How to Cross Out Text in Excel

What this does

Strikethrough draws a line through text while keeping the value in the cell. It is formatting, not deletion, so formulas, filters and copies still see the original value. You can apply it to a whole cell or, while editing, to only selected characters inside the cell. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. Treat “cross out text in excel” as a small repeatable workflow rather than a one-off click you hope to remember next time. Use a small test block before the live file, so any surprise in the affected cells shows up while it is still harmless. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. That turns a text operation that turns messy entries into clean, usable data into a method you can reuse, explain, and defend when the workbook leaves your screen.

A worked example

A task list has Done items in A2:A10. Select completed task names and press Ctrl+5 to strike them through. If a cell says Draft final, edit the cell, select only Draft, press Ctrl+1 and tick Strikethrough so only that word is crossed out. Strikethrough is best for visible workflow state: done tasks, superseded values, cancelled line items and review notes where the old text should remain visible. When the result is not what you expected, undo straight away rather than repairing it by hand — undo restores the sheet exactly, while manual fixes tend to leave small inconsistencies behind that surface later.

In Google Sheets

This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. Keep this page bookmarked for the next time the same question comes up. Better still, repeat the steps once in your own workbook — doing it yourself is what turns a copied answer into something you remember. Here is the takeaway for “cross out text in excel”: follow the steps at the top, check the result on the sheet itself, and keep undo in mind while you experiment. Done once deliberately, it becomes something you do from memory in Excel rather than something you search for again.

Common mistakes

• Assuming strikethrough removes the value from formulas or totals.
• Applying it manually to large lists instead of using conditional formatting from a Done column.
• Expecting Ctrl+5 to work the same in every browser-based spreadsheet environment.
• Using strikethrough as the only status marker, which can be hard to scan or print.

Frequently asked questions