Drawing a horizontal line directly through the center of a word—known as a strikethrough—is a powerful formatting tool. It allows you to show that an idea has been rejected or that a price has been slashed (e.g., $50.00 $25.00), while still leaving the original text perfectly readable underneath the line.
You should never attempt to create this effect by manually drawing a line using the “Shapes” tool. If you draw a manual line, the exact second you add a new paragraph to the top of the page, the text will shift downward, but your hand-drawn line will remain floating uselessly in the middle of the screen. You must apply the strikethrough effect directly to the font data itself.
Method 1: The Ribbon Button (The Standard Way)
Because strikethrough is such a common formatting request, Microsoft placed the button directly on the primary toolbar right next to the Bold, Italic, and Underline buttons.
- Open your document in Microsoft Word.
- Use your mouse to highlight the specific text you want to cross out.
- Look at the Ribbon at the top of the screen and ensure you are on the Home tab.
- Look for the “Font” section on the left side of the ribbon.
- Click the button that has a tiny ab with a line drawn directly through it.
The highlighted text will instantly cross itself out. To remove the effect, simply highlight the text again and click the exact same button to toggle it off.
Method 2: The Font Menu (For Double Strikethroughs)
If you are writing a complex legal document, you might need to use a “Double Strikethrough” (drawing two parallel lines through the text) to indicate a specific type of legal redaction. The basic Ribbon button cannot do this.
- Highlight the text you want to format.
- Look at the “Font” section on the Home tab again.
- Click the tiny icon (an arrow pointing down and to the right) in the absolute bottom right corner of the Font section. This opens the hidden Font Settings menu. (Alternatively, you can just press Ctrl + D on your keyboard to open this menu instantly).
- Look at the middle of the pop-up box for the “Effects” section.
- Check the box labeled Double strikethrough.
- Click OK.
The text will now have two distinct lines drawn through its center.
Method 3: The Secret Keyboard Shortcut (The Fast Way)
If you are actively typing a fast-paced draft and do not want to constantly take your hands off the keyboard to click the Ribbon with your mouse, you can trigger the strikethrough effect using a hidden shortcut.
- On a Windows PC, highlight the text and press: Ctrl + D, then press Alt + K, then press Enter.
- On an Apple Mac, highlight the text and press: Command + Shift + X.
Because the Windows shortcut requires three separate keystrokes (it is actually just rapidly navigating the Font menu via keyboard commands), it is not a “true” instant shortcut like Ctrl+B for Bold. If you use strikethrough constantly, you can actually create a custom shortcut in Word by going to File > Options > Customize Ribbon > Keyboard shortcuts: Customize, searching for “Strikethrough,” and assigning it to something simple like Ctrl + Shift + S.