Strikethrough Text Generator (Copy & Paste)

Strikethrough text is text with a horizontal line drawn through each character, indicating deletion, correction, or cancellation. In Unicode, this effect is achieved by appending the Combining Long Stroke Overlay character (U+0336) after every base character. Unlike HTML <del> tags or Markdown ~~tildes~~, Unicode strikethrough can be copied and pasted into any text field that supports Unicode — including social media bios, messaging apps, and plain text documents.

Unicode includes special zero-width 'combining characters' that attach visually to the preceding character without taking up their own space. The Combining Long Stroke Overlay (U+0336) draws a horizontal line through each character. Our generator inserts this invisible character after every letter, number, or symbol in your input. The result is genuine Unicode text — not an image or special font — so it works anywhere Unicode is supported.

Unicode strikethrough uses combining characters (U+0336) appended per-character, producing text like H̶e̶l̶l̶o̶ that works in any plain text field. Markdown strikethrough uses double tildes (~~text~~) and only renders as struck text in Markdown-compatible editors like GitHub, Notion, and Reddit. If you paste ~~text~~ into Instagram or WhatsApp, the tildes are shown literally. Use Unicode for social media and messaging; use Markdown for documentation and wikis.

HTML tags like <del>, <s>, and <strike> only work in web browsers and rich text editors that parse HTML. They are semantic markup — <del> means 'deleted content' and is read as such by screen readers. However, pasting HTML tags into a text field shows the raw tags. Unicode strikethrough is the only approach that preserves the visual effect in plain text fields everywhere.

Yes. Unicode strikethrough text works in Instagram bios, captions, comments, and direct messages. The standard strikethrough style (U+0336) has the broadest support. Simply type your text in our generator, copy the result, and paste it directly into Instagram. The crossed-out effect is preserved across iOS and Android.

Yes. Discord fully supports Unicode combining characters, so all 22 of our strikethrough and line styles render correctly in messages, nicknames, server names, and bios. Discord also supports Markdown strikethrough (~~text~~) in message content. Our generator lets you copy either format with one click.

Yes. WhatsApp supports Unicode strikethrough in messages and status updates. Additionally, WhatsApp has its own native strikethrough: wrapping text in tildes (~text~) renders it with a line through it. Our generator provides both options — Unicode for universal compatibility and the tilde syntax for WhatsApp-specific use.

Unicode strikethrough pastes as-is into any Markdown editor and displays the visual strikethrough effect. However, for Markdown documents, using the native ~~tilde~~ syntax is generally preferred because it is semantic, searchable, and can be toggled off. Our Markdown comparison panel shows both approaches side by side so you can choose the right one.

Our generator offers 22 styles across 6 categories: Standard (strikethrough, short strike, heavy strike), Diagonal (slash, short slash, backslash, double slash, X strike), Line (underline, double underline, overline, double overline), Combo (underline + strike, overline + underline), Decorative (tilde, double strike, vertical, short vertical, ring overlay), and Enclosing (circle, square, diamond). Plus Combine Mode lets you create your own custom combinations by stacking any marks together.

Yes. Our Density slider lets you stack the combining mark 1, 2, or 3 times per character. Higher density creates a visually thicker, bolder strikethrough line. Density 1 is standard, density 2 is medium, and density 3 produces a heavy strike effect. Note that very high density may render inconsistently on some platforms.

Yes. Our generator includes a built-in 'Remove Strikethrough' reverse tool. Paste any struck-through text into the input area, and click the remove button to strip all combining overlay marks and recover the clean original text. This works on text from any strikethrough generator, not just ours.

Yes. Each combining overlay character counts as a separate character toward platform limits. Standard strikethrough doubles the character count (one base character + one combining mark per letter). Some platforms like Twitter count surrogate pairs differently. Our character counter shows both visual character count and UTF-16 length so you can track your usage precisely.

Unicode combining characters may be announced individually by some screen readers (e.g., 'combining long stroke overlay'), which makes the text difficult to understand aurally. For accessible content, use HTML <del> tags (which are announced as 'deleted text') or CSS text-decoration: line-through. Reserve Unicode strikethrough for decorative, informal, or social media contexts where visual impact is the primary goal.

Rendering depends on the font and text rendering engine of each platform. System fonts on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS handle combining marks slightly differently. The standard strikethrough (U+0336) has the most consistent rendering across platforms. Diagonal styles (slash, backslash) and decorative combinations may vary more. Our platform compatibility guide shows support levels for each style.

Popular uses include: crossing off completed tasks in to-do lists, showing discounted prices (old price struck through beside new price), marking corrections and edits, indicating retracted statements, humor and memes (saying something while 'unsaying' it), proofreading marks, changelog entries for deprecated features, and creative social media bios. Our use-case templates provide one-click examples for each scenario.

Yes, completely free. No registration required. Your text is processed entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to any server. The tool works offline once loaded, and there are no usage limits.