diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 0138f6a6..a4e9bdf8 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Enhances:
     knitr
 Suggests:
     altdoc,
+    markdown,
     pandoc,
     rmarkdown,
     rstudioapi,
diff --git a/R/build_tt.R b/R/build_tt.R
index 4a313892..5c22d243 100644
--- a/R/build_tt.R
+++ b/R/build_tt.R
@@ -78,3 +78,14 @@ build_tt <- function(x, output = NULL) {
 
   return(out)
 }
+
+
+finalize_bootstrap <- function(x) {
+    if (meta(x)$output != "html") return(x)
+    out <- gsub(
+      "$tinytable_BOOTSTRAP_CLASS",
+      "table",
+      x,
+      fixed = TRUE)
+    return(out)
+}
diff --git a/R/format_tt.R b/R/format_tt.R
index 00598537..0df983c9 100644
--- a/R/format_tt.R
+++ b/R/format_tt.R
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@
 #' @param num_mark_big Character to use as a thousands separator.
 #' @param num_mark_dec Decimal mark character. Default is the global option 'OutDec'.
 #' @param num_suffix Logical; if TRUE display short numbers with `digits` significant digits and K (thousands), M (millions), B (billions), or T (trillions) suffixes.
-#' @param sprintf String passed to the `?sprintf` function to format numbers or interpolate strings with a user-defined pattern (similar to the `glue` package, but using Base R).
-#' @param url Logical; if TRUE, treats the column as a URL.
 #' @param date A string passed to the `format()` function, such as "%Y-%m-%d". See the "Details" section in `?strptime`
 #' @param bool A function to format logical columns. Defaults to title case.
-#' @param other A function to format columns of other types. Defaults to identity (no formatting).
+#' @param other A function to format columns of other types. Defaults to `as.character()`.
+#' @param markdown Logical; if TRUE, render markdown syntax in cells. Ex: `_italicized text_` is properly italicized in HTML and LaTeX.
+#' @param sprintf String passed to the `?sprintf` function to format numbers or interpolate strings with a user-defined pattern (similar to the `glue` package, but using Base R).
 #' @inheritParams tt
 #' @inheritParams style_tt
 #'
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@ format_tt <- function(x,
                       num_suffix = FALSE,
                       num_mark_big = "",
                       num_mark_dec = getOption("OutDec", default = "."),
-                      sprintf = NULL,
-                      url = FALSE,
                       date = "%Y-%m-%d",
                       bool = function(column) tools::toTitleCase(tolower(column)),
-                      other = identity
+                      other = as.character,
+                      markdown = FALSE,
+                      sprintf = NULL
                       ) {
 
   out <- x
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ format_tt <- function(x,
                 url = url,
                 date = date,
                 bool = bool,
+                markdown = markdown,
                 other = other)
     out <- meta(out, "lazy_format", c(meta(out)$lazy_format, list(cal)))
   } else {
@@ -77,7 +78,8 @@ format_tt <- function(x,
                           url = url,
                           date = date,
                           bool = bool,
-                          other = other)
+                          other = other,
+                          markdown = markdown)
   }
   return(out)
 }
@@ -94,7 +96,8 @@ format_tt_lazy <- function(x,
                            url = FALSE,
                            date = "%Y-%m-%d",
                            bool = identity,
-                           other = identity
+                           markdown = FALSE,
+                           other = as.character
                            ) {
 
   if (isTRUE(check_atomic_vector(x))) {
@@ -116,11 +119,11 @@ format_tt_lazy <- function(x,
   assert_flag(num_zero)
   assert_string(num_mark_big)
   assert_string(num_mark_dec)
-  assert_flag(url)
   assert_string(date)
   assert_function(bool)
   assert_function(identity)
   assert_string(sprintf, null.ok = TRUE)
+  assert_flag(markdown)
 
 
   # column index NULL or regex or integer vector
@@ -192,6 +195,25 @@ format_tt_lazy <- function(x,
 
   } # loop over columns
 
+  # markdown at the very end
+  if (isTRUE(markdown)) {
+    assert_dependency("markdown")
+    for (col in j) {
+      if (meta(x)$output == "html") {
+        fun <- function(x) {
+          out <- trimws(markdown::mark_html(text = x, template = FALSE))
+          out <- sub("<p>", "", out, fixed = TRUE)
+          out <- sub("</p>", "", out, fixed = TRUE)
+          return(out)
+        }
+        x[, col] <- sapply(x[, col], fun)
+      } else if (meta(x)$output == "latex") {
+        fun <- function(x) trimws(markdown::mark_latex(text = x, template = FALSE))
+        x[, col] <- sapply(x[, col], fun)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   if (isTRUE(atomic_vector)) {
     return(x[[1]])
   } else {
diff --git a/man/format_tt.Rd b/man/format_tt.Rd
index bd327609..59dd94ea 100644
--- a/man/format_tt.Rd
+++ b/man/format_tt.Rd
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ format_tt(
   num_suffix = FALSE,
   num_mark_big = "",
   num_mark_dec = getOption("OutDec", default = "."),
-  sprintf = NULL,
-  url = FALSE,
   date = "\%Y-\%m-\%d",
   bool = function(column) tools::toTitleCase(tolower(column)),
-  other = identity
+  other = as.character,
+  markdown = FALSE,
+  sprintf = NULL
 )
 }
 \arguments{
@@ -37,15 +37,15 @@ format_tt(
 
 \item{num_mark_dec}{Decimal mark character. Default is the global option 'OutDec'.}
 
-\item{sprintf}{String passed to the \code{?sprintf} function to format numbers or interpolate strings with a user-defined pattern (similar to the \code{glue} package, but using Base R).}
-
-\item{url}{Logical; if TRUE, treats the column as a URL.}
-
 \item{date}{A string passed to the \code{format()} function, such as "\%Y-\%m-\%d". See the "Details" section in \code{?strptime}}
 
 \item{bool}{A function to format logical columns. Defaults to title case.}
 
-\item{other}{A function to format columns of other types. Defaults to identity (no formatting).}
+\item{other}{A function to format columns of other types. Defaults to \code{as.character()}.}
+
+\item{markdown}{Logical; if TRUE, render markdown syntax in cells. Ex: \verb{_italicized text_} is properly italicized in HTML and LaTeX.}
+
+\item{sprintf}{String passed to the \code{?sprintf} function to format numbers or interpolate strings with a user-defined pattern (similar to the \code{glue} package, but using Base R).}
 }
 \value{
 A data frame with formatted columns.
diff --git a/vignettes/tutorial.qmd b/vignettes/tutorial.qmd
index 016202e4..188f2f60 100644
--- a/vignettes/tutorial.qmd
+++ b/vignettes/tutorial.qmd
@@ -300,6 +300,42 @@ tt(dat) |>
 ```
 :::
 
+## Markdown
+
+Markdown can be rendered in cells by using the `markdown` argument of the `format_tt()` function (note: this requires installing the `markdown` as an optional dependency). 
+
+```{r}
+dat <- data.frame( markdown = c(
+  "This is _italic_ text.",
+  "This sentence ends with a superscript^2^.")
+)
+
+tt(dat) |>
+  format_tt(j = 1, markdown = TRUE) |>
+  style_tt(j = 1, align = "c")
+```
+
+Markdown syntax can be particularly useful when formatting URL links in a table:
+
+```{r}
+dat <- data.frame(
+  Links = c(
+    "[`marginaleffects`](https://www.marginaleffects.com/)",
+    "[`modelsummary`](https://www.modelsummary.com/)",
+    "[`tinytable`](https://vincentarelbundock.github.io/tinytable/)",
+    "[`countrycode`](https://vincentarelbundock.github.io/countrycode/)",
+    "[`WDI`](https://vincentarelbundock.github.io/WDI/)",
+    "[`altdoc`](https://etiennebacher.github.io/altdoc/)",
+    "[`plot2`](https://grantmcdermott.com/plot2/)",
+    "[`parameters`](https://easystats.github.io/parameters/)",
+    "[`insight`](https://easystats.github.io/insight/)"
+  )
+)
+
+tt(dat) |> format_tt(j = 1, markdown = TRUE)
+```
+
+
 # Style
 
 The main styling function for the `tinytable` package is `style_tt()`. Via this function, you can access three main interfaces to customize tables: