Does this go through a real Markdown parser, or just strip characters with regex?

It parses with `marked` first, then strips the resulting HTML tags, rather than trying to regex-match Markdown syntax directly. That matters because Markdown syntax is genuinely tricky to detect reliably with regex alone, nested emphasis and reference-style links are easy to get wrong, while a real parser already handles those cases correctly.

What happens to link text and image alt text?

Link text is kept and the URL is dropped, so [docs](https://example.com) becomes just docs. Image alt text is kept the same way; the image itself obviously can't survive as plain text.

Are list items preserved as plain text?

Yes, each list item becomes a line prefixed with a dash, so the list structure is still readable even though the Markdown bullet syntax itself is gone.

Markdown Stripper - Convert Markdown to Plain Text

Overview

Introduction

Sometimes you need the words out of a Markdown document without any of its formatting, for a search index, a plain-text email preview, or pasting into a field that doesn't render Markdown at all.

This strips every layer of Markdown syntax while keeping the readable text content intact.

What Is Markdown Stripper?

A Markdown-to-plain-text converter that removes headings, emphasis, links, images, and list markers, leaving only the underlying text.

Rather than hand-writing a Markdown-syntax stripper, it converts to HTML first (using a real parser) and then strips the resulting tags, which correctly handles edge cases like nested emphasis or reference-style links.

How Markdown Stripper Works

The input is parsed to HTML with `marked`, then block-level closing tags become newlines, list items become dash-prefixed lines, and every remaining tag is removed.

HTML entities in the result (like &) are decoded back to their literal characters, so the output reads as plain text throughout, not a mix of text and leftover entity codes.

When To Use Markdown Stripper

Use it to generate a plain-text preview or excerpt from a Markdown post or README, for a search index or a notification email.

It's also useful when pasting Markdown content into a plain-text field, an SMS, a plain email, a form, that would otherwise show the raw # and ** characters.

Often used alongside Markdown Link Remover, Markdown to HTML Converter and Markdown Header Extractor.

Features

Advantages

Handles Markdown edge cases correctly by parsing first, rather than guessing with regex.
Keeps link and image text readable instead of leaving raw [text](url) syntax behind.
Runs entirely client-side with no upload required.

Limitations

Loose lists (with blank lines between items) may include an extra blank line between entries, since the parser treats each item as its own paragraph internally.
Table structure isn't preserved; cell text runs together without column alignment.

Examples

Heading, emphasis, and a link

Input

# Notes

Some **bold** text with a [link](https://example.com).

Output

Notes

Some bold text with a link.

The heading marker, emphasis markers, and link syntax are all removed, keeping only the readable text.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Use this for previews and excerpts, not as a substitute for actually reviewing formatted content.
Trim the result afterward if you only need the first line or two as a short preview.
Prefer Extract Markdown Headers instead if you specifically want just the document's outline, not its full body text.

Developer Notes

Rather than hand-writing a token-to-plain-text renderer, this reuses the same HTML-then-strip-tags approach as the Markdown to HTML converter's output, piped through a tag-stripping regex and an HTML entity decode pass. Going through real HTML first means every Markdown edge case `marked` already parses correctly doesn't need to be re-solved with a Markdown-specific regex.

Markdown Stripper Use Cases

Generating a plain-text excerpt for a search index or notification email
Pasting Markdown content into a field that renders plain text only
Producing a readable preview of a README's content without formatting noise

Common Mistakes

Expecting table columns to stay aligned; cell text is preserved but not the table layout.
Using this when you actually need the HTML, not plain text, in which case Markdown to HTML is the right tool instead.

Tips

Combine with Extract Markdown Headers first if you only want a document's outline rather than its full stripped body.
Check the output length before using it as a fixed-width preview or excerpt, since Markdown formatting characters are removed and no longer count toward length.

Markdown Stripper