How to Format Text in a LinkedIn Post

Styling your LinkedIn post with bold, italics, or bullet points can immediately make your content stand out in a crowded feed. It's a simple change that makes your posts easier to read and more professional, guiding your audience to the most important parts of your message. This article will show you exactly how to format text on LinkedIn, covering the best methods and a few strategies for making your content more engaging and effective.

Why Formatting Your LinkedIn Post Is a Game-Changer

Before jumping into the "how," it's worth understanding the "why." A wall of text is one of the fastest ways to make someone scroll past your update. Thoughtful formatting transforms that text into something approachable and persuasive for a few key reasons:

• Increased Readability: Short paragraphs, bullet points, and white space break apart dense blocks of text, making your post less intimidating and easier to skim. Skimmers are more likely to stop and engage if they can quickly grasp your main idea.
• Better Engagement: A clear, well-structured post feels more professional and authoritative. By guiding the reader's eye, you make it easier for them to digest your message, which often leads to more likes, comments, and shares.
• Strategic Emphasis: Bold and italics aren't just for decoration. They are powerful tools for highlighting key phrases, takeaways, or calls to action. You can literally tell your reader, "Hey, this is the most important part of my message."

LinkedIn's Native Formatting Toolbar

For a long time, formatting text on LinkedIn required external tools and workarounds. Thankfully, LinkedIn has recently added a native formatting toolbar to its desktop post editor, making the process much simpler and more accessible. While it might still be rolling out to all users, this is now the easiest and most reliable method.

How to Use the Native Formatting Bar (Desktop)

This method works directly within the post composer on LinkedIn's website. It's clean, doesn't rely on third-party websites, and creates formatting that is accessible for screen readers.

1. Start a New Post: Open the "Start a post" editor on your LinkedIn homepage.
2. Write Your Text: Type out the message you want to share.
3. Highlight and Format: Select the text you wish to format with your mouse. A small, floating toolbar will appear with a few options:
   • B - For bold text.
   • I - For italic text.
   • U - For underlined text.
4. Create Lists: You can also often access bulleted or numbered lists directly from the main post creator interface without highlighting text. Look for the list icons to start a new formatted list.

This native method is currently the best practice. The formatting it applies is clean, widely supported across devices, and presents no accessibility issues. However, if you're on mobile or want access to more unique styles that aren't natively supported, a text converter is still a useful tool to have in your back pocket.

How to Format Text Using a Unicode Converter

If you need to format a post from your phone or want a visual style that LinkedIn doesn't offer, like bold italics or script fonts, a free online text converter is your best bet. These tools work by swapping standard text characters with their Unicode equivalents.

How it Works: A Quick Note on Unicode

Without getting too technical, Unicode is a standard that assigns a unique code to nearly every character and symbol from every language in the world. This includes not just 'A', 'B', and 'C', but also styled versions like '𝗔', '𝘉', and '𝐶'.

When you use a text converter, it's not actually applying formatting like Microsoft Word does. Instead, it's replacing each letter with a different, pre-styled character that looks bolded or italicized. LinkedIn can display these unique characters perfectly fine, thinking they are just symbols, not styled text.

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Using a Text Converter

This process is quick and can be done from any device with a web browser.

1. Step 1: Write Your Post Draft: Write your LinkedIn post in a simple text editor, your notes app, or directly inside the text converter tool. Focus on the message first.
2. Step 2: Find a Text Formatting Tool: There are dozens of free options available. A quick search for "LinkedIn text formatter" or "Unicode text converter" will give you plenty of results. YayText and LingoJam are two popular choices.
3. Step 3: Paste Your Text: Copy the text you want to format and paste it into the input box on the converter website.
4. Step 4: Choose Your Style: The tool will automatically generate your text in dozens of different styles - bold, italic, bold serif, cursive, and many others.
5. Step 5: Copy the New Styled Text: Once you find a style you like, just click the "copy" button next to it. For this example, let's use bold serif.
6. Step 6: Paste Into LinkedIn: Go back to your LinkedIn post draft and paste the converted, styled text where you want it. That's it! Your text now appears formatted in the editor and will publish that way.

Important: A Quick Warning on Accessibility

The biggest downside of the Unicode method involves accessibility. Because you're using visually distinct characters instead of actual formatted text, screen readers used by visually impaired individuals may struggle to interpret them. A screen reader might read "strategy" character by character or interpret it as jargon. For this reason, it's best to stick to LinkedIn's native formatting whenever possible and use Unicode formats sparingly for emphasis, not for entire paragraphs.

Advanced Formatting Strategies for Maximum Impact

Knowing how to format is one thing, knowing when and why is what separates good posts from great ones. Here are a few advanced strategies to incorporate.

1. Master the Art of Line Breaks (White Space)

The single most powerful formatting tip for LinkedIn has nothing to do with bold or italics - it's white space. Short, snackable paragraphs are the key to readability on social media.

• One idea per paragraph. Keep your paragraphs focused on a single point. If you switch ideas, hit 'Enter' twice.
• Aim for 1-2 sentences per paragraph. This might feel strange if you're used to writing emails or articles, but on social media, it creates an airy, approachable post that's easy to read on a mobile screen.
• Use line breaks for tension or reveals. You can build suspense by leaving more space before a punchline or a key insight.

2. Use Emojis and Symbols as Organizers

Emojis and simple symbols go beyond just adding flair. They can act as guideposts for your reader:

• Use them as visual bullets. Instead of a standard black dot, use a checkmark '☑️', '✅', a star, a pointer '→', or a bullseye to draw attention to list items.
• Add emotional context. A '💡' for an idea, a '❗' for a pain point, or a celebration '🎉' can add nuance and personality that text alone lacks.
• Keep it professional. Overusing emojis can appear unprofessional. Choose symbols that align with your brand and use them consistently.

3. Create Effective Lists

Bulleted or numbered lists are perfect for outlining steps, sharing takeaways, or listing benefits. They package information in a way that's incredibly easy for people to process.

To create a list:

• You can use the native list option in the LinkedIn editor toolbar.
• You can manually create a bullet list by typing asterisks (*), hyphens (-), or numbers followed by a space.
• To get a cleaner look, you can also copy the bullet point character from online and paste it into your post.

Putting It All Together: Before and After Examples

Let's see these principles in action.

Before:

This is a post about our product launch next week. We want to inform you about the features and benefits. Stay tuned for more details.

After:

🚀 Exciting News! Our product launch is happening next week, and we can't wait to share all the details with you. Here's what you need to know:

• Feature 1: Description of feature 1.
• Feature 2: Description of feature 2.
• Benefit: How it helps you.

Stay tuned for more updates! 🎉