Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Understanding Strikethrough Formatting.

Understanding Strikethrough Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 3, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


2

One of the character formats you can use within Word is referred to as Strikethrough. This simply means that Word shows a horizontal line through the middle of the character to which the attribute has been applied. Strikethrough can be applied either by clicking on the Strikethrough tool on the Home tab of the ribbon (in the Font group) or by choosing the Strikethrough check box on the Font tab of the Font dialog box (Ctrl+D).

A typical use for characters being struck through is in relation to the Track Changes feature of Word. With Track Changes turned on, characters that have been deleted are shown as struck through, although this depends on which view of your document view you are using. The characters that have been deleted may also be shown in a red font color in addition to shown as struck through, depending on which version of Word you are using.

Actually, Word has two types of strikethrough formatting. You can specify that something be struck through once or you can choose a double strikethrough. This latter character format, which uses two horizontal lines instead of one, must be applied from the Font tab of the Font dialog box. Simply make sure the Double Strikethrough check box is selected.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8061) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Understanding Strikethrough Formatting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Errors while Printing

Printing a document is a common task in Word. What if you get an error message while printing? Tracking down the cause ...

Discover More

Formatting an ASCII Table with Tabs

If you get a document from a coworker that has tabs used to line up tabular information, you might want to change that ...

Discover More

Editing a Hyperlink

Excel will cheerfully keep track of all sorts of hyperlinks for you. If you want to change the hyperlink in some way, ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing Strikethrough Lines

Want to change the way a strikethrough line appears? It's not as easy as you think, as you find out in this tip.

Discover More

Moving the Underline Position

One of the ways that Word allows you to format text is to underline it. However, you have virtually no control on where ...

Discover More

Creating Custom Underlines

Word provides a wide assortment of underlines that you can apply to your text. If the assortment isn't wide enough for ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two minus 0?

2019-09-05 16:42:43

Jay

The font version of strikethrough is totally unrelated to the Track Changes strikethrough in that you cannot change the advanced mark-up options (under Tracking > Advanced Options) of the font version, nor can you accept all changes and expect the font strikethrough to be removed.


2019-08-31 06:05:13

Øystein

Or by ctrl+5


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.