How to Use Strikethrough Text (and Where It Works)
Strikethrough text is one of those small formatting tricks that punches way above its weight. A single horizontal line through your words can communicate humor, sarcasm, corrections, or dramatic emphasis in ways that plain text simply cannot. You have probably seen it everywhere — someone crossing out a word to replace it with something funnier, an editor showing tracked changes, or a to-do list where completed items get that satisfying line drawn through them.
But here is the thing: strikethrough does not work the same way everywhere. Some platforms give you a built-in shortcut. Others require you to wrap text in special characters. And a surprising number of popular apps — Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, and Facebook among them — offer no native strikethrough at all.
This guide covers every method, every platform, and every workaround you need.
Why People Use Strikethrough
Before getting into the how, it helps to understand the why. Strikethrough is not just about crossing things out. It serves several distinct purposes in everyday writing.
Humor and sarcasm. This is probably the most common use online. Crossing out what you "really" think before saying the polite version is a classic internet move. "I would love to ~~never~~ always hear your feedback." The struck-through word is still readable, and that is the entire point — the joke lives in the gap between what was "deleted" and what replaced it.
Showing corrections. In professional writing, strikethrough shows that something has been changed without hiding the original. Legal documents, academic revisions, and collaborative editing all rely on this. It says, "this was here before, and now it is not, but we want you to see both versions."
Emphasis through contrast. Sometimes crossing out a word draws more attention to it than bolding would. It is a visual paradox — the line tells your eye "ignore this," which makes your eye focus on it harder.
Completed tasks. To-do lists, project trackers, and productivity apps use strikethrough to mark items as done. The text stays visible but clearly belongs to the past.
Editorial commentary. Bloggers and social media creators use strikethrough as a voice tool. It lets you include an aside, a second thought, or a self-correction without breaking the flow of your main point.
Native Strikethrough Support by Platform
Several platforms and apps have built-in strikethrough formatting. Here is how each one works.
Wrap your text with single tildes: ~like this~. When you send the message, it renders with a line through it. This works on both mobile and desktop versions of WhatsApp. No menus, no settings — just the tilde characters on either side.
Discord
Discord uses double tildes: ~~like this~~. Type two tildes before and after your text, and it will display as strikethrough in the chat. Discord's markdown system is quite robust, and this is one of the most commonly used formatting options.
Google Docs
You have two options. Use the menu: Format > Text > Strikethrough. Or use the keyboard shortcut Alt + Shift + 5. Both do the same thing and apply standard HTML/CSS strikethrough to your selected text.
Microsoft Word
Select your text and press Ctrl + D to open the Font dialog, then check the Strikethrough box. Alternatively, in newer versions of Word, you can find the strikethrough button (with the "abc" and a line through it) in the Home ribbon under the Font section.
Reddit uses the same syntax as Discord: ~~like this~~. This works in both the fancy pants editor and markdown mode. It is part of Reddit's standard markdown implementation.
Slack
Slack follows WhatsApp's convention: ~like this~. Single tildes on either side. You can also select text and use the formatting toolbar if you prefer clicking over typing.
HTML and CSS
If you are writing for the web, you have the <s> or <del> tags, or you can apply text-decoration: line-through in CSS. The <del> tag is semantically correct for deleted content, while <s> is for content that is no longer relevant.
When Native Strikethrough Is Not Available
Here is where it gets interesting. Several of the most popular platforms in the world offer zero native strikethrough support in bios, captions, or posts.
Instagram — no native strikethrough in bios, captions, comments, or stories. The text editor in stories has bold, italic, and different fonts, but no strikethrough.
Twitter/X — no native strikethrough anywhere. Not in tweets, not in bios, not in DMs.
TikTok — the video editor has text styles, but none of them include strikethrough. Bios and captions have no formatting options at all.
Facebook — despite being one of the oldest social platforms, Facebook offers no native strikethrough in posts, comments, or bios.
For all of these platforms, the workaround is Unicode.
Using the Unicode Strikethrough Generator
Unicode strikethrough works everywhere that supports Unicode text — which is essentially every modern platform. Here is how to use it:
- Visit the Strikethrough Text Generator
- Type or paste your text into the input box
- The generator instantly produces strikethrough versions of your text
- Click the copy button next to the style you want
- Paste it into Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, Facebook, or anywhere else
The result looks like this: t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶. It is not a font change — it is your original text with a Unicode combining character attached to every letter. That is why it works everywhere: the platform sees regular text characters with modifiers, not some special formatting it needs to support.
How Unicode Strikethrough Actually Works
Under the hood, Unicode strikethrough uses a combining character called U+0336 (COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY). This character is designed to be placed after any other character, and when rendered, it draws a horizontal line through the preceding character.
So when you type "hello" and run it through the generator, what you actually get is:
- h + U+0336
- e + U+0336
- l + U+0336
- l + U+0336
- o + U+0336
Each letter gets its own stroke overlay. The browser or app rendering engine then draws the line through each character individually. This is different from CSS strikethrough, where a single continuous line is drawn through the entire word — with Unicode, each letter has its own independent line segment.
This character-by-character approach is why Unicode strikethrough sometimes looks slightly different from native strikethrough. The line might have tiny gaps between letters, or it might sit at a slightly different vertical position depending on the font being used.
Single vs Double vs Slash-Through
Not all strikethrough styles look the same. There are actually several visual variants worth knowing about.
Single strikethrough uses U+0336 and draws one horizontal line through each character. This is the most common and widely recognized style. It is clean, readable, and works on virtually every device.
Double strikethrough uses a different combining character and draws two parallel lines. It is less common but can be useful when you want extra visual emphasis or when you need to distinguish between different types of deletions in the same document.
Slash-through uses U+0337 (COMBINING SHORT SOLIDUS OVERLAY) and draws a diagonal line through each character, similar to how you might cross out a zero to distinguish it from the letter O. This style is more aggressive visually and is used less frequently in casual writing.
Each style has its place. Single strikethrough is the safest choice for general use — it is universally understood and renders consistently. Double and slash-through are better reserved for specific stylistic choices or when you want your text to stand out from standard strikethrough.
Combining Strikethrough with Underline
Here is a neat trick: because both strikethrough and underline" are implemented as Unicode combining characters, they can stack on the same text. You can have text that is simultaneously underlined and struck through.
The underline combining character (U+0332) sits below the text, while the strikethrough combining character (U+0336) sits through the middle. When both are applied, you get a character with two lines — one underneath and one through the center.
This stacking works because combining characters are designed to be additive. You can technically pile on as many as you want, though readability drops sharply after two. A character with underline, strikethrough, and an overline starts to look more like modern art than readable text.
To create combined strikethrough-and-underline text, you can use the Underline Text Generator alongside the Strikethrough Text Generator. Generate one style, paste it into the other generator, and the combining characters will stack.
Strikethrough and Readability
A word of caution: strikethrough, by definition, makes text harder to read. That is its job — it signals that the text should be de-emphasized. But if you use it excessively, you end up with paragraphs that are genuinely difficult to parse.
A good rule of thumb: strikethrough works best on short phrases. One to five words is the sweet spot. Striking through an entire paragraph forces the reader to work hard to decode text that you have explicitly told them is not important. That is a contradiction that frustrates people.
In professional contexts, keep strikethrough for tracked changes and revisions. In casual or social contexts, keep it for punchy humor and quick corrections. Either way, less is more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does strikethrough work on Instagram?
Native strikethrough does not work on Instagram. There is no built-in formatting option for it. However, Unicode strikethrough works perfectly in Instagram bios, captions, comments, and stories. Use the Strikethrough Text Generator to create it, then paste it in.
How do I strikethrough text in WhatsApp?
Wrap your text with single tildes: ~your text here~. WhatsApp will automatically render it as strikethrough when you send the message. This works on both iOS and Android. For more WhatsApp formatting tips, check out our guide on how to underline text on WhatsApp.
Can I partially strikethrough a sentence?
Yes. You can apply strikethrough to specific words within a sentence while leaving the rest unstyled. On platforms with native support, just wrap the specific words in the formatting characters. With Unicode, only convert the words you want struck through.
Does Unicode strikethrough affect SEO?
Unicode combining characters can make text harder for search engines to parse. Google may not interpret struck-through Unicode text the same way it reads plain text. For SEO-critical content like page titles and meta descriptions, stick to plain text. Use Unicode strikethrough for social media and decorative purposes.
Why does my strikethrough look different on different devices?
Because Unicode combining characters are rendered by the device's font engine, not by the platform. Different operating systems, browsers, and fonts position the stroke overlay at slightly different heights and thicknesses. The text is still readable everywhere — it just might look subtly different on an iPhone versus an Android phone versus a Windows laptop. This is normal behavior for all Unicode text styling, not just strikethrough.