How to Strikethrough Text in WordPress Visual Editor

If you’re new to the WordPress visual editor, you might be looking up online how to do certain functions.

We’ve seen this question asked a few times: how do you strikethrough text in the WordPress visual editor?

2019 Update – How to Strikethrough in Gutenberg (the new editor)

The below tutorials applied to the old WP text editor (let’s call it “Classic Editor”), so don’t apply to the post 5.0 WordPress, unless you install the classic editor plugin and keep the old editing experience.

The new editor experience is also known as “Gutenberg” (yeah, after the inventor of the printing press) so this update shows how to strikethrough on there.

The new system looks like this:

How to Strikethrough in new Gutenburg Editor view

  1. In “paragraph” text, highlight the bit of text you’d like to strikethrough
  2. Click the small downwards arrow next to the link “chain” symbol (before the three vertical dots)
  3. This will reveal three (maybe more in future) options, one of which is “Strikethrough”
  4. Click this option!

To undo this, press ctrl + Z (this always applies, by the way, for any undo).

If you’d like more guidance, or a video, leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

How to Strikethrough Text in WordPress (example!)

There are two ways:

  1. Click the ABC button which is next to the B and I buttons in the top left corner; or
  2. Press shift + Alt and the “d” key at the same time.

You should do this once to turn on the strikethrough and then again to turn it off. Alternatively, just write your whole section of text, then highlight the bit you want to sort of erase but leave visible, like this unneccessary bit of text, and press the button or the hotkeys while the text is highlighted.

The strikethrough will apply on a space, too, so often double-clicking the mouse to highlight will grab the space after a word. Get around this by dragging instead of double clicking.

Is “strikethrough” one word… or two?

Hmm. Here is an interesting question. We’ve seen some articles where this word is written in three different ways:

  • strikethrough
  • strike through
  • strike-through

Now, that’s confusing! Which is best? Which is correct? Who cares? This may be a discussion point for the comments section (below) but we call it “strikethrough” as this is what it is called in most Word Processors, and appears to be the most common usage, in this context.

Whatever you want to call it, the appearance is a piece of crossed out text. If you want that for your WP post or page, then you’re in the right place!

An Example

I sometimes often use strikethroughs as a device.

Leave a comment if this helped you today

Did this above process help you find this strikethrough feature? If so, we’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below.

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6 thoughts on “How to Strikethrough Text in WordPress Visual Editor”

    • Hi – you need to “toggle toolbar” first (on Windows, Ctrl + Alt+ Z) to reveal these additional options. I would update this post, but with the new editor in WordPress, there’s new options for this in any case, so whole item will be overhauled next 🙂

      Reply

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