strikethrough.text

Google Slides on Windows and Mac

Strikethrough in Google Slides and the reveal trick

Same shortcut as Docs and Sheets. Then use it to make a slide land: show the struck word first, the real one second.

Windows · ChromebookAlt+Shift+5
Mac⌘+Shift+X
MenuFormat→Text→Strikethrough

Updated · strikethroughtext.online

Applying it

  1. Click into a text box, shape or table cell and select the text.
  2. Press Alt + Shift + 5 on Windows or a Chromebook, or ⌘ + Shift + X on a Mac.
  3. Or use Format → Text → Strikethrough.

If you select the whole text box (its border, not the text inside), the formatting applies to everything in it. That’s handy for striking a full bullet list at once.

Why strikethrough works so well on slides

On a slide, a struck word is a whole argument in one glance. “Our goal is growth retention.” The audience reads both words and gets the change in thinking without you saying it. It works for:

  • Before and after. Old price and new price, old process and new.
  • Myths. Put the myth on screen struck through, then the fact.
  • Agenda tracking. Strike finished agenda items as you move through a long session.

The reveal trick

Google Slides can’t animate a line drawing through text, but you can make the strike appear on a click:

  1. Make your text box with the plain wording.
  2. Duplicate it (Ctrl + D, or ⌘ + D on a Mac) and apply strikethrough to the copy.
  3. Line the copy up exactly on top of the original. Arrow keys nudge it; Shift + arrow moves it in bigger steps.
  4. With the copy selected, open Insert → Animation, choose Fade in, and set it to On click.
  5. Add the corrected text in another box, fading in on the next click.

Present it and you get plain text, then the line, then the correction.

Speaker notes and titles

Strikethrough works in speaker notes too, which is useful for marking points you’ve already covered in rehearsal. In slide titles, keep the struck word short so the line stays legible from the back of a room.

Taking it outside Slides

Slides formatting survives export to PowerPoint and PDF. It doesn’t survive a paste into a chat, an email subject or a social post. For those, use the copy-paste version on this page.

Copy-paste version

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

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

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded.

  • strikethroughQ̶3̶ ̶t̶a̶r̶g̶e̶t̶
  • short strikeQ̵3̵ ̵t̵a̵r̵g̵e̵t̵
  • wavy strikeQ̴3̴ ̴t̴a̴r̴g̴e̴t̴
  • slashQ̷3̷ ̷t̷a̷r̷g̷e̷t̷
  • long slashQ̸3̸ ̸t̸a̸r̸g̸e̸t̸
  • double slashQ̸̷3̸̷ ̸̷t̸̷a̸̷r̸̷g̸̷e̸̷t̸̷
  • strike + underlineQ̶̲3̶̲ ̶̲t̶̲a̶̲r̶̲g̶̲e̶̲t̶̲
  • strike + overlineQ̶̅3̶̅ ̶̅t̶̅a̶̅r̶̅g̶̅e̶̅t̶̅
  • underlineQ̲3̲ ̲t̲a̲r̲g̲e̲t̲
  • double underlineQ̳3̳ ̳t̳a̳r̳g̳e̳t̳
  • overlineQ̅3̅ ̅t̅a̅r̅g̅e̅t̅
  • dottedQ̤3̤ ̤t̤a̤r̤g̤e̤t̤
  • waveQ̰3̰ ̰t̰a̰r̰g̰ḛt̰
  • x belowQ͓3͓ ͓t͓a͓r͓g͓e͓t͓
  • redacted█████████

Questions people ask

How do I strikethrough text in Google Slides?

Select the text inside a text box, shape or table and press Alt + Shift + 5 (Cmd + Shift + X on a Mac), or open Format → Text → Strikethrough. Press the shortcut again to remove it.

Can I animate strikethrough in Google Slides?

Slides cannot animate the line itself, but you can fake it: put a struck copy of the text box exactly on top of the plain one and give it a Fade in animation set to On click. When you click, the line appears.

Does strikethrough survive exporting to PowerPoint or PDF?

Yes. Strikethrough is standard text formatting, so it is kept when you download the deck as a .pptx or a PDF.

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