Can't find the italic button on your iPhone? Its location depends on the app you're typing in. Here are the controls for Messages, Notes, email, and documents, plus the app-specific shortcuts for popular chats.
Start with the app's formatting menu
A text field without rich-text support has no native italic option. In a supported editor, double-tap a word to select it. Adjust the selection handles to cover the passage you want to italicize.
Tap the selection to display its editing options. Tap the Forward button if Format isn't visible. Choose Format. Tap Italic when the editor offers it.
For apps with their own toolbars, use the controls below. Seeing B/I/U in an older tutorial? That's a historical iPhone menu label. Apple's current general editing menu uses Format.
Italicize words in Messages
Messages supports real italics in iMessage on iOS 18 and later, including iOS 26; recipients with older or other operating systems receive plain text, so use these steps for compatible iMessage conversations.
Open Messages and an iMessage conversation. Type your message. Select the words you want to italicize.
Tap Text Format above the keyboard. Then choose Italic. Tap Send.
To italicize text from the start of your next message, tap Text Format before typing, then choose Italic. Enter your text. Tap Send. This formatting feature is for iMessage, not SMS or RCS.
Use the toolbar in Notes
Open the note you want to edit in Notes, or create a new one. Select existing text, or place the insertion point where you want to type in italics. Tap Format. Choose Italic.
You can also swipe through the format bar to reach commonly used styles. If the formatting you need isn't available, try a note in another account. Notes formatting depends on the note's account type.
Add emphasis to an email
These controls italicize text in your email's message body.
In Apple Mail, tap Compose, then enter the body of your email. Select the passage you want to italicize. Tap Text Format above the keyboard. Choose Italic.
In Gmail, tap Compose, then enter your message. Double-tap the text you want to format. Choose Format from the editing menu. Tap Italic.
In Outlook, compose an email. Select the passage you want to change. Tap Aa in the compose toolbar. Choose Italic.
Format documents in Pages and Google Docs
Pages has an italic button below Font, while Google Docs offers an italic control when you're editing.
- 1.Open your document in Pages.
- 2.Select the text, text box, shape, or table cell you want to format.
- 3.Tap Format, then Text or Cell if those controls aren't already displayed.
- 4.Tap Italic below Font.
- 5.For Google Docs, open a document you can edit and tap Edit. Double-tap your text, adjust the blue selection markers, and tap Italic.
- 6.For the keyboard route in either app, connect an external keyboard, select your text, and press Command-I. Google notes that some shortcuts vary by language or keyboard.
Match the shortcut to your chat app
Chat apps use different formatting shortcuts, so the same characters don't work everywhere.
In WhatsApp, surround the passage with one underscore on each side, like _this_. Tap Send to send the formatted message.
In Discord, type *this* or _this_ in your message. Send the message to display the passage in italics.
In Signal, select the text in your message before sending it. Scroll through the selection menu to Format. Choose Italic. Send your message.
For Reddit posts and comments, apply the rich-text composer's Italics control to your text. Reddit is retiring automatic asterisk and underscore conversion in its mobile app, so skip that shortcut from older tutorials.
Create italic-looking text for other fields
No formatting button? A Unicode generator creates characters that resemble italics. It changes the characters themselves, and the destination must support those characters to display them correctly.
Open YayText's Bold / Italic page in Safari. Enter your wording under Your Text. Tap Copy beside Italic (serif) or Italic (sans). Paste the result into the destination text field.
If the characters don't display correctly, use ordinary text there or write the content in an app with native italics, such as Notes. Copying styled text between apps doesn't guarantee that the formatting will survive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make all text on my iPhone italic?
There is no systemwide italic setting. Display settings change text weight or size. Installing fonts makes them available to compatible document apps; it doesn't italicize all iPhone text.
How do I bring Markdown italics into Notes?
On iOS 26 and later, import a .md file containing Markdown emphasis such as *text*. In Files, touch and hold the file, choose Share, then Notes, and save it as a new note or into an existing note. Notes converts the imported Markdown into rich text; this is a file-import feature, not automatic conversion while typing.
How do I remove formatting in Gmail?
Select the formatted text while composing, open Format, and choose Clear formatting. This removes formatting from the selection, including italics.
What does an italic keyboard actually change?
Unicode keyboards replace ordinary characters with different characters that look italic. Their appearance depends on the destination app. Installing one doesn't add native rich-text formatting to a field.