Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Using Strikethrough Formatting.

Using Strikethrough Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 3, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


One of the character formats you can use within Excel is referred to as strikethrough. This simply means that Excel shows a horizontal line through the middle of the character (or characters) to which the attribute has been applied. Strikethrough can be applied in this manner:

  1. Select the cell whose contents you want struck through, or select the characters within a cell, if you don't want them all struck through.
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+F to display the Format Cells dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Font tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Font tab of the Format Cells dialog box.

  5. Select the Strikethrough check box.
  6. Click OK.

If you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, then applying strikethrough is even easier—all you need to do is select the cells you want to affect (or the characters within a cell) and then press Ctrl+5.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10633) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Using Strikethrough Formatting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Floating Menus

Some of the secondary menus used in Word can be made into floating toolbars, if you know the trick. It's not that hard; ...

Discover More

Adding Your Own Menu Items

Want to really make Excel reflect how you work? Why not make some changes to the menu structure so that the menus have ...

Discover More

Controlling Scroll Bars

Scroll bars are helpful if you have a document that won't fit entirely within the program window. Here's how to turn off ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Preventing Automatic Date Formatting Changes

Excel often changes the formatting of a cell based on how it parses what you are entering into that cell. This is ...

Discover More

Changing the Color of a Cell Border

Excel provides a variety of tools you can use to make your data look more presentable on the screen and on a printout. ...

Discover More

Changing Number Display Settings for Single Workbooks

How Excel displays numbers is extremely flexible, but it can also be very confusing. This tip looks at how number display ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 - 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.