Strikethrough is a very useful and popular tool, not to be confused with the underline tool. It’s perfect for censoring words without deleting them to show that it has been edited or removed from the document. It makes it easier to keep track of edits, especially when you’re sharing the spreadsheet with other users.
Whether you’re building a checklist or using Google Sheets strikethrough formatting for any other reason, it’s important to find the most effective way that works for you. This guide covers all the ways you can add and remove strikethrough formatting in Google Sheets. Read on to learn more.
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How to StrikeThrough in Google Sheets
- Select the cells or range of cells where you want to apply the strikethrough formatting.
- Click on the Format option in the menu
- In the options that appear, click on the Strikethrough option.
What is Strikethrough Format
Strikethrough formatting is when you see the text (or number) with a line in the middle.
Something as shown below:
It is not a diagonal line. While it’s mostly used with text data in tools such as Google Docs or MS Words, you can also use the strikethrough format in Google Sheets.
One use-case where it may be needed is when you have a list of tasks and you want to show some tasks with the strikethrough formatting to indicate that these have been completed.
Let’s get started!
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Apply Strikethrough Formatting in Google Sheets
There are three easy ways you can use to get the strikethrough in Google Sheets:
- Using a keyboard shortcut
- Using the option in the toolbar
- Using the option in the menu
Let’s have a look at  how to strikethrough in google sheets with each of these methods.
Using a Keyboard Shortcut
Below is the keyboard shortcut for Google Sheets to apply the strikethrough formatting to the selected cells (or even multiple ranges of cells)
ALT + SHIFT + 5
To use this keyboard shortcut:
- Select the cells or range of cells where you want to apply the strikethrough formatting
- With the cells selected, use the keyboard shortcut ALT + SHIFT + 5 (hold the ALT and the SHIFT key and press the 5 key)
The above shortcut works as a toggle. If you use it again on the cells that already have the strikethrough format applied to it, this will remove the formatting.
Note that in this example, I have applied the strikethrough format to the entire cell content. In case you only want to apply it to a part of the text, you need to double-click on the cell (or press F2 to get into the edit mode), select the text that you want to strike-through, and then use the above google sheets strikethrough shortcut.
Using the Toolbar
If you’re not a keyboard person, there is an equally easy way by using the mouse – and it only takes a click.
Below are the steps to Apply strikethrough using the mouse:
- Select the cells or range of cells where you want to apply the strikethrough formatting
- Click on the Strikethrough icon in the toolbar
That’s it!
It will apply the strikethrough formatting to the selected cells.
This works like a toggle button. So if you select the cells where the formatting has already been applied and click on the strikethrough icon again, the formatting will be removed.
Using the Menu Options
And finally, there is also an option in the menu options in Google Sheets.
Here’s how to strikethrough on Google Sheets with the options menu:
- Select the cells or range of cells where you want to apply the strikethrough formatting
- Click on the Format option in the menu
- In the options that appear, go to Text > Strikethrough.
Personally, I never use this option as I find the icon in the toolbar to be more convenient (and it only takes one click as compared to two clicks with the Format option method). But I have still covered it here to show you all the methods that can be used.
One thing to note is that you can also strikethrough only a part of selected text in cell bu tnot an entire cell.
Related Reading: Change Case in Google Sheets
Add Strikethrough Format with Conditional Formatting
Let’s say you’re making a to-do list in Google Sheets and want to add strikethrough formatting once you’ve checked off an item. You can use conditional formatting to do so. Here’s an example of how to cross out text in Google Sheets conditionally:
To add a similar type of conditional formatting in your sheet, follow these steps:
- Highlight the range you want place the conditional formatting in. In the above example its B2:B14
- Navigate to Format > Conditional formatting
- In the conditional formatting pane, change Format cell if…Â to Custom formula is
- Enter the conditional rule in the space below. In the example above, we used =$A2=TRUE, which means it will apply the formatting if the checkboxes in column A are checked.
- Under Formatting style, select the strikethrough format.
- Click Done.
You can then easily copy the conditional formatting.
Remove Strikethrough Formatting in Google Sheets
As I mentioned, the same options for how to put a line through text in google sheets in the first place can also be used to remove the formatting.
Just select the cells that have the strikethrough formatting and use any of the above methods for applying strikethrough.
Using the Toolbar
In case you have multiple cells that have the strikethrough format applied and you want to remove it from all the cells in the worksheet, use the below steps:
- Click on the gray empty rectangle at the top-left part of the Google Sheets document. This will select all the cells in the worksheet
- Click the strikethrough option in the toolbar (or use the keyboard shortcut or format menu)
If there is any cell (or multiple cells) in the worksheet that has the formatting applied to it, this will remove the strikethrough formatting from all the cells.
Using the Menu Option
- Select the cells or range of cells where you want to remove the strikethrough formatting.
- Click on the Format option in the menu
- Go to Text >Â Strikethrough option.
Using the Keyboard Shortcut
You can also remove strikethrough using the same keyboard shortcut for adding strikethrough, which is Alt +Shift + 5. All you need to do is click on the cell with the strikethrough you want to add and hold the keys for the shortcut.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Strikethrough Part of a Cell in Google Sheets?
Strikethrough on Google Sheets doesn’t have to apply to the entire cell. Here’s how to apply it to only part of the cell.
- Double-click the cell
- In the fx bar, highlight the part of the text you want to add the strikethrough to
- Click the strikethrough shortcut in the toolbar.
You can follow similar steps to underline or bold parts of the text too.
What Is the Shortcut for Strikethrough in Google Sheets?
The keyboard shortcut is ALT + Shift + 5.
These are three simple ways you can use to apply or remove Google Sheets strikethrough formatting.
I hope you found this tutorial useful!
Related:
4 thoughts on “A Guide to Google Sheets Strikethrough Formatting [3 Ways]”
How to detect strike through, sort by strike throughness etc?
That’s not a built-in feature, but I know a workaround. If you’re comfortable with App Script, you can detect strike through in google sheets with the following code:
function onEdit(e) {var sheet = e.source.getSheetByName('YourSheetName'); // Replace with your sheet name
var range = e.range;
var value = range.getValue();
// Check if the cell has strike-through formatting
var isStrikethrough = range.getFontLines() === 'line-through';
if (isStrikethrough) {
// If strike-through, add a sorting key (e.g., sort to the bottom)
sheet.getRange(range.getRow(), range.getColumn() + 1).setValue(value);
}
}
function sortOnStrikethrough() {
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
sheet.sort(sheet.getRange(1, 1, sheet.getLastRow(), sheet.getLastColumn() + 1));
}
How to conditional format a cell so that when it’s strikethrough it colors in that cell?
You can’t currently do that. However, you can apply both strikethrough and conditional formatting at once to data points that meet other criteria.