diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 580281c..8455224 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ All notable changes to RigDoctor are recorded here. Format follows
 (`MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH`, pre-1.0). `__version__` and `pyproject.toml` must match the git
 release tag (so the auto-updater, D18, can compare versions).
 
+## [0.3.1] - 2026-05-21
+### Fixed
+- Changelog/release notes now **render Markdown** instead of showing raw `#`/`**` markup —
+  the in-app changelog uses `QTextEdit.setMarkdown()` and the update prompt renders notes as
+  rich text (closes #1).
+
 ## [0.3.0] - 2026-05-21
 ### Added
 - **System inventory (M5)**: CPU, GPU (model/driver/VBIOS/VRAM/PCIe), motherboard/BIOS, RAM
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 219f76d..9fd9fd0 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "rigdoctor"
-version = "0.3.0"
+version = "0.3.1"
 description = "Modular hardware monitoring & crash diagnostics for Linux gamers."
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
diff --git a/src/rigdoctor/__init__.py b/src/rigdoctor/__init__.py
index 20d7a5c..f848e74 100644
--- a/src/rigdoctor/__init__.py
+++ b/src/rigdoctor/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 """RigDoctor — modular hardware monitoring & crash diagnostics for Linux gamers."""
 
-__version__ = "0.3.0"
+__version__ = "0.3.1"
diff --git a/src/rigdoctor/gui/main_window.py b/src/rigdoctor/gui/main_window.py
index bb2c7e4..7c9d47f 100644
--- a/src/rigdoctor/gui/main_window.py
+++ b/src/rigdoctor/gui/main_window.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import sys
 import threading
 
 from PySide6.QtCore import Qt, QProcess, QTimer, Signal
+from PySide6.QtGui import QTextDocument
 from PySide6.QtWidgets import (
     QApplication,
     QButtonGroup,
@@ -171,7 +172,9 @@ class MainWindow(QMainWindow):
         box = QMessageBox(self)
         box.setWindowTitle(f"Update to {self._latest_tag}")
         box.setText(f"Update RigDoctor to {self._latest_tag}?")
-        box.setInformativeText(self._latest_notes or "(no release notes)")
+        notes_doc = QTextDocument()
+        notes_doc.setMarkdown(self._latest_notes or "_(no release notes)_")
+        box.setInformativeText(notes_doc.toHtml())  # render Markdown as rich text (#1)
         box.setStandardButtons(QMessageBox.StandardButton.Ok | QMessageBox.StandardButton.Cancel)
         box.button(QMessageBox.StandardButton.Ok).setText("Update")
         if box.exec() != QMessageBox.StandardButton.Ok:
@@ -232,9 +235,9 @@ class MainWindow(QMainWindow):
             return
         blocks = []
         for tag, date, notes in releases:
-            head = tag + (f"   ({date})" if date else "")
-            blocks.append(f"{head}\n{'─' * len(head)}\n{notes or '(no notes)'}")
-        view.setPlainText("\n\n".join(blocks))
+            title = f"## {tag}" + (f" — {date}" if date else "")
+            blocks.append(f"{title}\n\n{notes or '_(no notes)_'}")
+        view.setMarkdown("\n\n".join(blocks))  # render Markdown instead of raw text (#1)
 
     def _check_updates(self) -> None:
         self._update_checked.emit(updates.update_state())