This short tutorial explains different ways to add, use and remove strikethrough format in Excel desktop, Excel Online and Excel for Mac.
On my ribbon, in word, strikethrough is in “Home”, so i hit Alt, H, and then 4 is the tooltip that comes up for strikethrough. So Alt, H, 4 works there. In Outlook strikethrough is on “Format Text”, which is “O”, so it’s Alt, O, 4. Make sure its in rich text mode Menu > Format > Make Rich Text. If you are already in rich text mode it will say Menu > Format > Make Plain Text. Key binding = SHIFT + CMD + T. In the window you write in, you should have a small icon just under the close button. That opens a drop down selector that has several styles for you to choose from. So select your text, click that button and select strike through.
Excel is great for manipulating numbers, but it does not always make clear how to format text values the way you want. Strikethrough is a vivid example.
It depends on the Application as a strikethrough is text ‘style’. But because MAC (human interface design guidelines etc), most applications will use the standard mac text editor. So let’s look at TextEdit. All Macs should have this application. Make sure its in rich text mode Menu > Format. Do a Google search for strikethrough generator and find a generator site that allows you to type in the phrase or word and also to highlight and copy the results. Most generators allow the ios devices to highlight the results easily, but not all.
It is super easy to cross out text in Microsoft Word - you simply click the strikethrough button on the ribbon. Naturally, you'd expect to see the same button on the Excel ribbon. But it's nowhere to be found. So, how do I strikethrough text in Excel? By using any of the six methods described in this tutorial :)
- How to do strikethrough in Excel
Strikethrough Mac Shortcut
How to strikethrough in Excel
To ensure that everyone is on the same page, let's define the term first. What does it mean to strikethrough in Excel? Simply, to put a line through a value in a cell. There are a handful of different ways to do this, and we are going to begin with the fastest one.
Excel strikethrough shortcut
Want to have the job done as quickly as possible? Press a hotkey or key combination.
Here's the keyboard shortcut to strikethrough in Excel: Ctrl + 5
The shortcut can be used on an entire cell, certain part of the cell contents, or a range of cells.
To apply the strikethrough format to a cell, select that cell, and press the shortcut:
To draw a line through all values in a range, select the range:
To strikethrough non-adjacent cells, select multiple cells while holding the Ctrl key, and then press the strikethrough shortcut:
To cross out part of the cell value, double-click the cell to enter the Edit mode, and select the text you want to strikethrough:
Apply strikethrough via cell format options
Another quick way to draw a line through a cell value in Excel is by using the Format Cells dialog. Here's how:
![Text Text](https://www.techonthenet.com/excel/cells/images/strikethrough2013_002.gif)
- Select one or more cells on which you want to apply the strikethrough format.
- Press Ctrl + 1 or right-click the selected cell(s) and choose Format Cells… from the context menu.
- In the Format Cells dialog box, go to the Font tab, and tick off the Strikethrough option under Effects.
- Click OK to save the change and close the dialog.
Add a strikethrough button to Quick Access Toolbar
If you think that the above method requires too many steps, add the strikethrough button to the Quick Access Toolbar to always have it at your fingertips.
- Click the small arrow in the upper left corner of the Excel window, and then click More Commands…
- Under Choose commands from, select Commands Not in the Ribbon, then select Strikethrough in the list of commands, and click the Add button. This will add Strikethrough to the list of commands on the right pane, and you click OK:
Look at the upper left corner of your worksheet again, and you will find the new button there:
Put a strikethrough button onto Excel ribbon
If your Quick Access Toolbar is reserved only for the most frequently used commands, which strikethrough is not, place it onto the ribbon instead. As with QAT, it's also one-time setup, performed in this way:
- Right-click anywhere on the ribbon and select Customize the Ribbon… from the pop-up menu:
- Since new buttons can only be added to custom groups, let's create one. For this, select the target tab (Home in our case) and click the New Group button. Then, click Rename… to name the newly created group to your liking, say My Formats:
- With the new group selected, perform the already familiar steps: under Choose commands from, select Commands Not in the Ribbon, find Strikethrough in the list of commands, select it, and click Add:
- Click OK to save the changes, and find the Strikethrough button on your Excel ribbon:
Microsoft Word For Mac Free Download
You can now cross out text in Excel with a single button click! And it will also remind you the keyboard shortcut in case you forget it :)
Tip. By using Up and Down arrows in the Excel Options dialog box, you can move your custom group with the Strikethrough button to any position on the ribbon:
How to strikethrough automatically with conditional formatting
In case you are planning to use a strikethrough to cross out the completed tasks or activities in a checklist or to-do list, you may want Excel to do it for you automatically as you enter some text in a related cell, for example 'done':
The task can be easily accomplished with Excel Conditional Formatting:
- Select all the cells you want to cross out on condition (A2:A6 in this example).
- On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting > New Rule…
- In the New Formatting Rule dialog box, select Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
- In the Format values where this formula is true box, enter the formula that expresses the condition for your topmost cell:
=$B2='Done'
- Click the Format…
- In the Format Cells dialog box, switch to the Font tab and select the Strikethrough Optionally, you can make some other formatting changes, e.g. set a light grey font color for crossed out entries:
- Click OK to close the Format Cells dialog box, then click OK one more time to close the New Formatting Rule window, and you are all set!
Instead of defining a task status with text, you can insert checkboxes, link them to some cells (which you can hide later) and base your conditional formatting rule on the value in the linked cells (TRUE is a checkbox is checked, FALSE if not checked).
As the result, Excel will check off the completed tasks automatically depending on whether the checkbox is selected or not.
If you'd like to create something similar in your worksheets, the detailed steps can be found here: How to create a checklist with conditional formatting.
Add strikethrough with a macro
If you are not allergic to using VBA in your Excel worksheets, you can apply strikethrough on all selected cells with this line of code:
The step-by-step instructions on how to insert VBA code in Excel can be found here.
How to use strikethrough in Excel Online
In Excel Online, the strikethrough option is exactly where you'd expect to find it - next to the other formatting buttons on the Home tab, in the Font group:
However, there's a fly in the ointment - it's not possible to select non-adjacent cells or ranges in Excel Online. So, if you need to cross out multiple entries in different parts of your sheet, you will have to select each cell or a range of contiguous cells individually, and then click the strikethrough button.
The strikethrough shortcut (Ctrl + 5) works perfectly in Excel Online too and is often the fastest way to toggle the strikethrough formatting on and off.
How to strikethrough in Excel for Mac
A quick way to strikethrough text in Excel for Mac is by using this keyboard shortcut: ⌘ + Up Arrow + X
It can also be done from the Format Cells dialog in the same way as in Excel for Windows:
- Select the cell(s) or part of a cell value you wish to cross out.
- Right-click the selection and chose Format Cells from the popup menu.
- In the Format Cells dialog box, switch to the Font tab and select the Strikethrough checkbox:
How to remove strikethrough in Excel
The correct way to remove strikethrough from a cell depends on how you've added it.
Remove strikethrough added manually
If you applied strikethrough via a shortcut or cell format, then press Ctrl + 5 again, and the formatting will be gone.
A longer way would be opening the Format Cells dialog (Ctrl + 1) and unchecking the Strikethrough box there:
Remove strikethrough added with conditional formatting
If strikethrough is added by a conditional formatting rule, then you need to remove that rule to get rid of strikethrough.
To have it done, select all the cells from which you want to remove strikethrough, go to the Home tab > Styles group, and click Conditional Formatting > Clear Rules > Clear Rules from Selected Cells:
If some other conditional formatting rule(s) is applied to the same cells and you'd like to keep that rule, then click conditional Formatting > Manage Rules… and delete only the strikethrough rule.
For more information, please see How to delete conditional formatting rules in Excel.
That's how you can add and remove the strikethrough formatting in Excel. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!
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When working with Word, you’ve probably seen two different kinds of text with lines through it (something we call “strikethrough”). Red text with a red line through it happens when you delete text while the collaborative Track Changes feature is on. Black text with a black line through it just has special character formatting applied. Here’s how both work.
Why Would You Want to Strike Through Text, Anyway?
How To Type With Strikethrough
It’s a good question. Why cross out words when you can just delete them? When you’re tracking changes in Word so that you can collaborate with other people, keeping that deleted text visible, but struck through, lets them know what has changed. They can even review those change and accept or deny them. We’ve got a full guide on keeping track of changes made to a Word document, so we’re not going to cover all that in this article. It’s a good read, though, if you’re collaborating on a document.
RELATED:Keeping Track of Changes Made to a Document
Instead, we’re going to focus on how to apply strikethrough character formatting and why you might want to.
So, why bother? Well, you might be collaborating with someone and not want to use the Track Changes feature. Maybe they don’t use Word, and you’re sending it to them to view in Google Docs, or as a PDF they can print out. Either way, you can strike through text as a suggestion that it be deleted, but leave it in place for them to see. This is particularly useful in a situation where, for example, you’re tutoring a student in a subject like a foreign language. It’s much easier for the student to learn if they can go back and see the mistakes along with the corrections.
Some writers also use strikethrough text (and occasionally often overuse it) to show a change of thinking in a document. Or maybe you just want to be annoying funny.
Whatever the reason, we’re here to show you how to do it.
How to Apply Strikethrough Formatting to Text
Applying strikethrough formatting is pretty easy. Start by selecting the text you want to strike through. You can do this by clicking and dragging over the text (or just double-clicking a word), but when you do this, Word likes to select the space after the text, as well. If you don’t want that to happen, click to place your insertion point at the beginning of the text, and then Shift-click at the end of the text for a more precise selection.
If you want to get fancy and select multiple words spread out through the document at the same time, you can do that, too. Select the first bit of text the regular way, and then hold down the Ctrl key while selecting additional text in different places. We suggest only doing this a paragraph at a time because it’s frustrating when you accidentally let go of the Ctrl key and have to start over.
When you’ve got your text selected, look on the “Home” tab of Word’s Ribbon. In the “Font” group, click the “Strikethrough” button (it’s the three letters with a line drawn through them).
Now, any text you had selected should be struck through.
You can also apply strikethrough formatting using the Font window. Select your text, and then press Ctrl+D to open that window up. Here, you can select not only the regular “Strikethrough” option but a “Double Strikethrough” option if you want to go that way, instead. Make your selection, and then click the “OK” button.
Make Things Easier By Creating a Keyboard Shortcut
Word has loads of keyboard shortcuts, including a bunch for applying formatting. Unfortunately, there’s no built-in shortcut for applying strikethrough formatting. If it’s something you do a lot, though, you can create your own key combo.
RELATED:All of the Best Microsoft Word Keyboard Shortcuts
Start by opening that Font window back up. Now, press Ctrl+Alt+Plus (you might have to use the Plus key on your number pad). Your cursor should very briefly turn into a clover shape. After that happens, click the “Strikethrough” option and a Customize Keyboard window should open.
Here, you can assign your preferred keyboard combo by clicking once in the “Press New Shortcut Key” box and then pressing the keys you want to use. If the combination you choose already has a shortcut function, Word will let you know that it’s currently assigned to something else. You can, of course, still use it even if it’s assigned to something else, but it’s better to try to find a combination that doesn’t have any current functions. We find Ctrl+Alt+- (minus) is pretty easy to remember and doesn’t have any other use in Word.
Press the “Assign” button, and then go back to your Word doc and try it out.
Now you have your customized strikethrough shortcut!
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