Strikethrough Text: Your Guide to Crossing Out Words Anywhere

Ever needed to show an edit, convey a joke, or satisfyingly cross off a completed task in your digital text? The strikethrough — a simple line drawn through words — is a surprisingly versatile and powerful tool for communication.

But figuring out how to create that line-through effect can be frustrating. Some platforms use keyboard shortcuts, others use special characters, and some don't seem to support it at all.

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Fear not! This comprehensive guide will turn you into a strikethrough expert. We'll cover everything from the quick copy-paste method to platform-specific tutorials for Google Docs, Discord, HTML, and virtually anywhere else you write online.

What Exactly is Strikethrough Text?

Strikethrough text is a formatting style where a horizontal line is drawn through the center of characters. It's also known as 'line-through' text. Unlike deleting text, which removes it entirely, strikethrough keeps the original text visible, providing context and showing a visible history of changes or intent.

Why Use Strikethrough? The Practical and Creative Uses

Before we dive into the 'how,' let's explore the 'why.' Understanding the purpose of strikethrough helps you use it more effectively.

• Showing Revisions and Edits: In collaborative documents or project plans, strikethrough is perfect for suggesting deletions without permanently removing the text. This allows collaborators to see the proposed changes clearly.
• Indicating Completed Tasks: There's immense satisfaction in crossing an item off a to-do list. Using strikethrough on digital lists provides the same sense of accomplishment.
• Conveying Irony or Humor: Strikethrough can be used to add a layer of meaning. For example: "I'm so excited ready for Monday's meeting." The crossed-out word reveals the writer's true, often humorous, feeling.
• Correcting Errors Transparently: When you make a mistake in a live chat or a blog post, using strikethrough to correct it (e.g., "The event is on T̶u̶e̶s̶d̶a̶y̶ Wednesday") is more transparent than simply editing the text, as it acknowledges the original error.
• Indicating Deprecated Information: In technical documentation or changelogs, you can strike through old feature names or commands to show they are no longer in use, while still keeping them visible for historical context.

How to Strikethrough Text: Platform-by-Platform Guides

Different applications and websites handle text formatting in different ways. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how to cross out text on the most popular platforms.

Google Docs & Microsoft Word

Word processors provide the most straightforward ways to apply strikethrough formatting.

In Google Docs:

1. Highlight the text you want to strike through.
2. Go to the menu bar at the top.
3. Click Format > Text > Strikethrough.

Pro Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcut: Alt + Shift + 5 (on Windows) or Option + Shift + 5 (on Mac).

In Microsoft Word:

1. Highlight the desired text.
2. On the Home tab in the ribbon, look for the Font group.
3. Click the strikethrough button, which looks like 'abc' with a line through it.

Messaging Apps: Discord, Slack, and WhatsApp

Many modern messaging apps use a simplified version of Markdown for text formatting.

For Discord, Slack, and Telegram:

The method is identical for these platforms. You just need to wrap your text with two tildes (~~) on each side.

• Syntax: ~~This text will be crossed out.~~
• Result: This text will be crossed out.

For WhatsApp:

WhatsApp uses single tildes (~) for its strikethrough formatting.

• Syntax: ~This text will appear with a line through it.~
• Result: This text will appear with a line through it.

For Developers: HTML, CSS, and Markdown

If you're working on the web, knowing the code for strikethrough is essential.

HTML:

HTML offers two primary tags for strikethrough, each with a slightly different semantic meaning.

1. <s> (Strikethrough Text): This tag is used to represent text that is no longer correct or relevant. It's the general-purpose strikethrough tag.
   • Example: <s>This offer is no longer available.</s>
2. <del> (Deleted Text): This tag is used to indicate text that has been deleted from a document. It semantically represents a removal or an edit.
   • Example: My favorite color is <del>blue</del> green.

Visually, they look identical in most browsers, but <del> provides more contextual meaning for screen readers and search engines.

CSS:

You can apply a line-through effect to any text element using the text-decoration property in CSS.

• Syntax: text-decoration: line-through;
• Example:

  <p style="text-decoration: line-through;">This paragraph has a line through it.</p>

Markdown:

As seen in the messaging apps section, the standard Markdown syntax for strikethrough is to wrap the text in double tildes.

• Syntax: ~~Your strikethrough text here.~~

This is incredibly useful when writing documentation, like a README.md file for a project. When a colleague sends you an updated project plan, you can use a tool to Decompress Files and easily review the changelog.md where they've used strikethrough to mark completed or deprecated items.

Social Media: X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Here's where it gets tricky. Most social media platforms do not support native text formatting like bold, italics, or strikethrough in posts. You can't use Markdown or HTML tags.

So, how do you see people posting crossed-out text?

They are using a Unicode text generator. These tools take your normal text and convert it into special Unicode characters that look like they have a line through them. Your computer or phone sees them as different characters entirely, not as formatted text.

How to Use a Strikethrough Text Generator:

1. Find a strikethrough text generator online (a quick search will yield many options).
2. Type your desired text into the input box.
3. The tool will output the text with various strikethrough styles (e.g., s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶, s̴t̴r̴i̴k̴e̴t̴h̴r̴o̴u̴g̴h̴).
4. Copy the generated text and paste it directly into your social media post, bio, or comment.

Note: While this method works almost anywhere, accessibility can be a concern. Screen readers may not interpret these special Unicode characters correctly, so use them sparingly for non-essential text.

Strikethrough vs. Deleting: When to Use Which

Choosing between striking through text and simply deleting it is a matter of communication and context. The key question is: Is the history of the text important?

Imagine you're updating documentation for a software library that you're distributing. Instead of deleting old function names, you can strike them through. This provides crucial historical context for users who might be upgrading from an older version they received as a .rar file and now need a way to convert it using a RAR to ZIP tool. Seeing the deprecated function name struck out tells them exactly what has changed.

Making Strikethrough Part of Your Workflow

Now that you know how to create strikethrough text everywhere, you can incorporate it into your daily digital life.

• Project Management: Use it in shared documents to propose changes to copy, update timelines, or mark tasks as complete.
• Note-Taking: When studying or brainstorming, striking through ideas you've discarded is better than deleting them. You might want to come back to them later!
• File Documentation: It's great practice to include a changelog.txt file when sharing project updates. Using strikethrough to show what's been removed is far more informative than a simple version number. This is especially useful for tracking changes in a project before you Compress Files into a single archive for delivery to a client or colleague.

Conclusion: The Power of a Simple Line

Strikethrough text is more than just a formatting quirk; it's a versatile tool for clear and nuanced communication. From showing edits in a professional document to adding a touch of humor on social media, the ability to cross out text gives you more control over how your message is received.

By understanding the different methods—from keyboard shortcuts and Markdown syntax to Unicode generators—you can now confidently apply strikethrough formatting anywhere you need it.

We hope this guide has been helpful! At Practical Web Tools, we're dedicated to providing simple, powerful tools to make your digital life easier. Explore our suite of 455+ free, privacy-focused online tools to convert, edit, and manage your files and data.