diff --git a/frontend/components/Editor/plugins/MarkdownShortcuts.js b/frontend/components/Editor/plugins/MarkdownShortcuts.js
index de530b00..2431b973 100644
--- a/frontend/components/Editor/plugins/MarkdownShortcuts.js
+++ b/frontend/components/Editor/plugins/MarkdownShortcuts.js
@@ -73,8 +73,19 @@ export default function MarkdownShortcuts() {
         let { mark, shortcut } = key;
         let inlineTags = [];
 
+        // only add tags if they have spaces around them or the tag is beginning or the end of the block
         for (let i = 0; i < startBlock.text.length; i++) {
-          if (startBlock.text.slice(i, i + shortcut.length) === shortcut)
+          const { text } = startBlock;
+          const start = i;
+          const end = i + shortcut.length;
+          if (
+            text.slice(start, end) === shortcut &&
+            (start === 0 ||
+              end === text.length ||
+              [text.slice(start - 1, start), text.slice(end, end + 1)].includes(
+                ' '
+              ))
+          )
             inlineTags.push(i);
         }