strikethrough.text

Excel on Windows and Mac

Strikethrough shortcut in Excel Ctrl + 5

Select the cells and press the shortcut. It toggles, so press it again to remove the line.

WindowsCtrl+5
Mac⌘+Shift+X
Format CellsCtrl+1Font tab → Effects → Strikethrough

Updated · strikethroughtext.online

The shortcut

  1. Select the cell, a range, whole rows or whole columns.
  2. Press Ctrl + 5 on Windows, or ⌘ + Shift + X on a Mac.
  3. Press it again to remove it.

There’s no strikethrough button on the Home tab by default. The mouse route is Format Cells: right-click the selection, choose Format Cells, open the Font tab and tick Strikethrough under Effects. Ctrl + 1 opens the same dialog.

Striking only part of a cell

Strikethrough can apply to individual characters, not just whole cells:

  1. Double-click the cell, or select it and press F2.
  2. Highlight the characters to strike.
  3. Press Ctrl + 1 and tick Strikethrough.

This only works on typed text. Cells that contain formulas are formatted as a whole.

Automatic strikethrough for finished tasks

For a task list or an order tracker, let Excel strike rows for you:

  1. Select the data rows, for example A2:D100.
  2. Go to Home → Conditional Formatting → New Rule.
  3. Choose Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
  4. Enter =$C2="Done", adjusting the column letter and the first row to match your sheet. The $ locks the column so the whole row checks the same cell.
  5. Click Format, tick Strikethrough on the Font tab, and pick a grey font colour if you like.
  6. Click OK twice.

Now any row marked Done is struck through, and un-striking is as simple as changing the status. With checkboxes, the formula is =$C2=TRUE.

Add a button to the Quick Access Toolbar

If you use it all the time, right-click the ribbon, choose Customize Quick Access Toolbar, pick All Commands, find Strikethrough, and click Add. It then sits at the top of the window as a one-click button.

Getting struck text out of Excel

Strikethrough is cell formatting. Copy a cell into a chat app, an email subject or a social post and the line won’t come with it. The copy-paste version on this page puts the line into the characters themselves, so it survives.

Copy-paste version

For the places where Excel formatting won't follow your text, like file names, chat apps or a social bio.

11 characters, 2 words
Ctrl + Enter copies the first result

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded.

  • strikethroughO̶r̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶#̶1̶0̶4̶2̶
  • short strikeO̵r̵d̵e̵r̵ ̵#̵1̵0̵4̵2̵
  • wavy strikeO̴r̴d̴e̴r̴ ̴#̴1̴0̴4̴2̴
  • slashO̷r̷d̷e̷r̷ ̷#̷1̷0̷4̷2̷
  • long slashO̸r̸d̸e̸r̸ ̸#̸1̸0̸4̸2̸
  • double slashO̸̷r̸̷d̸̷e̸̷r̸̷ ̸̷#̸̷1̸̷0̸̷4̸̷2̸̷
  • strike + underlineO̶̲r̶̲d̶̲e̶̲r̶̲ ̶̲#̶̲1̶̲0̶̲4̶̲2̶̲
  • strike + overlineO̶̅r̶̅d̶̅e̶̅r̶̅ ̶̅#̶̅1̶̅0̶̅4̶̅2̶̅
  • underlineO̲r̲d̲e̲r̲ ̲#̲1̲0̲4̲2̲
  • double underlineO̳r̳d̳e̳r̳ ̳#̳1̳0̳4̳2̳
  • overlineO̅r̅d̅e̅r̅ ̅#̅1̅0̅4̅2̅
  • dottedO̤r̤d̤e̤r̤ ̤#̤1̤0̤4̤2̤
  • waveO̰r̰d̰ḛr̰ ̰#̰1̰0̰4̰2̰
  • x belowO͓r͓d͓e͓r͓ ͓#͓1͓0͓4͓2͓
  • redacted███████████

Questions people ask

What is the shortcut for strikethrough in Excel?

Ctrl + 5 on Windows and Cmd + Shift + X on a Mac. Select one or more cells first. Press it again to remove the strikethrough.

Why does Ctrl + 5 not work in Excel?

Use the 5 on the main row of the keyboard; Ctrl with the number pad 5 does nothing. If you are editing inside a cell, use Ctrl + 1 to open Format Cells for the selected characters instead.

How do I strikethrough part of a cell?

Double-click the cell (or press F2) to edit it, select just the characters you want, press Ctrl + 1, and tick Strikethrough in the Font tab. Only those characters are struck.

How do I automatically strikethrough a row when a task is done?

Select the rows, choose Home → Conditional Formatting → New Rule → Use a formula, enter a formula such as =$C2="Done", click Format, tick Strikethrough on the Font tab and click OK.

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