How to Cross Out Text Online: The Complete Guide to Strikethrough

Want to cross out text but don't know how? Whether you're showing edits, marking completed tasks, or adding humor to your posts, strikethrough text is incredibly useful—but not every platform makes it easy.

This guide covers every method to create crossed out text, from quick online generators to platform-specific shortcuts.

Quick solution: Use our strikethrough text generator to instantly create c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶ you can copy and paste anywhere.

Strikethrough (also called strike through, crossout, or crossed out text) is a horizontal line drawn through text. It indicates:

• Deleted or removed content — showing what was changed
• Completed tasks — crossing off to-dos while keeping them visible
• Corrections — displaying both old and new versions
• Humor and emphasis — saying something while "taking it back"

Example: This meeting could have been an email

The most universal method uses Unicode combining characters. Our strikethrough generator adds a special Unicode character (U+0336) after each letter, creating a line through the text.

How to use it:

1. Go to the strikethrough text generator
2. Paste your text
3. Click Copy
4. Paste your c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶ anywhere

Where it works:

• Instagram bios and captions
• Twitter/X posts and bios
• Discord messages and usernames
• Facebook posts
• WhatsApp and Telegram
• Email subjects
• YouTube comments
• Anywhere that accepts text!

Pros:

• Works universally, even where markdown doesn't
• Text remains selectable and searchable
• No special permissions or formatting needed

Cons:

• Appearance varies slightly between fonts
• Can't be "undone" without re-typing

Discord has built-in strikethrough using markdown:

~~crossed out text~~

Result: crossed out text

Limitations: This only works in Discord messages, not in usernames, server names, or channel descriptions. For those, use the Unicode strikethrough generator.

Many platforms support markdown strikethrough:

~~This is crossed out~~

Platforms with markdown strikethrough:

• GitHub and GitLab
• Reddit (in posts and comments)
• Slack
• Notion
• Discord
• Some forum software

Platforms WITHOUT markdown support:

• Instagram
• Twitter/X
• Facebook
• Most email clients

For these platforms, use our cross out text generator instead.

For websites and HTML emails, use the <del> or <s> tags:

<s>Crossed out text</s>
<del>Deleted text</del>

• <s> indicates text that's no longer accurate
• <del> indicates text that was deleted

How to cross out text on Instagram

Instagram doesn't support markdown or HTML. Use our strikethrough generator:

1. Open the strikethrough tool
2. Type or paste your text
3. Copy the crossed-out output
4. Paste into your Instagram bio or caption

How to cross out text on Twitter/X

Twitter also lacks native strikethrough. Use the Unicode method:

1. Visit the cross out text generator
2. Enter your tweet text
3. Copy and paste the strikethrough text into Twitter

How to cross out text on Discord

In messages: Use ~~text~~

In usernames/channel names: Use the strikethrough generator since markdown doesn't work there

How to cross out text in Google Docs

1. Select the text
2. Go to Format → Text → Strikethrough
3. Or use keyboard shortcut: Alt + Shift + 5

How to cross out text in Word

1. Select the text
2. Right-click → Font
3. Check "Strikethrough"
4. Or use: Ctrl + D, then select Strikethrough

Showing corrections

The meeting is at 2pm 3pm 2pm.

Humor and sarcasm

Had a productive interesting meeting today.

To-do lists

✓ B̶u̶y̶ ̶g̶r̶o̶c̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶
✓ C̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶m̶o̶m̶
○ Clean apartment

Price comparisons

$99 NOW $49

Contract revisions

Show edits while keeping the original visible for legal records

Create more complex text styling by combining tools:

1. Bold + Strikethrough: First use the bold text generator, then run through strikethrough
2. Underline + Strikethrough: Combine underline with strikethrough for emphasis
3. Fancy fonts + Strikethrough: Apply italic or gothic styles before crossing out

The line looks too thick

You may have applied strikethrough twice. Clear the text and apply once.

Strikethrough isn't showing

Some older apps strip Unicode combining characters. Try a different app or use platform-native methods.

Text looks different on mobile

Font rendering varies between devices. The effect still works—it's just visual differences.

• Bold Text Generator — Make text bold for emphasis
• Underline Text Generator — Add U̲n̲d̲e̲r̲l̲i̲n̲e̲s̲ to text
• Italic Text Generator — Create 𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤 text
• Zalgo Text Generator — Make g̷l̸i̵t̶c̷h̸y̵ creepy text

To cross out text:

1. Universal method: Use the strikethrough generator for any platform
2. Discord/Slack: Use ~~text~~ markdown
3. Google Docs/Word: Use built-in formatting

The Unicode method from our cross out text generator is the most versatile since it works everywhere text is accepted.

All text processing in our strikethrough tool happens locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.