Text Tools guide
Strikethrough Text on Social Media: 8 Checks Before You Post
· 4 min read
Strikethrough text works on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube comments and most other places without a formatting button, because the line is a hidden Unicode character attached to each letter rather than real formatting. The catch is that those hidden characters count toward character limits, break hashtags and search, and get read aloud oddly by screen readers. Run through the checks below and you'll get the effect without the side effects.
Why does strikethrough work where bold doesn't?
Most social apps strip formatting from posts, bios and comments. The Strikethrough Text Generator gets around this by adding a Unicode combining mark (U+0336, combining long stroke overlay) after every character. Your device draws that mark over the letter in front of it, so "hello" becomes h̶e̶l̶l̶o̶. Because it's text and not styling, it copies and pastes like any other text.
The 8-point checklist
1. Does your platform already have a shortcut?
Some apps have their own formatting, and it's cleaner to use it: text in WhatsApp and Slack, text in Discord. Their native strikethrough doesn't add hidden characters. Use the generator for places with no such option, like an Instagram caption or a dating profile.
2. Have you counted the real length?
Every struck character carries an extra hidden mark, so the length roughly doubles. "hello" struck through is 10 characters, not 5. The tool's Also mark spaces (one continuous line) box is ticked by default, which marks the spaces too:
| Input | Spaces marked? | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| was $40 | Yes (default) | 14 |
| was $40 | No | 13 |
| Free shipping | Yes | 26 |
On a platform with a tight limit (a bio, a username, a short post) paste the result into the Character Counter first.
3. Are you striking only what needs striking?
The classic use is a price change: "w̶a̶s̶ ̶$̶4̶0̶ now $25". Strike the old part, keep the new part plain. Running a whole sentence through the tool makes it hard to read and burns twice the characters for no gain.
4. Did you keep hashtags and @mentions plain?
A hashtag or mention with combining marks between its letters is no longer the same word. #sale with strikethrough won't link to the #sale tag, and a struck @handle won't notify anyone. Style the words around them, then type the tag or mention normally.
5. Is the struck text decoration, not information?
Screen readers may read each mark or skip the word entirely, and search engines may not recognize it. A joke like "I'm on a d̶i̶e̶t̶ journey" is fine. A struck-out date in an event update ("M̶a̶r̶c̶h̶ ̶3̶ April 9") should also say "moved to April 9" in plain words so everyone gets the change.
6. Did you check the preview on the platform?
Most modern devices draw the marks well, but a few fonts place them slightly off-center, and some sites strip combining characters entirely. Paste into the post box and look at the preview before publishing, ideally on both a phone and a computer if your audience uses both.
7. Do you need a different line style?
The Style menu has seven options, each a different combining mark:
- Strikethrough: s̶a̶l̶e̶, the full line through the middle
- Short stroke: s̵a̵l̵e̵, a shorter, lighter stroke
- Slash: s̸a̸l̸e̸, a diagonal line through each letter
- Underline: s̲a̲l̲e̲
- Double underline: s̳a̳l̳e̳
- Overline: s̅a̅l̅e̅
- Cross above: s̽a̽l̽e̽, a small x above each letter
Underline is the most useful of the rest, since almost no social app offers it. The Underline Text Generator opens with it preselected.
8. Can you get the plain text back?
If you need to edit a struck caption later, paste it in and choose Remove these lines (clean text). It strips every mark this tool adds and leaves the plain letters. Switching styles also works without cleaning first: paste struck text, pick Underline, and the old strikes are replaced, not stacked.
How do you make strikethrough text step by step?
- Type or paste your text into Your text, or click Load sample to try "This price is wrong".
- Choose a line from the Style menu. The Styled text box updates live.
- Untick Also mark spaces if you want gaps between words instead of one continuous line.
- Click Copy and paste it into your post.
The text is processed in your browser and isn't uploaded. Line breaks and tabs are never marked, so multi-line captions keep their layout.
FAQ
Why does my strikethrough line have gaps?
Either Also mark spaces is unticked, or the font on that device draws each mark slightly narrower than its letter. Ticking the box closes the gaps between words. The small gaps between letters depend on the font and can't be fixed from your side.
Can I combine strikethrough with bold or italic letters?
Often, yes. Generate the styled letters first with the Fancy Text Generator, then paste them here and add the line. Check the preview, because some fonts don't draw combining marks neatly over the mathematical bold and italic characters.
Does strikethrough text work with emoji?
The mark is added after an emoji just like after a letter, but most devices don't draw a line across emoji, so the line usually appears broken at that point.
Try it on your next price drop or edited joke with the Strikethrough Text Generator.