TextAuraStrikethrough Text Generator
Cross out text with s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶, slash-through and bold strike styles. Copy and paste anywhere.
What Is a Strikethrough Text Generator and How Do You Use It?
A strikethrough text generator is a free tool that puts a horizontal line through the center of your letters, like s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶, so you can copy and paste crossed-out text into apps that have no strikethrough button. Type your text in the box above, pick a strike style, and copy it into Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, chats or anywhere else that accepts text.
The line is not formatting. The tool adds combining characters from Unicode after each letter, and those marks travel with the text when you paste it. That is why the strike survives in a bio or caption, where bold and strikethrough buttons do not exist.
On TextAura, the strike styles appear first: Strikethrough, Slash Through, Cross Above and Bold Strikethrough. The rest of our styles sit below them, so you can compare a struck line with bold, italic or decorated text in the same place.
The most common use is a price drop, such as $̶9̶9̶9̶ $599, where a $999 item now costs $599 and the old price stays readable but clearly cancelled. Strikethrough also works for jokes, corrections and lists, as long as you keep it short.
What Is Strikethrough Text?
Strikethrough text is text with a line drawn through it, used to show that something is wrong, removed or no longer true while keeping it readable.
It is also called strikeout, and people often search for it as cross out text. In print and word processing, it shows edits and deleted words without hiding them. Lawyers and editors use it to show changes in a draft, and teachers use it to mark mistakes.
Online, strikethrough has a second life as humor. Writers cross out the honest word and follow it with the polite one, which reads as irony or sarcasm, as in “I l̶o̶v̶e̶ tolerate Mondays.” It is also the natural way to tick off a to-do list, because a finished task stays visible but looks done.
The look is the same everywhere, but how it is made differs. A word processor applies a format to the text. A generator like ours uses special characters, so the struck letters are part of the text itself. That difference decides where the strike will show up, which the next sections explain.
How Does a Strikethrough Text Generator Work?
A strikethrough text generator works by adding a combining stroke character after every letter, so each letter is drawn with a line through it.
The standard mark is U+0336, whose Unicode name is COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY. A combining character has no width of its own; it sits on top of the character before it. When you type “cat”, the tool outputs c̶a̶t̶, which is really six characters: three letters and three strokes. Other styles use a different mark, such as a slash for the Slash Symbol style.
This is not images or HTML. Web pages can strike text with the HTML <strike> tag or the CSS property text-decoration: line-through, but that styling is lost when you copy text into a bio or a chat. Google Docs is an HTML-based editor, so it uses its own format instead. The Unicode version is plain text, so it pastes almost anywhere.
There are limits. Text in CJK scripts, meaning Chinese, Japanese and Korean, may not display combining marks as intended, according to one guide.
How Do You Use This Strikethrough Text Generator?
You use this strikethrough text generator by typing your text, picking a strike style from the cards at the top, and copying it with one tap.
Some tools make you press a button such as StrikeEm or Apply Formatting before you see a result. Ours converts as you type with JavaScript, all client-side in your browser. These are the steps:
- Type or paste your text into the box at the top of the page.
- Look at the first cards: Strikethrough, Slash Through, Cross Above and Bold Strikethrough.
- Tap the card you like to copy it.
- Paste it into your post, bio, comment or message.
A test word such as “sale” makes the difference easy to see: s̶a̶l̶e̶ in Strikethrough versus s̸a̸l̸e̸ in Slash Through. For a joke line, try “I am w̶o̶r̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ debugging” with only one word struck.
Each card can be saved as a favorite, shared as a link or downloaded as an image. The same text works on Bluesky, YouTube comments and SMS, since it is ordinary text once copied.
What Strikethrough Styles Can You Choose From?
This strikethrough text generator offers four strike styles: Strikethrough, Slash Through, Cross Above and Bold Strikethrough.
Each style uses a different mark, and the preview updates live as you type. In code, the main stroke is written \u0336. Here is how ours compare:
| Style | Mark | Looks like | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strikethrough | U+0336 long stroke | s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶ | Prices, corrections, lists |
| Slash Through | U+0338 long slash | s̸l̸a̸s̸h̸ | Playful “no” or rejection |
| Cross Above | U+033D small x above | c̽r̽o̽s̽s̽ | Decorative, weird text |
| Bold Strikethrough | Bold letters + U+0336 | 𝐛̶𝐨̶𝐥̶𝐝̶ | Headlines and names |
The plain Strikethrough is the most widely rendered style, so start there if you are unsure. Other tools add a short slash with U+0337, or a tilde with U+0303, which sits above letters as decoration rather than a strike. In our tool, every style adds its mark to letters, digits and symbols, but not to spaces. Platforms such as TikTok and Threads generally show these marks, though the look can vary by phone.
Which Unicode Characters Make Strikethrough?
Strikethrough comes from combining marks in the Combining Diacritical Marks block, which runs from U+0300 to U+036F in Unicode.
Different tools give these marks different names. One calls them Long Crossline, Short Crossline, Diagonal Slash and Wavy Crossline; another has a Tilde Strikethrough. The table lists the real Unicode names, so you can tell them apart:
| Code | Unicode name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| U+0336 | Combining Long Stroke Overlay | Full line through each letter |
| U+0335 | Combining Short Stroke Overlay | Shorter line, centred |
| U+0334 | Combining Tilde Overlay | Wavy line through the letter |
| U+0338 | Combining Long Solidus Overlay | Long diagonal slash |
| U+0337 | Combining Short Solidus Overlay | Short diagonal slash |
| U+033D | Combining X Above | Small x over the letter |
One competitor swaps the names of the short and long strokes, so trust the code, not the label. You can check every mark in the official Unicode Combining Diacritical Marks chart. Underline and overline marks live in the same block, and our underline text generator covers them.
How Do You Strikethrough Text in Discord, Slack, WhatsApp and Google Docs?
Many apps have their own built-in strikethrough, and it is usually cleaner than Unicode where it exists.
Here are the native methods for popular apps:
| App | Native strikethrough |
|---|---|
| Discord | Wrap text in two tildes: ~~text~~ |
| Slack | Wrap text in one tilde: ~text~ |
| Wrap text in one tilde: ~text~ | |
| Telegram | Wrap text in two tildes: ~~text~~ |
| Google Docs | Alt + Shift + 5 on Windows, Command + Shift + X on Mac |
| MS Word | The abc strikethrough button in the Font group |
| Notion | Ctrl + Shift + S, or Command + Shift + S on Mac |
These only work inside that app. If you copy struck text from Google Docs into Instagram, the line disappears, because it was a format, not part of the text. That is where Unicode helps: it keeps the line in places with no formatting, such as names, bios and titles.
Use the native method for normal messages, and the generator for everything else.
Where Does Unicode Strikethrough Work?
Unicode strikethrough works in almost any Unicode-aware field, including social bios, captions, comments, names, blogs and email.
It is most useful where formatting is impossible. Discord display names, About Me sections and channel names do not support markdown, so Unicode is the only way to strike text there. The same goes for most profile names and aesthetic bios and usernames on Instagram, TikTok and X. For more name styles, see our Discord font generator.
Watch the length. Bios have tight limits, such as the Twitter bio 160 and the Instagram bio 150 characters, according to one tool, and struck letters use more of them, as explained in the FAQs. That is why strikethrough works best for single words or prices, not full sentences. To check your text before posting, paste it into our word and character counter.
A few platforms change pasted text. Some remove combining marks from names, and display can vary between fonts and devices. Test once in the real app before you rely on it.
What Can You Use Strikethrough Text For?
You can use strikethrough text for sale prices, corrections, jokes, finished tasks and decorative names.
The classic uses are deletion, correction and emphasis. Shops strike old prices in posts, and writers strike a phrase to suggest an edit in places without track changes, such as Slack DMs, Telegram groups and forums. In Twitch chat and Reddit titles, a struck word adds a quick joke.
Keep it to a word or a short phrase, not whole paragraphs, because a block of struck text is hard to read. For styled names, people mix strikethrough with other effects such as zalgo, small caps or fancy text. See our zalgo text generator and small caps text page for those looks, or the fancy text generator for more styles.
How Do You Use Strikethrough Text Well?
You use strikethrough well by striking only the words that matter, choosing the most reliable style, and checking it on your phone.
Each stroke attaches to the preceding character, so if you strike a long line, every letter doubles in length behind the scenes. A few practical rules help:
- Strike one or two words, such as w̶o̶r̶s̶e̶ worst, where worse is crossed out, not a whole post.
- Use the long stroke U+0336 for the most even line; a Short Strikethrough with U+0335 or a tilde with U+0334 may misalign on older devices.
- Mark sold-out items or finished tasks with a strike, and keep the new status in plain text.
- In Discord messages, use the native
~~like this~~format instead.
Remember that screen readers skip the line, so add the meaning in words when it matters. On X, one tool notes that about 140 struck letters fit in a post. Consider bookmarking the page, so your favorite styles are ready next time.
Does Strikethrough Text Count as More Characters?
Yes, strikethrough text counts as more characters, usually about double, because each letter carries an extra stroke character.
The word “sale” is 4 characters, but s̶a̶l̶e̶ is 8. You can even see the hidden marks in links, where U+0336 appears as %CC%B6 in the address. On an X post, the 280-character limit fills twice as fast when every letter is struck.
Character counters disagree, too. Some count each combining mark, while others count only what you see, so a bio may be accepted in one app and rejected in another. Strike a single word or a price, and leave the rest of your text plain.
Is Strikethrough Text Accessible to Screen Readers?
No, Unicode strikethrough is not accessible to screen readers, because they usually read the letters and ignore the line.
A blind reader will hear “old price $999” as just “$999”, with no sign that it was crossed out. That can change the meaning, especially with an old price or a retraction. If the strike matters, say it in plain words too, for example “was $999, now $599”.
On web pages you control, the HTML <s> and <del> tags are the better choice, because browsers can expose them to assistive tools. Use Unicode strikethrough for decoration and quick jokes, not for information people must understand.
Is Strikethrough Text Searchable?
Sometimes; sources disagree, so do not rely on struck words being found by search.
One tool says search engines often normalize or strip combining marks, so s̶a̶l̶e̶ can match “sale”. Another says searchable keywords and hashtags with combining marks are not matched at all. Both can be true in different places, because every site handles these marks its own way.
The safe rule is simple: never strike your important keywords, brand name or hashtags. If people need to find a post, keep those words plain and strike only the joke or the old price. A good pattern is a plain headline with one struck word inside it, so the post still shows up for the right search while the strike adds the humor.
Why Is the Line Uneven or Missing on Some Devices?
The line can look uneven because fonts draw combining marks at slightly different heights, and some apps remove the marks completely.
Display depends on the device and browser. One tool’s previews compare Android, iOS, OS X and Windows, plus Chrome, Firefox and Safari, and the line sits a little differently on each. Older phones may show a box or misplace the stroke.
Some apps strip the marks on purpose. One tool names LinkedIn and iMessage as removing combining characters from names and posts, calling it anti-spoofing. Our styles also leave spaces unstruck, so a short gap between words is normal. If a line breaks, switch to the plain Strikethrough style.
Can I Combine Strikethrough With Bold or Other Styles?
Yes, you can combine strikethrough with bold, and other tools offer more mixes such as italic, cursive and monospace.
Our Bold Strikethrough card adds the stroke to bold letters in one step. Other sites list Italic Strikethrough, Strikethrough Cursive, Strikethrough Monospace, Strikethrough Double Struck and even a Double Strikethrough with two marks. Some also stack underline marks, such as U+0332 for underline and U+0305 for overline, or a Dotted Line with U+0323 and a Wave Line with U+0330.
Too many marks on one letter look messy and often break, so keep combinations to two at most. In apps with markdown, you can mix native bold and strike instead. For bold letters on their own, see our bold text generator, or the italic text generator for slanted letters.
Can I Remove Strikethrough From Text?
Yes, you can remove strikethrough by retyping the words, or by keeping a plain copy of your original text before you style it.
Our tool does not have an Unstyle button like some other sites, but your original stays in the box at the top until you change it. Your text is not sent to servers; it is converted in your browser, so copy the plain version somewhere safe before you leave.
Some tools also let you upload or Export a .txt file, which is handy for long edits. In word processors, the strike is a format you can switch off. Strikethrough is useful because of keeping the original visible, so the plain words are always there underneath. Some systems normalize text and drop the marks for you.
Is the Strikethrough Text Generator Free?
Yes, the TextAura strikethrough text generator is free, with no signup and nothing to install.
It works on mobile and desktop, and it is privacy-friendly: your text is converted in your browser. Some tools promise no watermark and no limits; text styles never carry a watermark, because the result is plain text. One competitor advertises 117 font styles, and our page has its own full set beside the strike styles, from bold and italic to bubble and glitch. You can copy as many styles as you like, save favorites, or share a link to your text. More tools are on the TextAura home page.