Strikethrough text generator

Both styles add one mark after each character. Strikethrough uses U+0336, a horizontal stroke through the middle of the letter. Slashed uses U+0338, the combining long solidus overlay, which cuts each letter on a diagonal.

Every mark is a character of its own, so the text grows behind the scenes: “clean the house” is 15 characters, while c̶l̶e̶a̶n̶ t̶h̶e̶ h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶ is 28. Spaces get no mark, so each word is struck on its own, and whether the strokes meet inside a word depends on the reader’s font.

Strikethrough is an editing mark. On paper, a line through a word means “delete this”, but unlike blacking it out, it leaves the old word readable. That’s the point: the reader sees both what changed and what it changed from.

Some fields use it that way on purpose. Many legislatures print proposed amendments with removed words struck through and new words underlined, so readers can see exactly what a change does. On the web, HTML has two tags for it: del marks text that has been removed from a document, and s marks text that is no longer accurate or relevant, such as an old price.

Online, it also became a joke format: write the honest thought, strike it out and follow it with the polite one. The line pretends to take the words back while making sure everyone reads them.

• A joke correction, where the crossed-out part is the honest one: “Sunday plan: c̶l̶e̶a̶n̶ t̶h̶e̶ h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶ nap.”
• A visible update. When an event moves, “F̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶ Saturday” tells followers what changed, which a quiet edit wouldn’t.
• A price that has dropped: R̶s̶ 1̶,̶2̶0̶0̶ Rs 799. Only cross out a price you really charged, and write the new one in plain text so it can be read and copied.
• Sold-out stock left in a list, such as b̶l̶u̶e̶ m̶u̶g̶, so people can see what’s gone without asking.
• Progress: days ticked off a 30-day challenge, or goals you’ve finished.

Pasted strikethrough is a workaround for places without formatting, such as Instagram captions and comments. Where an app has a real strikethrough, use that instead: the words stay ordinary letters, the line runs through the spaces as well, and search, copying and screen readers all treat the text as text.

Tip: Not sure whether a chat app can format text? Select a word in the message box and look at the menu that appears. If it offers formatting, use that rather than pasted characters.

A strikethrough only means something to people who can see it. Screen readers handle the stroke marks unevenly: depending on the reader and its settings, a struck-through word may be read as if nothing were wrong with it, spelled out letter by letter, or broken up by the name of the mark. A listener can easily miss that it was crossed out at all.

So when the crossing-out carries information, say it in words as well. “Was Rs 1,200, now Rs 799” works for everyone, and “moved to Saturday” is clearer than a struck-through Friday on its own.