Strikethrough in Excel is pretty easy to do. The simplest way is to highlight the text that you want to add strikethrough formatting to and use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 5 on Windows or ( Cmd + Shift + X on macOS). There are a few other ways to do it too. We will cover them all in this comprehensive guide. Read on to learn more.
Table of Contents
What Is a Strikethrough in Excel?
Strikethrough is a text formatting option in Excel that allows you to add a line through the text. This works similarly to the underline option. However, where underlining is used to highlight a text, strikethrough can cross out text and generally indicates that the content is marked as invalid.
You can use strikethrough for multiple purposes, like showing completed tasks, highlighting differences in data, tracking changes, and highlighting outdated information.
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How To Strikethrough in Excel
You can apply the strikethrough function in Microsoft Excel using different methods. Let’s look at some super easy, simple ways to apply a strikethrough in Microsoft Excel.
How To Do Strikethrough in Excel Using the Font Tab
Using this method requires you to access the format cells dialog box. Here is how to put a line through text in Excel using the font group:
- Open Microsoft Excel and head to the Excel spreadsheet where you wish to add the strikethrough.
- Select the cell or multiple cells you wish to cross out in Excel.
- Click the “Home” tab in the main toolbar towards the top of the screen.
- From the “Home” tab, head over to the “Font” section and click the “Font Settings” button towards the bottom right. This will open the format cells dialog box in the middle of the screen.
- Click on the “Strikethrough” option in the “Effects” section from the format cells dialog box. This will show a tick mark in the box.
- Click on the “OK” button to confirm.
Clicking the “OK” button will close the window, and the Excel strikethrough effect will be implemented to the text in all the cells you selected.
Repeat the described steps above and uncheck the “Strikethrough” option from the formatting options to remove the Excel strikethrough.
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How To Use the Excel Strikethrough Keyboard Shortcuts
Using a simple keyboard shortcut key, you can also get the same strikethrough effect. To do this, click and select the cell or the cell range that you wish to cross out in Excel. Now press the keyboard shortcut key for strikethrough, which is:
- Windows: Ctrl + 5
- macOS: Cmd + Shift + X
With the cells selected, the strikethrough effect will be applied automatically. To remove strikethrough, select the cell containing the strikethrough text and press the keyboard shortcut keys again to remove the effect.
How To Strike Through in Excel Using Ribbon Button
If you don’t want to go through the format cells dialog box every time you want to add the strikethrough effect, you can add a persistent button in the top ribbon. Here is how to put a strikethrough button on an Excel ribbon:
- Open Excel on your computer and head over to an Excel spreadsheet.
- Right-click on any part of the ribbon. From the pop-up menu, choose the “Customize the Ribbon” option. This will open a new window in the middle of the screen.
- You will have to add a custom group to add a new button. To do this, click the “Home” tab in the main Excel options menu.
- Choose the “New Group” option.
- Rename your new group, i.e., Strikethrough command. After creating the new group, click on it.
- Now click on the option under the “Choose commands from” option.
- Choose the “Commands not in the Ribbon” option.
- From the menu, click on the “Strikethrough” option.
- Choose the “Add” option. The command will move from the left to the right section.
- To save your changes, click on the “OK” option.
- Now, you can see the Strikethrough command in your Excel Ribbon. Simply select the strikethrough icon to apply the strikethrough effect to the selected cells.
Related: A Guide to Google Sheets Strikethrough Formatting
How To Add a Partial Strikethrough on Excel
The methods above discuss how to cross out text in Excel above and how to add a strikethrough to the contents of the entire cell. This can be less than ideal if you want to add a strikethrough to specific cell parts.
Thankfully, Excel allows you to add a partial strikethrough format to the text in a cell. Here is how to put a line through text in Excel partially:
- Find the cell where you wish to do a partial strikethrough format and double-click on it.
- Select the part of the text you wish to strikethrough.
- The first method for applying the strikethrough is to click on the “Format Cells” option.
- Then, choose the strikethrough option from the “Font” tab.
An alternate method is to apply the strikethrough format to the cell contents and use the strikethrough shortcut. To do this, press Ctrl + 5 on your Windows keyboard or the Command + Shift + X keys on your macOS keyboard.
How To Do Strikethrough Formatting in Excel on Mobile
The Excel apps on both major operating systems are almost identical, so adding strikethrough in Excel is very similar for both iOS and Android. The steps to do this are demonstrated using the Excel for iOS application.
- Open the Excel application on your Android or iOS device and open the file where you want to add the strikethrough.
- In your Excel spreadsheet, click on the cell to select it. You can drag the fill handle to select multiple cells.
- Click the Ellipsis (…) button towards the bottom right of the screen to open the edit screen.
- Here, click the Strikethrough ( S ) option among the formatting buttons. This will instantly apply strikethrough formatting in the selected cells.
To remove the applied strikethrough, follow the same steps from the above method after selecting the strikethrough text.
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Examples of Strikethrough Formatting in Excel
To demonstrate the strikethrough feature, let’s look at some examples.
Marking Outdated Content
A lot of time, you may be working on a spreadsheet with outdated content that you don’t want to remove but don’t want to interfere with your workflow. In these instances, you can apply the strikethrough effect.
A strikethrough will indicate that the cell’s content is no longer required. Using this technique to mark content allows you to maintain a record of the information while making others know that the information isn’t the updated version.
Strikethrough Based on Other Cell Value Using Conditional Formatting
Conditional formatting allows you to change the visual appearance of a cell or a cell range based on specific criteria. One great way to combine the conditional formatting and strikethrough feature is to use them in tandem to apply strikethrough lines in the text in another cell based on the value of another cell.
One example is a grocery list where you can add a strikethrough in the text for the items you have already added to your cart. Another example would be to add strikethroughs in the students’ names that scored less than the passing marks in a test.
To do this, select conditional formatting in the main Home tab, which will open the formatting rule dialog box.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Strikethrough in Excel?
To apply the strikethrough effect to the contents of a cell, click on it to select it, and click on the “Home” tab in the quick access toolbar. Then, click the “Font Settings” button in the “Font” tab.
In the format options window, click and check the option to the left of “Strikethrough.” Click on the “OK” button to confirm the changes.
How Do I Add a Strikethrough to My Quick Access Toolbar in Excel?
To add strikethrough to your quick bar, follow these simple steps:
- Open Excel and right-click on any part of the quick access toolbar.
- From the pop-up window, choose “Customize the Ribbon” in the Excel options menu.
- To add a new button, you must make a custom group.
- After creating the new group, click on it and select the “Choose commands from” option.
- Choose the “Commands not in the Ribbon” option.
- Click the “Strikethrough” option.
- Choose the “Add” option and save your changes to add strikethrough formatting in your quick-access toolbar.
Is There an Excel Strikethrough Shortcut?
Another method to apply strikethrough to the selected cells in your Excel worksheets involves utilizing a keyboard shortcut.
Initially, select the desired cells where you wish to apply the strikethrough effect, then press the appropriate strikethrough shortcut. On Windows, press Ctrl + 5 or use CMD + Shift + X on macOS.
Wrapping Up
After reading the above, you should be comfortable applying strikethrough in Excel. You can follow most of the steps and choose to apply different formatting rules too.
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