Put three or more dashes, asterisks or underscores on a line by themselves. Always leave a blank line above a --- rule: directly under a line of text, the dashes turn that text into a heading instead.
All ways to write it
Three or more dashes on their own line. Leave a blank line above it.Works everywhere---
Three or more asterisks.Works everywhere***
Three or more underscores.Works everywhere___
Example
You type
## Summary
Two fixes and one new export option.
---
## DetailsYou get
Summary
Two fixes and one new export option.
Details
Questions
Why did --- turn my text into a heading?
Dashes directly under a line of text are the underline style for a level 2 heading. Add a blank line between the text and the ---, or use *** instead.
Can I use spaces between the characters?
Yes. - - - and * * * also work, as long as the line holds nothing else.
Why does --- at the top of my file disappear?
Many tools read a --- block at the very top as YAML front matter (metadata), not as a rule.
Horizontal line in Confluence
Markdown Macro+ lists horizontal rules among its supported syntax, so --- renders as a divider. On a normal Confluence page, the editor's divider element does the same job, and Markdown Exporter exports it as a horizontal rule.