Cross it out. Badly. Properly.
Type or paste your text and every cross-out style is generated instantly: classic s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶, s̸l̸a̸s̸h̸e̸d̸, 𝐛̶𝐨̶𝐥̶𝐝̶, 𝑖̶𝑡̶𝑎̶𝑙̶𝑖̶𝑐̶, cursive, underlined and more. Click Copy and paste it into Twitter/X, Instagram, Discord, WhatsApp, Reddit or anywhere else that accepts text.
All strikethrough styles
Markup for apps with real formatting
If the app supports its own strikethrough (Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Reddit, GitHub, HTML), use its native syntax instead; it is cleaner and accessible.
How the strikethrough text generator works
Normal strikethrough is formatting: a word processor draws a line over text that stays plain underneath. Most social networks, chat apps and comment boxes throw formatting away, which is why pasting crossed-out text from Word into a tweet produces ordinary text. This strikethrough text generator takes a different route. It inserts a combining character after every letter, a special Unicode mark that has no width of its own and is drawn on top of the character before it. The classic style uses U+0336, the combining long stroke overlay. Because the line is part of the text itself, it travels with the text wherever you paste it.
The same trick produces the other styles. Underlines use the combining low line (U+0332), the slashed style uses the combining long solidus overlay (U+0338), and the bold, italic, cursive and monospace variants first swap each letter for its look-alike in the Unicode Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block and then add the stroke. Everything is generated in your browser as you type; nothing is sent to a server.
Where strikethrough text works
Anywhere that accepts Unicode text, which today is almost everywhere: Twitter/X posts, bios and display names; Instagram captions, bios and comments; Facebook posts; TikTok and YouTube comments; Discord messages and server names; WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger and iMessage; Reddit titles; LinkedIn posts; Slack; email subject lines; Google Docs and Notion; game chats and usernames. The only requirement is that the device displaying the text has a font with combining-mark support, and every modern phone and computer does.
Choosing a style
- Classic strikethrough (long stroke) is the most compatible and the one most people mean by "crossed out text". Use it by default.
- Short strikethrough draws a shorter line that can look tidier in some fonts and is a good fallback if the classic line looks uneven on a particular platform.
- Slashed and short slash give a diagonal "cancelled" look that stands out in lists and price tags.
- Bold, italic, cursive, gothic and monospace combine a different letter shape with the stroke for emphasis or a signature look in bios and headers. These replace letters with special symbols, so they are not searchable and should not be used for names or anything that must be read aloud.
- Underline, double underline, dotted and wavy are the same technique with marks below the text, handy where you want emphasis without a cross-out.
Native strikethrough vs. Unicode strikethrough
Some apps have their own strikethrough syntax, and when they do you should prefer it: the text stays searchable, screen readers announce it correctly and the line is drawn by the app's own font. Wrap text in two tildes on Discord, Reddit, GitHub and most Markdown editors (~~like this~~), one tilde on WhatsApp and Slack (~like this~), and <s> or <del> tags in HTML. The generator shows all of these filled in with your text in the markup section above. Use Unicode strikethrough when the platform has no syntax of its own, which is the case for Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and most bios and usernames. Keyboard shortcuts for Word, Google Docs, Excel and other editors are on the how to strikethrough text page.
Tips and limitations
- Character limits. Each combining mark counts as a character. "hello" becomes 10 characters with strikethrough, so a 280-character tweet holds about 140 crossed-out letters. The counter under the box shows both numbers.
- Spaces. Leave "Strike through spaces too" on for a continuous line across a sentence, or turn it off to strike only the words.
- Searching and hashtags. Crossed-out words are not matched by search, and a hashtag with marks in it is not a working hashtag.
- Accessibility. Screen readers may read the marks aloud or ignore them. Keep Unicode strikethrough for decoration and jokes; put anything important in plain text as well.
- Undoing it. Paste the result into the strikethrough remover to get clean text back, including from bold or italic styles.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make strikethrough text?
Type in the box at the top of this page, then click Copy next to the style you like and paste it where you want it. There is nothing to install and no account.
Can I use strikethrough text on Instagram and Twitter/X?
Yes. Neither platform supports formatting, so Unicode strikethrough is the only way to cross out text in posts, captions, comments and bios on both.
Why does the line look different on my phone than on my laptop?
Each operating system draws combining marks with its own font, so the position and thickness of the line vary slightly. The text itself is identical; it is only rendering.
Does the generator work with numbers, emoji and other languages?
Numbers and Latin letters work in every style. Letters from other alphabets work in the stroke and underline styles; the bold, italic, cursive and gothic styles only have shapes for A–Z and a–z, so other characters are left unchanged. Emoji are passed through untouched.
Is it free?
Yes, completely free, with no limits and no sign-up.