Two small but frequently misunderstood features in Markdown: horizontal rules (dividers) and line breaks. They look simple but behave differently from what most people expect.
Horizontal Rules
A horizontal rule draws a full-width dividing line across the page — useful for separating major sections of content.
Use three or more of any of these characters on their own line:
---
***
___All three produce the same result — a horizontal rule:
HTML equivalent: <hr />
Which one to use?
Any of the three work. Pick one and use it consistently. Most style guides recommend --- (three hyphens) because it is the least ambiguous.
Tip: Leave a blank line before and after
---to avoid Markdown interpreting it as a heading underline (setext-style heading).
Line Breaks
This is where most people get confused. In Markdown, pressing Enter once does not create a new line in the output — it is treated as a space within the same paragraph.
This is line one.
This is line two.Output: This is line one. This is line two.
To force a line break within a paragraph, you have two options:
Option 1 — Two trailing spaces
Add two spaces at the end of a line before pressing Enter.
This is line one.
This is line two.This is line one.
This is line two.
Option 2 — Backslash (GFM)
In GitHub Flavoured Markdown and many modern renderers, a trailing backslash \ also creates a line break.
This is line one.\
This is line two.This is line one.
This is line two.
Paragraph Breaks
To start a new paragraph (with vertical space between them), leave a blank line:
This is the first paragraph.
This is the second paragraph.This is the first paragraph.
This is the second paragraph.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Single Enter after a line | Lines merge into one paragraph | Leave a blank line or use two trailing spaces |
--- with no blank line above | Renders as a heading underline | Add a blank line before --- |
Using <br> for line breaks | Works but mixes HTML into Markdown | Use two trailing spaces instead |
Best Practices
- Use horizontal rules sparingly — too many dividers fragment content and make it harder to read.
- Prefer paragraph breaks (blank line) over forced line breaks for most content.
- Avoid
<br>tags in Markdown — they work but make source files less clean.
Quick Reference
--- (horizontal rule)
Line one.
Line two. (forced line break — two trailing spaces)
Paragraph one.
Paragraph two. (paragraph break — blank line)Hope you find this helpful!
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