How To Send Bold or Italicized Messages in Google Talk

Like all other Google products, Google Talk is also well known for its simplicity. I like it because it’s lightweight and don’t have those flash avatars or ads; nor does it have any option / preference to choose font style, size or color. Here’s a small cheat which allows you to send bold or italicized messages in Google Talk:

To send a message in bold, you simply need to add asterisk (*) before and after the text.
For example: *Hello World* would look like Hello World

Similarly, to send a message in italics, you need to add underscore before and after the text.
For Example: _Hello World_ would look like Hello World

Or if you would like to send the message in both Bold as well as italicized style; add both underscore and asterisk before and after the text.
For Example: _*Hello World*_ would look like Hello World

This post was published by on January 16, 2007

About the Author: Thilak Rao works as a Social Media Expert. He is one of the first professional bloggers from India, and he loves to write, travel and click photos. Follow him on Twitter @thilak

  • http://sankaranand.com/blog Sankar Anand

    Wow Thilak ! Great ! i just posted the information in Google Blogoscoped Forum

  • http://www.techlive.co.nr Phalgun

    Very useful trick.

  • http://www.techlive.co.nr Phalgun

    Isn’t there any trick to write in words with underline?

  • http://allenation.com Allen.H

    I like these hacks you present here from time to time, very useful!

    Keep up and drop by sometime ;)
    Allen.H

  • http://tech-buzz.net Thilak

    Sankar: Thanks, maybe you should join Google Blogoscoped as a main stream writer. Your good at it :D

    Phalgun: I’m afraid, there isn’t an cheat to underline the text.

    Allen: Thanks for your encouragements. I’ll keep getting better and better.

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  • http://www.freakitude.com Lovedeep Wadhwa

    nice trick.

  • http://e-techblog.com e-tech

    Good find, also it seems smiley’s only works in gmail.

  • http://lagopi.blogspot.com Ramanathan

    Wonderful. Nice Thilak.

  • http://v.supersearch2007.com/t/index.html Giovanna

    Nice Site!!! (p)s

  • http://www.avirtualexit.com Gili

    This is a neat tip. Thanks for sharing

  • eRicA

    ummm im just wondering but is there any one for underlining? because there seems to be a trick for every one such as *bold* and _italics_

  • Swapnil Vispute

    Hey, I accidentally discovered the trick ( *blah blah*) to make chat bold … felt nice… so jus decided to search if any more tricks are out :) … found this link… great to know about italics too … now since there is a way to make chat bold and italic, then there is definitely a way to underline :) … so lets see who discovers it …
    Cheers,
    Swapnil

  • http://www.techlive.co.nr/ Phalgun

    Isn't there any trick to write in words with underline?

  • shelbo

    I don't know, but strikethrough is dashes (-) on either side like this. -strikethrough-

  • shelbo

    You can also do strikethrough by using dashes. -strikethrough-