Strikethrough Text
C̶r̶o̶s̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶ and paste it anywhere. The line is a combining Unicode mark attached to each character, so it travels with the text into fields that have no formatting at all.
Whitespace is deliberately skipped, so the strike does not run through the gaps between words. That single detail is why this output looks like a proper strikethrough rather than a continuous bar.
Want a line underneath instead? Try underline text
Strikethrough Examples
Because the mark attaches to whatever precedes it, this style works on characters that no substitution-based style can touch.
| Input | Output | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| deleted | d̶e̶l̶e̶t̶e̶d̶ | The basic conversion — one combining mark per character. |
| was £50 now £30 | w̶a̶s̶ £̶5̶0̶ n̶o̶w̶ £̶3̶0̶ | Digits and currency symbols strike through cleanly. |
| cross out these words | c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶ o̶u̶t̶ t̶h̶e̶s̶e̶ w̶o̶r̶d̶s̶ | Spaces are skipped, so the line breaks between words. |
| CAPS AND lower | C̶A̶P̶S̶ A̶N̶D̶ l̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ | Case is irrelevant — the mark attaches to any character. |
| café résumé | c̶a̶f̶é̶ r̶é̶s̶u̶m̶é̶ | Accented letters work, unlike substitution-based styles. |
| привет | п̶р̶и̶в̶е̶т̶ | Non-Latin scripts strike through too. |
| a,b;c | a̶,̶b̶;̶c̶ | Punctuation is struck along with letters. |
| line one line two | l̶i̶n̶e̶ o̶n̶e̶ l̶i̶n̶e̶ t̶w̶o̶ | Line breaks are preserved and each line is struck separately. |
How Combining Marks Work
Combining marks are a completely different mechanism from the substitution styles, and they have very different strengths.
One mark is appended after each character
U+0336, the combining long stroke overlay, is inserted after every visible character. The renderer draws it across the glyph that precedes it, producing a continuous line.
It works on any character
Because nothing is substituted, there is no map to be missing from. Accented letters, Cyrillic, Greek, digits and punctuation all strike through, which no substitution style can manage.
Whitespace is deliberately skipped
Marking a space would draw the line through the gap between words and produce a single unbroken bar. Skipping whitespace gives the word-by-word appearance people expect.
Character counts double
Each visible character is now two code points. That matters in fields with a hard character limit — a 50-character strikethrough string is 100 characters as far as the field is concerned.
Strikethrough vs the Substitution Styles
Combining marks and character substitution solve different problems. This table shows the same phrase through both approaches.
Shared input: Style my text
| Transformation | Result | Reach for it when |
|---|---|---|
| Strikethrough | S̶t̶y̶l̶e̶ m̶y̶ t̶e̶x̶t̶ | You need a line through text that survives pasting. |
| Underline | S̲t̲y̲l̲e̲ m̲y̲ t̲e̲x̲t̲ | You need a line under text instead. |
| Bold | 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 | You want weight rather than a line. |
| Small caps | Sᴛʏʟᴇ ᴍʏ ᴛᴇxᴛ | You want an understated typographic look. |
Strikethrough Caveats
Combining marks are powerful but they interact with other systems in ways substitution styles do not.
It consumes twice the character limit
Every character gains a combining mark, so the string length doubles. In a 160-character field you get 80 visible characters.
Some renderers draw it badly
The stroke length is chosen by the font, so wide characters can end up with a line that stops short or overhangs. It shows most in monospace fonts.
Copying into an editor may strip it
Word processors sometimes normalise combining marks on paste, silently removing the strike. Paste as plain text to preserve it.
Screen readers ignore it
Assistive technology usually skips combining marks entirely, so struck-through text is announced as ordinary text. The "deleted" meaning is lost completely.
Platform Support for Strikethrough
Combining marks render nearly everywhere, but several platforms have a native strikethrough that is a better choice when it exists.
Discord and Slack
Both have native strikethrough — double tildes in Discord, single tildes in Slack. Prefer those: they stay accessible and do not double your character count.
Native strikethrough with single tildes. Unicode strikethrough is only worth it in profile names and group titles, where markdown is unavailable.
Instagram and TikTok
Neither offers strikethrough natively, so combining marks are the only option. Renders correctly on current apps.
Spreadsheets and documents
Both have real strikethrough formatting. Use it — the formatting is accessible, does not double the character count, and can be removed later.
What Strikethrough Is For
Price changes
Striking the old price beside the new one is the clearest way to show a discount in a caption with no formatting.
Jokes and corrections
Striking a word and following it with the real one is a well-established comic device that reads instantly.
Completed list items
In a plain-text checklist with no checkbox support, a struck line is the clearest "done" marker.
Showing edits
Marking removed words rather than deleting them keeps the change visible, which is useful in a public correction.
Frequently Asked Questions
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