Strikethrough Text Generator
Turn plain text into five copy-ready Unicode strikeout and redaction styles while preserving spaces and line breaks.
Input
Required. Up to 5,000 Unicode characters. Spaces and line breaks are preserved.
Generated styles
Classic strikethrough
E̶n̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶e̶n̶s̶o̶r̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶~̶~̶s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶!̶~̶~̶
Slash strikethrough
E̷n̷t̷e̷r̷ ̷t̷e̷x̷t̷ ̷t̷o̷ ̷c̷e̷n̷s̷o̷r̷ ̷o̷r̷ ̷~̷~̷s̷t̷r̷i̷k̷e̷ ̷t̷h̷r̷o̷u̷g̷h̷!̷~̷~̷
Full redaction
█████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ██████████
Shaded redaction
▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
First-letter-visible redaction
E████ t███ t█ c█████ o█ ~███████ t█████████
How to use this strikethrough text generator
What this calculator does
This tool transforms one required text input into five plain-text Unicode variants that you can copy into many apps without relying on rich-text formatting. The classic result adds Unicode U+0336 COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY, while the slash result adds U+0337 COMBINING SHORT SOLIDUS OVERLAY. The three redaction-style outputs replace visible characters with block symbols in different ways. This is a text transformation utility: it does not edit the original document, verify how every font will render combining marks, or perform secure document redaction.
When to use it
Use it when you want copyable strikeout text for a note, chat, social post, draft, or plain-text field; when you want a visual “second thought” or completed-item effect; or when you need a quick mock-up showing what redacted-looking text could resemble. For formal editing inside a word processor, native strikethrough formatting is usually cleaner. For confidential records, use dedicated redaction procedures rather than decorative block characters.
How to calculate
- The generator opens with a complete demonstration phrase, so all five styles and the example XLSX workbook are immediately available.
- Replace the text in Type or paste your text. Results update live as you type; no Calculate button is needed.
- Review Characters, Words, and Output styles, then choose the generated variant that best fits your destination.
- Use the Copy button beside a result, or choose Download Excel to export the current input and all generated styles to a validated Office Open XML workbook.
- Reset clears the demonstration and all generated text. Because the input is required, Download Excel is then disabled until you enter valid text again.
Input guide
Type or paste your text is a required Unicode text field accepting ordinary letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols, emoji, spaces, and line breaks. The limit is 5,000 Unicode code points to keep live rendering and workbook export predictable. A realistic example is “Enter text to censor or strike through!”. More text produces proportionally longer strikeout and block-style outputs. An empty or whitespace-only value is rejected. A common mistake is assuming the generated block characters securely remove information; they only create new visible text and are not a document-sanitization process.
The combining-mark behavior follows Unicode character definitions. The Unicode Combining Diacritical Marks names list identifies U+0336 as a combining long stroke overlay associated with strikethrough and U+0337 as a short solidus overlay.
Output guide
Characters counts Unicode code points in the source, including spaces and line breaks; Words counts non-whitespace runs; and Output styles is the fixed number of generated transformations, five. Classic strikethrough appends U+0336 to each source code point other than a line break. Slash strikethrough uses U+0337 in the same way. Full redaction replaces every non-whitespace code point with a solid block while preserving spacing. Shaded redaction uses a shaded block instead. First-letter-visible redaction preserves the first code point of each whitespace-delimited token and masks the rest with solid blocks. These outputs are deterministic text conversions, not estimates or recommendations.
Worked example
The startup phrase is “Enter text to censor or ~~strike through!~~”. It contains 43 characters and 7 words. For the classic result, the tool walks through the phrase and places U+0336 after each code point except line breaks, producing “E̶n̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶e̶n̶s̶o̶r̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶~̶~̶s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶!̶~̶~̶”. The same source also yields the slash, full-block, shaded-block, and first-letter-visible variants shown above. The workbook exports this same source text, the three summary counts, and each generated result, so the browser view and spreadsheet stay synchronized.
How strikethrough behaves across apps
Unicode combining overlays travel with the text itself, but appearance can vary because fonts and shaping engines decide how the mark is positioned. Native formatting is different: the application stores a style on the selected text rather than inserting a visible combining character after each source character. In Google Docs, the official keyboard-shortcut reference lists Alt + Shift + 5 for strikethrough on desktop; see the Google Docs keyboard shortcuts. Microsoft Word also provides native strikethrough controls documented in Microsoft's strikethrough formatting guide.
That distinction matters when you paste text into a destination. A rich-text editor may support a true strikethrough style that is easier to remove and may render more evenly. A plain-text destination cannot carry that style, so combining overlays can be useful when you specifically need the crossed-out appearance encoded in text. Emoji and complex scripts may render differently across platforms; the generator preserves the source sequence rather than claiming identical typography everywhere.
Redaction-looking text is not secure redaction
The block-style outputs are suitable for demonstrations, playful censorship, and layout mock-ups, but they should not be treated as a security control. Secure redaction means ensuring sensitive information is actually removed from the disclosed file and cannot be recovered from hidden text, metadata, layers, annotations, or other document structures. The UK Information Commissioner's Office explains practical checks for removing or redacting hidden personal information in its guidance on disclosing documents to the public securely.
If the text contains confidential data, do not paste the original information into an untrusted destination merely because a generated output looks blocked. Use the controls and review process appropriate to your document system. This generator works locally in the page and makes no network requests, but the final security of copied text depends on where you paste or store it.