HTML Text Formatting

Purpose of Text Formatting

Text formatting tags allow you to change the appearance and meaning of text—for emphasis, corrections, highlights, or special notations.

Bold Text

• <b>: Makes text bold visually
• <strong>: Marks text as important (semantic)

<b>Bold</b> and <strong>Important</strong>

Italic Text

• <i>: Italic style
• <em>: Emphasized text (semantic meaning)

<i>Italic</i> and <em>Emphasized</em>

Underlined and Marked Text

• <u>: Underlined text
• <mark>: Highlighted (marked) text

<u>Underline</u> and <mark>Highlighted</mark>

Small, Subscript, Superscript

• <small>: Smaller font size
• <sub>: Subscript (e.g., H₂O)
• <sup>: Superscript (e.g., E = mc²)

<small>Note</small>, H<sub>2</sub>O, E = mc<sup>2</sup>

Deleted and Inserted Text

• <del>: Deleted or removed text
• <ins>: Inserted or added text

<del>$19.99</del> <ins>$14.99</ins>

Nesting Formatting Tags

Tags can be combined to create layered emphasis, as long as they are nested properly:

<strong><em>This is strong and emphasized.</em></strong>

Practice Prompt

Write a paragraph using at least 5 formatting tags such as <strong>, <em>, <mark>, <del>, and <sup>.

<p><strong>Warning:</strong> This <em>feature</em> is <mark>currently in beta</mark>. It was <del>free</del> but now costs $10<sup>*</sup>.</p>

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