Bear Markdown: Complete Guide
Bear is a beautiful writing app for Apple devices that uses a markdown-compatible syntax called Polar Bear. It renders formatting inline as you type and supports tags, nested headings, and note linking. Notes are stored in a proprietary format but can be exported as standard markdown.
Markdown support:Custom
Markdown Support in Bear
| Format | Syntax | Support |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | **text** | Yes |
| Italic | *text* | Yes |
| Strikethrough | ~~text~~ | Yes Uses -text- single dash syntax |
| Headings | # H1 ... ###### H6 | Yes |
| Links | [text](url) | Yes |
| Images |  | Yes |
| Blockquotes | > quote | Yes |
| Ordered Lists | 1. item | Yes |
| Unordered Lists | - item | Yes |
| Code (inline) | `code` | Yes |
| Code Blocks | ```lang\ncode\n``` | Yes |
| Tables | | col | col | | Yes Added in Bear 2 |
| Task Lists | - [ ] task | Yes Use - todo or - task |
| Footnotes | [^1] | Yes |
| Horizontal Rule | --- | Yes |
Things to know
- Uses its own Polar Bear markup that is compatible with but not identical to CommonMark.
- Strikethrough uses single dashes (-text-) instead of double tildes.
- Tags are created with # prefix inside note body, which can conflict with headings.
- Available only on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bear support markdown?
Yes. Bear uses Polar Bear markup, which is compatible with markdown. It supports headings, bold, italic, links, images, code blocks, and more. You can also export notes as standard .md files.
How do you bold text in Bear?
Wrap the text with double asterisks: **bold text**. Bear renders the formatting inline so you see the bold styling as you type.
Does Bear support tables?
Yes. Bear 2 added table support. You can create tables using standard pipe-table markdown syntax with headers and alignment.
Is Bear available on Windows?
No. Bear is exclusive to Apple platforms: macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. It syncs via iCloud across your Apple devices.