titles, comments, and community posts with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, monospace, and small-caps Unicode characters. YouTube also supports native asterisk-bold, hyphen-strikethrough, and underscore-italic in comments. Both options are covered below.
How to use the YouTube text formatter
1. Type or paste your text
Drop your video title, description, comment, or community-post text into the input. Every variant (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, monospace, small caps, fullwidth) generates in real time.
2. Pick where it will live
Video title (100 chars), video description (5,000 chars), comment (10,000 chars), community post (2,000 chars), channel description (1,000 chars). Live counter updates as you type.
3. Copy the variant you want
Each variant has a Copy button. Open YouTube Studio, paste into the title or description; on the watch page, paste into a comment or community post.
YouTube has two formatting routes
Native asterisk-bold / hyphen-strikethrough (comments only)
YouTube's comment system supports three native formatting shortcuts: See also: text size calculator.
*text*renders as bold_text_renders as italic-text-renders asstrikethrough
These work in YouTube comments and only in YouTube comments. Descriptions and titles don't render them. The native option is the most accessible (real semantic formatting) and screen-reader-friendly.
Unicode bold / italic (everywhere)
For video titles, descriptions, community posts, and anywhere outside the comment-formatting block, you need Unicode bold and italic characters. This tool generates those. They render visually but are not semantic formatting (see accessibility note below).
When YouTube formatting pays off
Video titles with section breaks
Long-form video titles (tutorials, full-album uploads, podcast episodes) benefit from a visual break between part name and description. "𝗧𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹: How to Build a Vue 3 App from Scratch" splits the visual hierarchy.
Description timestamps and chapters
Chapter markers in the description are plain text by convention, but unicode small caps for section labels ("ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs") reads cleaner than ALL CAPS.
Community posts
The community tab is a feed of text-and-image posts. Formatting variety helps individual posts stand out from generic plain-text updates.
Comments calling out timestamps
A comment that says "great moment at *7:30*" renders the timestamp bold via native YouTube comment formatting. Easier to scan than "great moment at 7:30".
Channel descriptions and about pages
Channel descriptions are 1,000 chars and people skim them. Unicode bold for the headline / value prop helps it land.
Accessibility caveat (please read)
Native YouTube comment formatting (asterisk, underscore, hyphen) IS real semantic formatting and reads correctly in screen readers. Unicode bold/italic characters are NOT real formatting and may be read letter-by-letter as "mathematical bold capital A..." or skipped entirely.
Practical rules:
- For YouTube comments: prefer native
*bold*,_italic_,-strike-. They are accessible. - For descriptions, titles, community posts, channel about: use Unicode variants (this tool). Repeat key info in plain text where critical.
- Never use Unicode characters in URLs (links won't work) or as the only signal for hashtags (search won't match).
YouTube character limits cheat sheet
| Surface | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Video title | 100 chars | First 60 chars visible in most layouts. |
| Video description | 5,000 chars | First 100-150 chars visible above "Show more". |
| Comment | 10,000 chars | Supports native *bold*, _italic_, -strike-. |
| Community post | 2,000 chars | Visible without truncation in most cases. |
| Channel description | 1,000 chars | Shown on About tab. |
| Playlist title | 150 chars | Shown in sidebar and channel page. |
| Channel name | 30 chars | The handle (@) is separate, 30 chars too. |
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Frequently asked questions
Does YouTube support real formatting like bold and italic?
Only in comments, via native shortcuts: *bold*, _italic_, -strikethrough-. Descriptions, titles, and community posts don't render those shortcuts. For everywhere else, use Unicode bold / italic characters (this tool).
How do I make text bold in a YouTube comment?
Wrap your text in single asterisks: *like this* renders as bold. Underscore for italic (_like this_), hyphen for strikethrough (-like this-). These are YouTube's native comment-formatting shortcuts.
Will the Unicode bold work in video titles?
Yes. Video titles accept Unicode characters; the bold or italic glyphs from this tool render visually in title text. The 100-character title limit still applies.
Does Unicode formatting hurt SEO or discoverability?
Yes, somewhat. YouTube's search and recommendation system reads the actual text, and Unicode bold characters are different codepoints from plain text. A title with Unicode bold may rank differently for the same query. Use Unicode for branding emphasis; keep core keywords in plain text.
Will screen readers read Unicode bold correctly?
Not reliably. They may spell it out letter-by-letter, skip it, or read it with altered pitch. Native YouTube comment formatting (asterisk-bold) is the accessible alternative - use it when possible.
Can I use emoji in YouTube titles and descriptions?
Yes. Emoji pass through unchanged. A leading emoji in a video title can lift CTR 10-20%. Keep it relevant; YouTube's spam filter flags excessive emoji.
Does Unicode formatting work in YouTube Shorts titles too?
Yes. Shorts use the same title field as regular videos (100 char limit). All variants from this tool work.
How long should a YouTube video title be?
Front-load the first 50-60 characters for the most important info. Mobile feed truncates around 50 chars; desktop around 70. Keep total title under 70 chars when possible. See also: Twitter / X text formatter. See also: Telegram text formatter.
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