Strikethrough text – a line through the middle of the words – shows something that is finished, withdrawn or deliberately “unsaid”: a ticked-off task, a corrected price (€̶4̶9̶ €39), an edit in a shared document or a joke where the crossed-out words are the punchline. Redaction goes one step further and hides the words completely with black bars, as in declassified documents.
Most social networks and chat apps do not offer a strikethrough button, but Unicode has combining characters that draw over the preceding letter. Adding U+0336 after each character produces a continuous line through the text; U+0338 draws a diagonal slash, U+0335 a shorter stroke and U+0332 a line underneath. Because these are characters, not formatting, the effect survives copy and paste. Apps that support Markdown (Discord, Reddit, GitHub, Slack with ~text~) give a cleaner result with ~~double tildes~~, and HTML uses the <s> element.
Block redaction (█) and shaded redaction (▒) replace letters entirely, while “first letter visible” keeps a hint – useful for spoiler-free quizzes or playful censoring. For real confidential documents, delete the text rather than covering it.
How to use the Strikethrough Text Generator
- Text to strike through
Everything is calculated in your browser, so results appear instantly and nothing you type is sent to a server.
How it works
Each character of your text (including spaces, so the line is continuous) is followed by the selected combining mark. The redaction styles replace every non-space character with a block, keeping word lengths and spacing.
Worked example
“Top secret plan” (15 characters) becomes T̶o̶p̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶r̶e̶t̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶n̶ – 30 Unicode characters, because each letter and space carries a U+0336. Redacted, it reads ███ ██████ ████; with first letters visible, T██ s█████ p███.
Which style for which purpose?
| Purpose | Best style |
|---|---|
| Social media post or bio | Classic Unicode strikethrough |
| Discord, Reddit, GitHub | Markdown ~~text~~ |
| Web page | HTML <s> or <del> |
| Hiding words | Full or shaded redaction |
| Quiz or spoiler hint | First letter visible |
Formula
Strikethrough: every character + U+0336 (combining long stroke overlay)
Slash: + U+0338 · short stroke: + U+0335 · underline: + U+0332 · redaction: every non-space character → █ or ▒
Worked example
Inputs — Text to strike through: Top secret plan.
Results — Strikethrough (classic) = T̶o̶p̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶r̶e̶t̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶n̶; Slash through = T̸o̸p̸ ̸s̸e̸c̸r̸e̸t̸ ̸p̸l̸a̸n̸; Short stroke = T̵o̵p̵ ̵s̵e̵c̵r̵e̵t̵ ̵p̵l̵a̵n̵; Underlined = T̲o̲p̲ ̲s̲e̲c̲r̲e̲t̲ ̲p̲l̲a̲n̲; Fully redacted = ███ ██████ ████; Shaded redaction = ▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒.
Key terms
- Strikethrough
- A horizontal line through text, meaning deleted or no longer valid.
- Combining character
- A Unicode mark drawn over or under the preceding character.
- Redaction
- Hiding sensitive text before a document is shared.
Frequently asked questions
How do I strikethrough text on Facebook or Instagram?
Generate it here and paste it – the combining stroke characters work in posts, comments and bios.
How do I strikethrough in Discord?
Wrap the text in two tildes: ~~text~~. The Markdown output does that for you.
What is the shortcut in Google Docs or Word?
Google Docs: Alt + Shift + 5 (⌘ + Shift + X on Mac). Word has no default shortcut; use the abc button. Excel: Ctrl + 5.
Why does the line look broken on some devices?
The combining stroke is drawn by each font separately; with some fonts small gaps appear between letters.
Does strikethrough text count more characters?
Yes – each visible character becomes two Unicode characters, so it uses twice the character limit.
Is block redaction secure?
In plain text yes, because the letters are replaced. In PDFs, drawing black boxes over text is not safe – use a proper redaction tool.