Strikethrough text
generator
Three ways to cross out words, each built from a Unicode mark that survives copy and paste.
Three ways to cross out words, each built from a Unicode mark that survives copy and paste.
Use these in bios and display names. Usernames and @handles on Instagram, TikTok, Discord and X only take plain letters, numbers and a few symbols. Safe, mostly safe and may show boxes come from our font tests.
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Uses combining marks: each mark counts as a character and stacking looks different in each app.
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Uses combining marks: each mark counts as a character and stacking looks different in each app.
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Uses combining marks: each mark counts as a character and stacking looks different in each app.
Nothing saved yet. Tap the heart on any style to keep it here. Saved styles stay on this device.
Strike marks versus chat formatting
The styles above are Unicode combining marks, so they stay when you paste into a bio or a name. Chat apps also have their own text formatting, which is not Unicode. For Discord our notes say these characters are read as formatting: * _ ~ ` | > # and the backslash. That is why the Discord-safe copy switch adds a backslash in front of them. This note comes from community posts and is not on an official help page.
Straight, wavy or slashed
Strikethrough draws a straight line through the middle of each letter and also through the spaces, so a whole phrase looks crossed out in one stroke. Wavy strike uses a tilde-shaped line through the letters only. Slashed puts a diagonal slash across each letter and leaves spaces alone, which makes words look scratched out.
Pick the straight line for a joke you want people to read, and the slash when you want the crossed-out word to be hard to read.
Marks are not chat formatting
These styles are Unicode combining marks, so the line stays when you paste the text into a bio or a name field. Chat apps also have their own formatting, which is a different thing. For Discord, our notes say that these characters are read as formatting: * _ ~ ` | > # and the backslash. That is why the Discord-safe copy switch puts a backslash in front of them. This note comes from community posts, not from an official help page.
Each mark counts as one more character. A ten-character phrase with one space counts as twenty with the straight line, and as nineteen with the two styles that skip spaces.
Questions
Is this the same as the strike option in a chat app?
No. A chat app formats the text inside its own message box. These styles change the characters, so the line comes with the text wherever you paste it.
Why does the count go up?
Each line mark is a separate character placed after the letter it crosses.
Which line style is easiest to read?
The straight strikethrough. The slash cuts across letter shapes, and the wavy line is thinner.
Is it safe to use?
These styles are labelled Mostly safe: the marks exist in the fonts we measured, but apps stack and clip them differently.