What is Strikethrough text?

Strikethrough text uses Unicode combining diacritic characters (U+0336, U+0337, U+0338, U+033F) layered over each letter to create a crossed-out appearance. The text remains plain text — pasteable anywhere — but visually appears with a line through it. This is different from HTML <s> or Markdown ~~strikethrough~~ which only work in specific contexts. Unicode strikethrough works universally: Twitter, Instagram, Discord, WhatsApp, Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, anywhere text is accepted. Perfect for: crossed-out promo prices ($̶9̶9̶ now $49), ‘before vs after’ comparisons, dramatic editorial corrections, completed task indicators, satirical emphasis.

How to use this tool

1. Type your text — Any text you want crossed out. Numbers, letters, punctuation all work.
2. Choose strikethrough style — Single line, double line, tilde wave, or diagonal slash.
3. Copy with one tap — Result is plain text — pastes everywhere as-is.
4. Use in your post/bio — Strikethrough renders correctly on Twitter, Instagram, Discord, etc.

Unicode combining characters used

Each character gets a combining diacritic appended:

• U+0336 (̶): Long stroke overlay — standard strikethrough
• U+0337 (̷): Short solidus overlay — slash through letter
• U+0338 (̸): Long solidus overlay — diagonal slash
• U+033F (̿): Double overline — double strikethrough
• U+0334 (̴): Tilde overlay — wavy strike

The browser renders the combining character on top of the preceding letter, creating the strikethrough effect. The data is still plain text with extra invisible characters interspersed.

Examples

• Sale price: $̶9̶9̶ → $49 — crossed-out original price
• Updated to-do: ̶W̶r̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶g̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶ ✓ Publish
• Editorial correction: ‘The CEO announced ̶t̶o̶m̶o̶r̶r̶o̶w̶ next week’
• Satirical Twitter: ‘I’m ̶f̶i̶n̶e̶ a mess’
• Discord channel notice: ‘̶W̶e̶d̶n̶e̶s̶d̶a̶y̶ Thursday meeting’

Tips & best practices

• Use sparingly — too much strikethrough text becomes hard to read
• Discord has native markdown ~~text~~ — use that there for cleaner result
• For HTML pages, prefer <del> or <s> tag — better for SEO and accessibility
• Strikethrough Unicode works in usernames on Twitter, Discord, Steam — great for stylized handles
• Test on target platform — very rare devices may not render combining chars correctly
• Numbers with strikethrough work perfectly — ideal for price displays

Limitations & notes

Screen readers may pronounce strikethrough text as separate characters (e.g., ‘h underscore e underscore l underscore l underscore o’). Hurts accessibility for visually impaired users. SEO tools see strikethrough Unicode as different characters than regular — Google won’t recognize them as the same words. Use only for visual flair, not for important content.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Unicode strikethrough work on Instagram?

Yes — Instagram fully supports Unicode combining characters in bio, captions, comments, DMs. Tested on iOS and Android.

Why doesn’t my Discord show the strikethrough?

Discord may render some Unicode strikethrough oddly. For native Discord, use markdown: ~~your text~~. The output looks the same but is cleaner code.

Can I use this in domain names or URLs?

No — domain names need ASCII only. Unicode strikethrough won’t work in URLs, emails, or passwords.

Will Google index strikethrough text?

Google indexes the Unicode characters as written. ‘h̶e̶l̶l̶o̶’ is treated as separate characters, not as ‘hello’. Search ‘hello’ won’t find your strikethrough version.

What’s the difference between Unicode strikethrough and HTML ?

HTML <s> only works inside HTML documents (webpages, emails, rich text). Unicode strikethrough works in plain-text contexts like social media.

Why are there extra invisible characters in my copy?

Each combining character is invisible by itself but visible when layered over a letter. Your text doubles or triples in character count even though it looks the same length.

Can I strikethrough emoji?

Yes — combining chars work on emoji too: 🎉̶ shows crossed-out party popper. Useful for ‘cancelled event’ graphics.

Related tools

Underline Text Generator · Fancy Text Generator · Zalgo Text Generator