and are used for pure style bold and italics, without semantics; <strong> and <em> are used to emphasize content. 1. Bold the text and Italicize the text, both of which only affect the appearance. 2. <strong> means important content, usually displayed in bold; <em> means emphasis, usually displayed in italics. 3. If the style effect is required and there is no emphasis on intention, use or ; if the importance or tone change is needed, use <strong> or <em>.
The <b></b>
and <i></i>
tags in HTML are used to apply basic formatting to text — specifically, making it bold or italic. However, their use has evolved over time, especially as HTML shifted from purely presentational markup to semantic structure.

Here's how they differ and when you might want to use each:

What <b></b>
and <i></i>
Actually Do
- The
<b></b>
tag makes text <strong>bold . - The
<i></i>
tag makes text <em>italic .
These tags were originally meant for visual styling only. They don't imply any special meaning or emphasis — just a way to make text look different on the page.
For example:

<p>This is <b>bold text</b> and this is <i>italic text</i>.</p>
This will show up visually as:
"This is <strong>bold text and this is <em>italic text ."
But if you're building modern, accessible, and semantic websites, that's where things get a bit more nuanced.
When to Use <strong>
and <em>
instead
If your goal is to <strong>emphasize something — like highlighting important text or indicating stress in a sentence — you should use <strong>
and <em>
instead.
<strong>
usually renders as bold, but it also tells browsers, screen readers, and search engines that this part of the text is <strong>important .<em>
typically appears italicized, but it adds <strong>emphasis to the tone or significance of the word or phrase.
Example:
<p>Please read the <strong>terms and conditions</strong> carefully, and note the <em>fine print</em>.</p>
In this case, both bold and italic styles may be visible, but the semantic meaning is clearer — “terms and conditions” is important, and “fine print” carries extra nuance.
Screen readers may even change tone or pronunciation when reading content inside these tags.
Visual vs Semantic Markup
HTML5 encourages developers to write with meaning, not just appear. That's why:
- Use
<b></b>
and<i></i>
<strong>only when you want stylistic bold or italic without any semantic value — like displaying an icon via a font, or adding a typographic flourish. - Use
<strong>
and<em>
when the formatting reflects importance or emphasis.
A few examples where <b></b>
or <i></i>
might still be appropriate:
- Displaying product names in a list where you want them bolded but not empty.
- Styling parts of a heading differently for design purposes without implying importance.
- Icons using fonts like FontAwesome often rely on
<i></i>
for legacy reasons (though this is more of a convention than a rule).
Summary
To break it down:
-
<b></b>
= bold, no extra meaning -
<i></i>
= italic, no extra meaning -
<strong>
= bold importance -
<em>
= italic emphasis
So, if you're formatting text for style alone, go with <b></b>
or <i></i>
. If you're trying to convey meaning, <strong>
and <em>
are better choices.
That's basically it — simple tags, but worth knowing the difference.
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