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

Determining a Column Width

When laying out your document, you may wonder what width you should use for your text. An old typographers trick may help ...

Discover More

Taking a Picture

Excel allows you to capture portions of your worksheet as a picture that you can then use in a variety of other ways. ...

Discover More

Setting Default Options for Track Changes

The Track changes feature in Word is a great help in editing documents, particularly if you are working with others or ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing the Color of a Tab's Leader Character

When you set tab stops for a paragraph, you can also specify leader characters to be used with the tab stop. If you want ...

Discover More

Reversed Bolding

If you paste information from one document into another, you may be surprised at the results. If your text changes from ...

Discover More

Quickly Changing Font Sizes

A quick little shortcut can help you easily step through different font sizes for whatever text you've selected. Word ...

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 six minus 4?

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.