How to Add Strikethrough Text in Discord on Mobile & PC [2024]

Discord is one of the most popular and renowned messaging and VoIP platforms amassing almost 200 million users. It is commonly used among gamers and friends and has emerged as the go-to choice for communication in the last few years.

Given its repute amongst teens and adults alike, Discord offers several quirks and features to enhance your chatting experience. If you’re new to the party, it’s best to get a strong grip on the art of formatting your text. A handy trick is “Text Strikethrough“, allowing you to jazz up and make your texting skills livelier.

In this guide, we will show you how you too can easily insert a cool line through your text; like this. This effect is known as “Strikethrough” and using it is easier than it looks. Let’s see how:

How to Add Strikethrough in Discord on PC

On PC, users have three options to insert text with a strikethrough effect. They can either use a shortcut, use the built-in toolbar or, go the manual route. Importantly, users can preview how their text will appear on PC, which is great if you want to make last-second adjustments.

1) Use the Pop-Up Toolbar

1. Open Discord and enter any text channel, be it Direct Messages or a server. For the purpose of this guide, we shall visit our personal “Appuals Test” server and enter the “general” text channel.
   
   
   
2. In the message bar, type some text. As an example, we will type “Hello World” and whilst keeping the left mouse button pressed, select the typed text. A blue highlight should appear over your message.
   
   
   
3. At the same time, a toolbar will pop up, giving you 6 total options. Select the 3rd option, looking like an “S” with a line through it, while keeping your text selected. Then simply press “Enter” to send your text and voilà, see the magic for yourself.

READ MORE: How To Customize Your Text On Discord ➜

2) Use the Ctrl + Shift + S Shorcut

1. Launch Discord and enter the message bar in a text channel, either in a server or your private messages.
   
   
   
2. Type your desired text in the message bar.
   
   
   
3. While keeping the left mouse button pressed, select the text. If you want to select all the text you have written, press Ctrl+A.
   
   
   
4. Afterwards, press the given shortcut which will add 2 tildes at the start and at the end of your text. The shortcut is:
   
   Ctrl + Shit + S
   
   
   
5. You will see that your message will appear with a strikethrough in the preview tab.
   
   
   
6. Press “Enter” to send your message, which should have the strikethrough effect.

3) Use the Manual Method by Adding Tildes “~“

Discord provides another way of adding Text Strikethrough and that is by manually adding 2 tildes at the start and end of your text, without spaces. Here is how:

1. Again, open Discord and enter any text channel. We shall again use the same server and channel.
2. In the message bar, type some text. For example, we will write “Hello World” once again.
   
   
   
3. Now carefully, at the start and end of your text, add 2 tildes. A tilde “~” can be inserted by pressing the “Shift” + “~” key found at the top-left of your keyboard, generally below the “Escape” key. (Image Credit: redgrittybrick)
   
   
   
4. Without any spaces, insert two tildes at the start of your text and at the end of your text and it will appear with a Strikethrough effect.

READ MORE: How to Easily Create & Setup a Discord Server (Updated – 2024) ➜

How to Add Strikethrough in Discord on Mobile

Discord on Mobile sadly does not have any fancy pop-ups and we only have 1 way to add Strikethrough text. Moreover, you cannot preview your formatted message so the only sure way to know if it works, is to send the message (Yikes!).

1. Open Discord on your phone and enter your desired text channel.
   
2. In the message bar, type whatever text you want to format. We will type “Hello World” as an example.
   
3. Now here’s the tricky part. You have to insert 2 tildes at the start and at the end of your message, without any spaces. On Android, select the numerical/special character button, switch to the second page and you should find the tilde key there. iPhone users can find the tilde key in the special characters tab.
   
4. Once you’ve found the tilde key, insert 2 tildes at the start and 2 at the end of your message, without any spaces. You will not see the preview so the final result will only be visible once you actually send the message.

READ MORE: How to Make Text Bold, Strikethrough and Italic in WhatsApp ➜

Why is Strikethrough Text Important?

Now that you’ve learned how one can apply strikethrough to text, why do people use it in the first place? We mean, what’s the obsession with cancelling text you have already written when you can just delete it? Here are a few use cases for this text format:

1) Correction or Revision

If your Discord server maintains a set of guidelines or any list, it may get revised or updated in the future. To maintain a catalog of deprecated rules, or to show progress, strikethrough is frequently used. Moreover, in cases where you have to keep track of documents or maintain a record of changes, strikethrough allows you to do just that.

2) Humor or Sarcasm

Strikethrough is also used in a satirical manner. While people normally use bold or italics for this purpose, strikethrough visually points out important phrases in the text. Strikethrough is often accompanied by the use of an oxymoron, to show the extreme side of something or define two very contradictory terms.

3) Hiding Spoilers

Discord offers a dedicated spoiler tag if you wish to hide any spoilers. While not as effective, strikethrough is still used, albeit rarely, to cover spoilers.

4) Indirect Referencing

Adding a strikethrough can be an effective method to say something without actually saying it. Contrary to censored or redacted text, the reader can still make out strikethrough text. A journalist may use it to give their opinion regarding the matter at hand, without explicitly stating the obvious.

READ MORE: How To Use Strikethrough in Google Docs [Desktop & App] ➜

Conclusion

The general consensus is that the common way to add strikethrough text on mobile and PC is by adding 2 tildes at the start and end of your text. Users on PC have the leeway of just pressing three keys (Ctrl+Shift+S) to format their text. If you fancy the pop-up toolbar, you get access to other typographic effects as well like bold, italics, and whatnot.

It is important to make sure you keep track of spaces between the tildes and your respective text. Likewise, if you use the toolbar on PC, remember to utilize the preview to see if your text has proper spacing. This is because if you double-click to select your text, it will select all the blank spaces to the left as well.