In short
Stripping Markdown character by character leaves a wall of words, so this converter translates structure into text conventions instead: headings go on their own line in upper case, bullets become dashes, numbered lists keep their numbers, tables are aligned into columns, links become text followed by the URL in parentheses, and code blocks are indented four spaces.
| Headings | Own line, upper case, blank line after |
|---|---|
| Lists | Dashes and numbers, two-space indent per nesting level |
| Tables | Column-aligned with padded spacing, not raw pipes |
| Links | text (https://example.com) |
| Code | Indented four spaces, line breaks preserved |
| Removed | Asterisks, underscores, backticks, hashes and bracket syntax |
What "plain text" means here
Deleting every Markdown symbol produces a wall of words. This converter instead translates the structure into text conventions people already read:
- Headings are kept on their own line in upper case, followed by a blank line.
- Bullets become
-, numbered lists keep their numbers, and nesting is shown with two-space indents. - Links become
text (https://…)so the destination isn't lost. - Tables are laid out with
|separators; code blocks are indented by four spaces. - Bold and italic markers are removed; the words stay.
Where this is useful
Pasting an AI-generated answer into a web form or support ticket that renders ** literally. Sending release notes by SMS or a plain-text mailing list. Feeding text into a screen reader, a word-count tool, or a translation service that mangles formatting. Cleaning up Markdown before it goes into a spreadsheet cell or a database field.
Keeping some structure
If you'd rather keep the Markdown and just make it readable, most email clients and chat apps now render basic Markdown themselves — in which case you don't need to convert at all. Use plain text when the destination is strict about characters.