Strikethrough Text Generator: Cross Out Text You Can Copy and Paste Anywhere
Type a line and get it crossed out as plain text: the stroke is part of the characters, so it survives a paste into a bio, a tweet, a WhatsApp status or an iMessage, where there is no strikethrough button. Four strokes to choose from, a remove button for text that already has one, and the shortcut for every app that can do it itself.
Strikethrough text generator
Cross out any text with a Unicode line; copy it into apps that have no strikethrough button.
Strikethrough text: how a line becomes part of the text
In Word or Google Docs a strikethrough is formatting: an instruction stored beside the text that says "draw a line through this", which is lost the moment the text is pasted somewhere plain. A strikethrough text generator puts the line into the text instead. After every letter it adds a combining mark, a character from the Combining Diacritical Marks block that is drawn on top of whatever comes before it. U+0336, the combining long stroke overlay, is a horizontal stroke through the middle of the letter; on every letter in a row the strokes meet and read as one line. The result is ordinary Unicode text, twice as many characters as you typed, and it looks crossed out anywhere that can show a combining mark, which is every current phone, browser and app.
The chart lists the four strikes and the other lines the tool can add. The long stroke (U+0336) is the one every other generator uses and the one that renders best; the short stroke (U+0335) leaves small gaps in some fonts; the slash (U+0338) is the diagonal stroke from "not equal"; double strikethrough stacks two marks per letter and is heavier. "Run the line through spaces" puts the mark on the spaces as well so the line does not break between words, which is what "strikethrough text generator one line" is asking for. Letters underneath can be plain or one of the site’s bold, italic, small caps or script styles, and the Remove lines button strips every mark again, for text that arrived already crossed out.
Every mark is from the Combining Diacritical Marks block, U+0300–U+036F, cited against the official Unicode chart.
| Style | Looks like | Mark | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strikethrough | e̶x̶a̶m̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶ | U+0336 | A long stroke through the middle of every letter; joins into one line. |
| Short strike | e̵x̵a̵m̵p̵l̵e̵ ̵t̵e̵x̵t̵ | U+0335 | A short stroke on each letter; reads as a line with small gaps. |
| Slashed | e̸x̸a̸m̸p̸l̸e̸ ̸t̸e̸x̸t̸ | U+0338 | A diagonal slash through each letter, the "not equal" stroke. |
| Double strikethrough | e̶̵x̶̵a̶̵m̶̵p̶̵l̶̵e̶̵ ̶̵t̶̵e̶̵x̶̵t̶̵ | U+0336 U+0335 | Two strokes stacked; heavier than one, and two marks per letter. |
| Underline | e̲x̲a̲m̲p̲l̲e̲ ̲t̲e̲x̲t̲ | U+0332 | A low line under every letter; joins into one line in most fonts. |
| Joined underline | e͟x͟a͟m͟p͟l͟e͟ ͟t͟e͟x͟t͟ | U+035F | The double macron below, drawn to connect with its neighbours. |
| Double underline | e̳x̳a̳m̳p̳l̳e̳ ̳t̳e̳x̳t̳ | U+0333 | Two low lines under every letter. |
| Wavy underline | ḛx̰a̰m̰p̰l̰ḛ ̰t̰ḛx̰t̰ | U+0330 | A tilde below each letter, like a spell-check squiggle. |
| Dotted underline | e̤x̤a̤m̤p̤l̤e̤ ̤t̤e̤x̤t̤ | U+0324 | Two dots below each letter. |
| Overline | e̅x̅a̅m̅p̅l̅e̅ ̅t̅e̅x̅t̅ | U+0305 | A line above every letter. |
| Double overline | e̿x̿a̿m̿p̿l̿e̿ ̿t̿e̿x̿t̿ | U+033F | Two lines above every letter. |
| Strikethrough and underline | e̶̲x̶̲a̶̲m̶̲p̶̲l̶̲e̶̲ ̶̲t̶̲e̶̲x̶̲t̶̲ | U+0336 U+0332 | Both at once; two marks per letter. |
| Overline and underline | e̲̅x̲̅a̲̅m̲̅p̲̅l̲̅e̲̅ ̲̅t̲̅e̲̅x̲̅t̲̅ | U+0305 U+0332 | A line above and below, which reads as a ruled band. |
How to cross out text in Discord, WhatsApp, Google Docs, Excel and everywhere else
Many apps can cross out text themselves, and where they can, their own formatting is better than Unicode: it is searchable, it is read correctly by screen readers, and it can be removed. Discord uses two tildes, ~~like this~~, and __two underscores__ for underline; WhatsApp and Slack use one tilde, ~like this~; Reddit and GitHub Markdown use two tildes. Google Docs has a keyboard shortcut, Alt+Shift+5 on Windows and ⌘+Shift+X on a Mac; Excel has Ctrl+5; Notion has Ctrl+Shift+S; Word has a Strikethrough button on the Home tab and no default shortcut. The table below has the lot. Where a row says none, the app has no strikethrough at all, and pasting text from this page is the only way: Instagram bios and captions, X posts, TikTok, Facebook posts and comments, iMessage and SMS.
Two cautions for the Unicode version. A screen reader reads each combining mark or skips the word, so cross out a price or a word, not a paragraph. And a crossed-out hashtag or @mention is not a link any more, because the marks break the word; keep those plain. The character counter page gives the exact length of a result, which matters where the marks double the count against a limit.
| App | Strikethrough | Underline |
|---|---|---|
| Discord | ~~text~~ | __text__ |
| ~text~ | none: paste text from this page | |
| Slack | ~text~ | none: paste text from this page |
| ~~text~~ | none: paste text from this page | |
| Markdown (GitHub) | ~~text~~ | none: paste text from this page |
| Google Docs | Alt+Shift+5 (⌘+Shift+X on Mac) | Ctrl+U (⌘+U) |
| Word | Home → Strikethrough (no default shortcut) | Ctrl+U (⌘+U) |
| Excel | Ctrl+5 (⌘+Shift+X on Mac) | Ctrl+U |
| Notion | Ctrl+Shift+S (⌘+Shift+S) | Ctrl+U (⌘+U) |
| HTML | <s>text</s> or <del>text</del> | <u>text</u> |
| LaTeX | \sout{text} (ulem package) | \underline{text} |
| Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook posts | none: paste text from this page | none: paste text from this page |
| iMessage, SMS | none: paste text from this page | none: paste text from this page |
Strikethrough text questions
How do I cross out text on Instagram, X or TikTok?
None of them has a strikethrough button. Type the text above, copy the result and paste it into the bio, caption, post or comment. The line is part of the characters, so it shows as typed. It will not work in an @username, which takes only plain letters and digits.
How do you strikethrough text in Discord?
Wrap it in two tildes: ~~like this~~. Discord draws the line itself and the text stays searchable. Use the Unicode version from this page only where the markdown is not available, such as a Discord display name or About Me.
How do I strikethrough text in WhatsApp?
Put one tilde on each side: ~like this~. WhatsApp formats it when the message is sent. For a WhatsApp status or an About line, which do not format, paste crossed-out text from this page instead.
What is the shortcut to cross out text in Google Docs, Excel and Word?
Google Docs: Alt+Shift+5 (⌘+Shift+X on a Mac). Excel: Ctrl+5 (⌘+Shift+X). Notion: Ctrl+Shift+S. Word has no default shortcut; use the Strikethrough button on the Home tab or the Font dialog. The table above lists these and the markdown for chat apps.
How do I remove strikethrough from text I copied?
Paste it into the box above and press Remove lines. The tool strips the combining marks and leaves the letters. If the text was crossed out with real formatting in a document, the same shortcut that adds the strikethrough removes it.
Why does the line look broken or shifted on some phones?
The mark sits at a fixed height on each letter, and fonts differ in where they draw it, so on some devices the strokes do not quite meet or sit high on a lowercase letter. The long stroke (U+0336) meets best; the short stroke leaves gaps by design. Formatting inside an app that has it never has this problem, which is why the table recommends it where it exists.
Related tools
- Underline TextUnderline text with a Unicode line, single, double, wavy or dotted, for bios, posts and messages that have no underline button.
- Discord FontsUnicode fonts that survive Discord usernames, nicknames and messages, with a live preview.
- Font generatorAll 32 Unicode styles, modifiers and the social preview, on the homepage.