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Using Github Markdown: How to get literal Pipe into a table

I am producing a cheat sheet using Unix commands and markdown. When I use a pipe in a Unix command I get an extra column. I can't seem to find the character to give a literal |. The pipe between ls and wc gives 4 columns.

Example:

| # | Command | Description |
|:--|:--------|:------------|
| 1. | ls | wc –l | count number of files in a directory. |

Tried: backslash, forward slash, single backtick, triple backtick, surround it with 2 spaces, **,<code> </code>,

Solution

  • adding backslash works:

    | # | Command | Description |
|:--|:--------|:------------|
| 1. | ls \| wc –l | count number of files in a directory. |