A Detailed Guide on How to Strikethrough in Excel

Professionals who need to review Excel spreadsheets will find multiple markup features to highlight the text. Among these features, strikethrough in Excel will help you to point out the cells containing information that is no longer valid.

Other than that, users can apply this feature to indicate that the selected text is taken care of without deleting it from the spreadsheet. Throughout this article, we will discuss all workable methods to help you learn how to strikethrough text in Excel on all devices.

Part 1. How to Strikethrough in Excel on Windows?

As discussed, users can apply different methods to strikethrough in Excel to indicate obsolete data. Let's go through each method individually to see which method best suits your requirements. Afterward, you can utilize this particular method on your Windows PC to get the job done.

1. Strikethrough Using the Home Tab

While using Excel on your device, you can access the “Format Cells” dialog box through the “Home” tab. This is one of the easiest methods to apply the strikethrough functionality on your preferred cells. The following instructions will help you learn how to strikethrough in Excel using this method:

Step1

Upon opening your desired sheet on MS Excel, click on the cell you want to strikethrough and then access the “Home” tab. Now, press the “Font Settings” icon present in the “Font” section to reach a new dialog box.

Step2

Once you reach the “Format Cells” dialog box, check the “Strikethrough” option under the “Effects” section to apply this feature. You can change the color and other formatting settings of this particular text within the same dialog box. After completing all these settings, hit the “OK” button to let these settings take effect.

2. Apply the Strikethrough Feature via the Shortcut Key

If you want to save time while applying this markup feature, you can use a strikethrough shortcut in Excel. After selecting your desired cells, you only need to press the “Ctrl + 5” key to strikethrough the selected content. Users who regularly implement this formatting to their cell will love the Excel shortcut key for strikethrough.

3. Strikethrough Text with the Right-Click Menu

You can also access the same “Format Cells” dialog box with the help of the drop-down menu you can access through a single click. For this purpose, follow the steps explained below to apply the strikethrough in Excel with a shortcut method:

Step1

After opening your Excel spreadsheet, right-click on the cell to access a drop-down menu. Moving forward, click the “Format Cells” option to reach a new window with different formatting settings.

Step2

On this window, tick the box beside “Strikethrough” below the “Effects” section, and press the “OK” button to apply this feature.

4. Place a Strikethrough Button on the Excel Ribbon

Professionals who want to access strikethrough with a single click can put this feature on the Excel ribbon. After taking guidance from the following steps, you can place this button on the Excel ribbon for future use:

Step1

Start the process by accessing the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” drop-down menu from the top-left of your screen. Then, hit the “More Commands” option to reach a new dialog box with numerous options to add or remove buttons. 

Step2

Afterward, switch to the “Customize Ribbon” tab and then choose the “All Commands” option from the “Choose Commands From” drop-down menu. Now, scroll down and click on the “Strikethrough” feature from the newly appeared list.

Next, press the “New Group” button to add a custom group in the ribbon, where you can place the strikethrough button. Finally, simply press the “Add” button and then the “OK” button to add this strikethrough shortcut in Excel. 

Step3

Once the button is added to the ribbon, simply select the desired cells to apply this annotation feature. Now, hit the recently added “Strikethrough” button present in the Excel ribbon to highlight the content of your Excel sheet.

5. Add Strikethrough Icon to Quick Access Toolbar

Upon adding a strikethrough Excel shortcut on the ribbon, you can even shift this button to the quick access toolbar for better accessibility. Go through the simple steps given below to learn how to strikethrough text in Excel with the help of this toolbar:

Step1

Begin this process by right-clicking on the “Strikethrough” button recently added to the Excel ribbon. From the menu, press the “Add to Quick Access Toolbar” option to place the strikethrough icon on this particular toolbar.

Step2

Now, select the cells to which you want to add this markup feature, and then simply hit the “Strikethrough” icon in the quick access toolbar to apply this feature.

6. Apply the Strikethrough Command Automatically Using Conditional Formatting

With the help of the conditional formatting feature, Excel users can strikethrough multiple cells at the same time. Using this feature, you can change the formatting settings of various cells after applying a particular criterion. Take guidance from the steps explained below to learn how to strikethrough in Excel with conditional formatting:

Step1

First, access the “Conditional Formatting” drop-down menu through the “Styles” section. Then, press the “New Rule” option from this menu to reach a new dialog box.

Step2

Moving forward, hit the “Use a Formula to Determine which Cells to Format” option to reveal the relevant settings. Now, type the formula for cells to which you want to apply the strikethrough feature in the given text box, and then click the “Format” button to proceed.

Step3

Finally, check the “Strikethrough” option under the “Effects” section before clicking the “OK” button on both dialog boxes.

Part 2. How to Remove Strikethrough in Excel?

While reading the Excel sheet content, the strikethrough line can affect the readability of the content. You can easily remove this markup feature from the text with the help of a simple method. Follow the instructions explained below to remove strikethrough from Excel text:

Step1

After opening your file on MS Excel, select the cells containing text with a strikethrough line. Now, hit the “Format Settings” icon in the “Format” section after accessing the “Home” tab.

Step2

On the “Format Cells” dialog box, uncheck the “Strikethrough” option under the “Effects” section. Finally, press the “OK” button to remove this annotation feature from your content. 

Part 3. How to Strikethrough in Excel Mac?

Users also get the same options to apply strikethrough in Excel using Mac as in Windows devices. Whether you want to use the “Format Cells” or “Conditional Formatting” methods, the steps are similar in both devices, with a few interfacial changes. The following instructions will give you a better idea of how to put strikethrough in Excel on macOS devices:

Step1

Start the process by opening your desired Excel spreadsheet on your MacBook. Then, right-click on the cell to which you want to add this markup feature. Now, you will see a menu with several settings from where you need to press the “Format Cells” option to reach a new dialog box.

Other than that, users get the chance to utilize the “Command + 1” Excel strikethrough hotkey to carry out this task.

Step2

Moving forward, shift to the “Font” tab on this newly appeared dialog box. Next, check the “Strikethrough” option under the “Effects” section before pressing the “OK” button to apply this strikethrough feature on Mac in Excel app.

Part 4. How to Strikethrough in Excel Online?

Microsoft 365 apps are also available online to help you work on your projects when you are away from your workspace. While using Excel Online, you get the option to add strikethrough lines to your documents with a single click. Go through the steps explained in this section to learn how to use strikethrough in Excel Online:

Step1

Upon accessing your Excel worksheet online, select the cells to which you want to add the strikethrough line. Now, hit the “Three Dots” icon next to the “Font Color” drop-down menu within the “Home” tab.

Step2

After entering this “More Font Options” drop-down menu, click the “Strikethrough” option to apply this format settings to your selected cells.

Part 5. How to Add the Strikethrough Line to Text with Excel Mobile?

Using the Excel mobile application, users can also strikethrough their content to make a particular piece of information stand out. You don't need to go through a complex series of steps to add this central line to your text. All you have to do is follow the instructions given below to get the job done:

Step1

First, open the desired worksheet and select the cells to add strikethrough in Excel mobile. Now, press the “Drop-up” icon at the bottom-right of your screen to enter a new set of settings.

Step2

Once you access this dropup menu, hit the “Strikethrough” icon beside the “Underline” option to apply strikethrough to your text on iPhone or other mobile devices in Excel.

Part 6. How to do Strikethrough on Text in PDF?

Upon learning how to put strikethrough in Excel, let’s shift our discussion towards applying this markup feature to the PDF text. For this purpose, you will need a multi-dimensional PDF annotator to apply the strikethrough feature to your PDF text. Wondershare PDFelement can help you in this regard by providing several methods to strikethrough text while reviewing the PDF file.

You can either use the “Comment” tab to access this feature or enter the “Edit Text” settings to strikethrough the PDF content. Upon applying this feature, you can also change the appearance of the central line passing through the text using the “Properties” settings. Let's go through the detailed guide to learn the best way to add strikethrough lines to the documents:

Step1Import the PDF File for Applying the Strikethrough Feature

Begin this PDF annotation process by launching PDFelement on your system. Now, hit the “Open File” button from the main interface of this PDF markup tool to import the file you want to annotate with the strikethrough feature.

Step2Select the Text and Choose Strikethrough

Once you access the desired file on this markup tool, simply go to the “Home” tab and highlight the text you want to annotate. Now, you will see a pop-up toolbar within which you need to press the “Strikethrough” icon to apply this particular feature to text.

Step3Access the Properties Side Window to Change the Appearance

Upon applying this feature to your text, click the “Properties” icon from the right sidebar to enter a new side window. From here, change the color of the strikethrough line and then adjust the opacity settings to make the text readable. In addition, you have the option to adjust the line thickness and pattern to apply a personal touch.

Conclusion

After going through this article, you have now learned how to add strikethrough in Excel using different devices. Users can apply any of these methods to annotate their files for any desired purposes while working on Windows or other operating systems.

Moreover, if you want to apply the strikethrough feature while reviewing the PDF files, PDFelement should be your preferred choice. Using this PDF annotator, you can utilize different ways to add strikethrough lines to your PDFs. In addition, you get to change the appearance of this added line with its properties feature.