How to Strikethrough on Google Docs?

The keyboard shortcuts

Both shortcuts toggle — press again on the same selection to remove the strikethrough.

Using the menu (works everywhere)

1. Highlight the text you want to cross out.
2. Click Format in the top menu bar.
3. Hover over Text.
4. Click Strikethrough.

There's no strikethrough button on the default toolbar, which is why so many people go looking for it — bold, italic, and underline are there, but strikethrough only lives in the Format menu or behind the shortcut.

On the mobile app (Android and iPhone/iPad)

1. Open the document and tap the pencil icon to enter editing mode.
2. Select the text by tapping and dragging the handles.
3. Tap the format icon (the underlined A) in the top toolbar.
4. Under the TEXT tab, tap the S with a line through it (S̶).

If you don't see it, make sure you're on the TEXT tab rather than PARAGRAPH, and that you have text selected.

How to remove strikethrough: select the struck-through text and apply the same shortcut or menu option again — it toggles off. To strip all formatting at once, use Format → Clear formatting, or Ctrl + ** (Windows) / ⌘ + ** (Mac).

Applying it to a whole document: press Ctrl + A (or ⌘ + A) to select everything first, then apply the shortcut.

Useful related tricks

• Checklists instead: if you're crossing off to-do items, use Format → Bullets & numbering → Checklist. Ticking a box automatically applies strikethrough, which is much faster than doing it manually. Google Docs also has a Strikethrough checked items option for checklists.
• Paint format: apply strikethrough once, then click the paint roller icon and drag across other text to copy the formatting. Double-click the roller to apply it repeatedly.
• Find and replace can't apply strikethrough, so for scattered text, paint format is the fastest route.

If the shortcut isn't working

• On Windows, make sure you're using the 5 on the number row, not the numeric keypad.
• Check that you actually have text selected — the shortcut does nothing on an empty cursor.
• Browser extensions and system-level shortcuts occasionally intercept the key combination; try the Format menu instead to confirm the feature itself works.
• On a Mac, some keyboard layouts and third-party tools claim ⌘ + Shift + X — check System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts for a conflict.

Note: strikethrough survives when you download the document as a .docx or PDF, and it carries over correctly when pasting into most other editors.

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