Not every tag works everywhere - see the reference below. Based on lightwo's Comprehensive Formatting Help.
Where tags work
Steam limits vary by area. Character limits are approximate - Steam's built-in help is often inconsistent.
| Area | Supported tags | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Profile summary | h1–h3, b, u, i, strike, spoiler, hr, url | 4,000 |
| Profile showcases | h1 (except trade), h2, h3, b, u, i, strike, spoiler, hr, url | 8,000 |
| Comments | h2, h3, b, u, i, strike, spoiler, hr, url (not on profiles) | 1,000 |
| Discussions | h1–h3, b, u, i, strike, spoiler, lists, quote, code, table, embeds | 18,000 |
| Workshop / UGC description | h1–h3, formatting, table, img, video, previewyoutube | 8,000 |
| Guide sections | All formatting + previewimg, screenshot, previewyoutube, video | 8,000 / section |
| Reviews | h1–h3, b, u, i, strike, spoiler, lists, quote, code, table, embeds | 8,000 |
| Group summary | h1–h3, b, u, i, strike, lists, quote, code, table | 3,000 |
BBCode reference
Documented and undocumented tags - copy any example:
Text styles
[b]text[/b]Bold text
[i]text[/i]Italic text
[u]text[/u]Underlined text
[strike]text[/strike]Crossed-out text
[spoiler]text[/spoiler]Hidden until clicked
Works best for text, not images
Headings
[h1]text[/h1]Largest heading
Not available in comments or activity posts
[h2]text[/h2]Section heading
Undocumented but works in many areas
[h3]text[/h3]Subsection heading
Undocumented but works in many areas
Links
[url=https://example.com]link text[/url]Hyperlink with custom label
https://example.comPaste a URL on its own line - Steam auto-links it
Blocks
[quote]text[/quote]Quoted block
[quote=author]text[/quote]Quote with attribution
[quote=author;COMMENT_ID]text[/quote]Links to a specific comment in the same thread
Comment ID is in the post permalink
[code]text[/code]Fixed-width, preserves spaces
[hr][/hr]Divider line
Add a line break before [hr] to avoid extra spacing
[noparse][b]tags[/b][/noparse]Show BBCode literally
Lists
[list][*]item one[*]item two[/list]Unordered list
[olist][*]first[*]second[/olist]Ordered list
Tables
[table][tr][th]Name[/th][th]Age[/th][/tr][tr][td]John[/td][td]65[/td][/tr][/table]Rows with header and data cells
noborder/equalcells only work in some official articles
Media (guides & UGC)
Undocumented - mainly guides and workshop descriptions
[img]https://example.com/image.png[/img]Embed an image by URL
Mainly UGC descriptions/summaries and guides
[video mp4=https://example.com/video.mp4][/video]Embed a muted video (any format)
Availability varies; may break in guides
[previewyoutube=VIDEO_ID;full][/previewyoutube]Embedded YouTube player in guides
Use full, leftthumb, or rightthumb for layout
[previewimg=IMAGE_ID;sizeFull,floatLeft;file.png]Alt text[/previewimg]Image from guide uploads with size/alignment
Image must exist in guide images
[screenshot=IMAGE_ID;https://example.com/thumb.png]Alt text[/screenshot]Screenshot with optional custom thumbnail URL
Other undocumented
Tags not in Steam's built-in formatting help
[pullquote]The readers are impatient.[/pullquote]Highlighted quote block in guides
[p]The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.[/p]Explicit paragraph wrapper
Auto-embeds (paste URL)
Put these on their own line - Steam turns them into widgets:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_IDAuto-embeds as a video widget
Requires YouTube cookies in account settings
https://vimeo.com/VIDEO_IDAuto-embeds as a video widget
Requires Vimeo cookies in account settings
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/MODEL_IDAuto-embeds a 3D model viewer
Requires Sketchfab cookies in account settings
https://store.steampowered.com/app/APP_ID/Game/store page widget
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=FILE_IDWorkshop item or guide widget
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/STEAM_ID/inventory/#APPID_CONTEXT_ASSETIDInventory item preview widget
Undocumented; preview generation can be unreliable
Unicode profile name styles
Steam display names support Unicode - paste into Edit Profile → Profile Name: