How to Strikethrough Text (Word, Google Docs, and Online)

What Strikethrough Text Is

Strikethrough text has a line drawn through the middle of it, like this: struck through. Writers use it to show that something was removed or changed, without deleting it completely. You see it in edited documents, to-do lists where finished tasks are crossed out, and prices where an old price is crossed out and a new price is shown next to it.

The method depends on where you are writing. Word, Google Docs, and plain text apps all handle it differently, and some places, like social media bios, do not have a strikethrough button at all. Below are the methods that work in each place.

Method 1: Strikethrough in Microsoft Word (Fastest for Documents)

Word has a built-in strikethrough button, and it takes two clicks.

Steps:

Select the text you want to cross out.
On the Home tab, look in the Font group for the button that shows "abc" with a line through it. Click it.
To remove the line, select the text again and click the same button.

If you cannot see the button, open the Font dialog instead. Press Ctrl+D, go to the Effects section, and tick Strikethrough. Word also offers Double strikethrough in the same dialog, which draws two lines through the text.

Tip: Unlike bold or italic, Word has no built-in keyboard shortcut for strikethrough. If you use it often, you can add one yourself under File, Options, Customize Ribbon, Keyboard Shortcuts.

Method 2: Strikethrough in Google Docs

Google Docs has both a menu option and a keyboard shortcut.

Steps:

Select the text you want to cross out.
Go to Format, then Text, then Strikethrough.
Or use the shortcut: Alt+Shift+5 on Windows or a Chromebook, and Cmd+Shift+X on a Mac.
To remove the line, select the text and repeat the same step.

The shortcut is the fastest option if you cross text out often, for example when you are editing a draft and marking changes.

Method 3: Strikethrough in Markdown and HTML

If you write in Markdown, which many blogs, wikis, and chat apps use, wrap the text in double tildes:

~~this text will be crossed out~~

In HTML, use the <s> tag or the <del> tag. The <del> tag is the better choice when the text was deleted from a document, because screen readers announce it as deleted text. The <s> tag is for text that is no longer correct or relevant, like an old price.

Tip: WhatsApp uses a single tilde on each side, like ~this~, for strikethrough. The same text will not render as strikethrough everywhere, so check how your app handles it before you post.

Method 4: Strikethrough Anywhere, With Unicode (Best for Social Media)

Some places have no formatting buttons at all. Instagram bios, X posts, and plain text fields cannot show Word or Docs formatting. The workaround is Unicode: a special invisible character, called a combining long stroke, is placed after every letter. The result looks like crossed out text, and it works anywhere plain text works because it is just characters, not formatting.

You do not need to build this by hand. Our free online Strikethrough Text Generator does it for you. Type or paste your text, and the tool adds the stroke characters instantly. Copy the result and paste it wherever you need it.

Tip: Unicode strikethrough is great for short text like a headline or a bio. For long documents, stick with Word or Docs formatting, because screen readers read Unicode struck text letter by letter, which is hard to listen to.

Which Method Should You Use?

Use the Word button or the Docs shortcut when you are working inside a document, because real formatting is cleaner and works with screen readers. Use Markdown tildes or HTML tags when you are writing for the web. Use the Unicode tool when the app you are posting in has no formatting options at all.

One thing to watch: strikethrough is for showing a change, not for hiding text. If you want text gone, delete it. If you want readers to see what changed, cross it out.

Faster Alternative: Do It Online

If your text is not in a document, or you want the Unicode version for social media, the free online Strikethrough Text Generator is the fastest route. Paste your text, copy the crossed out result, and use it anywhere. There is no signup, no download, and nothing is sent to a server.