diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/live-markdown/decorations.ts b/apps/web/src/components/live-markdown/decorations.ts
index 5b7cb9d..215b7c9 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/components/live-markdown/decorations.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/live-markdown/decorations.ts
@@ -171,6 +171,9 @@ export function liveDecorations(state: EditorState, focused: boolean, notePath:
         let end = to;
         if ((name === 'HeaderMark' || name === 'QuoteMark') && state.sliceDoc(to, to + 1) === ' ') end++;
         hide(from, end);
+      } else if (!editing && name === 'Escape') {
+        // `\*` reads as a literal `*`, as the rendered note shows it.
+        hide(from, from + 1);
       }
     },
   });
diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/live-markdown/escape.test.ts b/apps/web/src/components/live-markdown/escape.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f57c5cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/live-markdown/escape.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { EditorState, StateField } from '@codemirror/state';
+import { type DecorationSet, EditorView } from '@codemirror/view';
+import { markdown, markdownLanguage } from '@codemirror/lang-markdown';
+import { ensureSyntaxTree } from '@codemirror/language';
+import { cjkEmphasis } from './cjk-emphasis.js';
+import { chipEditState } from './chip-editing.js';
+import { tableUIState } from '../LiveMarkdownTable.js';
+import { liveDecorations } from './decorations.js';
+
+const t = (key: string) => key;
+// Focused, so the line holding the cursor shows its source the way it does while the user edits.
+const decorations = StateField.define<DecorationSet>({ create: state => liveDecorations(state, true, 'n.md', 'link', 'table', 'page', 'owner', t as never), update: (_value, tr) => liveDecorations(tr.state, true, 'n.md', 'link', 'table', 'page', 'owner', t as never), provide: field => EditorView.decorations.from(field) });
+
+const views: EditorView[] = [];
+function editor(doc: string, cursor = doc.length) {
+  const view = new EditorView({ parent: document.body, state: EditorState.create({ doc, selection: { anchor: cursor }, extensions: [markdown({ base: markdownLanguage, extensions: [cjkEmphasis] }), chipEditState, tableUIState, decorations] }) });
+  views.push(view);
+  ensureSyntaxTree(view.state, view.state.doc.length, 5000);
+  view.dispatch({});
+  return view;
+}
+afterEach(() => {
+  while (views.length) views.pop()!.destroy();
+});
+
+/** The text each editor line shows. */
+const lines = (view: EditorView) => [...view.dom.querySelectorAll('.cm-line')].map(line => line.textContent);
+
+describe('backslash escapes in the live editor', () => {
+  it('shows the escaped character without its backslash', () => {
+    const view = editor('Judge (5\\*) false and \\_this\\_ plain.\n\n- (6\\*) true\n\nend');
+    expect(lines(view)).toEqual(['Judge (5*) false and _this_ plain.', '', '• (6*) true', '', 'end']);
+  });
+
+  it('shows the backslash while the cursor is on the line', () => {
+    expect(lines(editor('Judge (5\\*) false.\n\nend', 3))[0]).toBe('Judge (5\\*) false.');
+  });
+
+  it('keeps backslashes in code, where they are literal', () => {
+    expect(lines(editor('Code `a\\*b` here.\n\nend'))[0]).toBe('Code a\\*b here.');
+  });
+});