How to bold text on LinkedIn (plus italics, underline and lists)
LinkedIn has no bold button, but you can still format posts with bold, italic and underlined text. Here's how it works, and when not to use it.
LinkedIn's post editor has no bold button, no italics and no bullet lists. Yet you've seen posts with bold hooks and neat lists. They're not using a secret feature. They're using special Unicode characters that look like bold or italic letters, and they work anywhere text can be pasted.
How LinkedIn bold text works
Unicode, the system computers use for text, includes several alphabets designed for maths: bold letters, italic letters, script letters and more. So 𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱 isn't the word "Bold" with formatting; it's five different characters that happen to look bold.
That's why it survives being pasted into LinkedIn: LinkedIn sees ordinary characters, not formatting.
How to bold text on LinkedIn
- Open the LinkedIn post formatter and write or paste your post.
- Select the words you want to style and click B (or press Cmd+B on Mac, Ctrl+B on Windows). Click again to switch it back off.
- Use I for italics, plus bold italic, underline, strikethrough and monospace.
- Turn selected lines into bullet or numbered lists.
- Watch the live preview. It shows exactly how the post looks on phone and desktop, and where LinkedIn cuts it off with "…more".
- Click Copy post and paste it into LinkedIn.
To see one line in every style at once, use the "Every style at once" box under the editor, then click any style to copy it.
When to use bold (and when not to)
Styled letters are great for a hook or a key phrase. But there are real downsides to overdoing it:
- Screen readers can't read them properly. People using assistive technology may hear each letter's technical name, or nothing. Styling your whole post makes it inaccessible.
- LinkedIn search can't find them. A styled word is different characters, so searching "marketing" won't match "𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴".
- Too much reads like shouting. If everything is bold, nothing stands out.
A good rule: style a few key words or your first line, never whole paragraphs. The formatter warns you when more than a quarter of your post is styled.
Other ways to make posts easier to read
You don't need special characters to make posts scannable:
- Short lines and white space. One idea per line, with blank lines between short paragraphs.
- Simple symbols as bullets: →, •, ✓. The formatter has quick buttons for these.
- A strong first line. It's what people see before tapping "…more". See LinkedIn's character limit and the "see more" cut-off.
- Emojis as signposts, sparingly.
Not sure your hook is strong enough? Test it in the headline analyzer with the "LinkedIn hook" setting.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make text bold on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn has no formatting buttons, so use a LinkedIn text formatter. It converts your selected words into Unicode bold characters, which you then copy and paste into your post.
Is LinkedIn bold text bad for accessibility?
It can be. Screen readers don't read Unicode bold letters normally, so use it for a few words only, never for whole sentences or paragraphs.
Does bold text work in LinkedIn comments and headlines?
Yes. Because they're ordinary characters, they work in posts, comments, your headline and your About section.
Can I add bullet points on LinkedIn?
Yes. Use the list buttons in the formatter, or start lines with symbols like • or →. LinkedIn keeps line breaks, so lists look clean.