Discord Strikethrough: How to Cross Out Text in Discord

In Discord, type two tilde symbols on each side of your text (~~text~~) and send it — the message will appear crossed out.

Type this: ~~raid is Friday~~
When sent: raid is Friday

One tilde (~text~) does nothing, and HTML like <s>text</s> does nothing. You need two tildes, tight against the letters.

How to strikethrough in Discord (desktop)

Discord has no formatting toolbar for strikethrough and no keyboard shortcut for it. Bold has Ctrl+B (Cmd+B on Mac). Strikethrough does not. You type the markdown yourself.

1. Step 1: Open the message box

   Open a DM, server channel, or thread and click the composer.

2. Step 2: Wrap the words in two tildes

   Type two tildes, your words, then two more tildes. Put no space between the tildes and the text.

3. Step 3: Send

   Press Enter. Discord draws the line through the words when the message sends.

Type this: ~~this plan is cancelled~~
When sent: this plan is cancelled

On a US keyboard the tilde (~) shares a key with the backtick (`), just left of the 1 key. Hold Shift and tap that key twice for ~~.

You can strike a whole sentence or a single word:

Bring potions and ~~scrolls~~ food

Only "scrolls" gets the line. The rest of the message stays normal.

This works in DMs, group chats, server channels, threads, and forum posts. You do not turn on a setting. You do not need Nitro.

If you want a styled nickname rather than crossed-out chat, that is a different job — see how to get custom fonts in Discord.

On mobile (iOS & Android)

Strikethrough on Discord mobile uses the same syntax as desktop. Type ~~text~~ in the composer and send. No extra setting, no different app, no desktop required. It works in DMs and in any server.

The only extra step is finding the tilde on a phone keyboard:

• iPhone: tap 123, then #+=. The ~ sits on the symbols page.
• Android: tap ?123 (or the symbols key), then look on the second symbols page. Some keyboards hide ~ behind a long-press on another character.

Then type it the same way:

Type this: ~~on my way~~
When sent: on my way

Do not add spaces. ~~ on my way ~~ prints the tildes as literal characters. ~~on my way~~ crosses the words out.

Can't find the tilde on a phone keyboard? Use the wrap box above — it adds the ~~ marks and copies the line for you.

Why your strikethrough isn't working

If the tildes show up in chat instead of a line through the words, it is almost always one of these four cases.

Spaces between the tildes and the text

~~ text ~~ does not work. ~~text~~ does. The markers have to hug the first and last character. A space on either side kills the format.

You put it inside a code block

Discord turns formatting off inside inline code (a pair of backticks) and fenced code blocks (three backticks). That is by design, so logs and commands stay readable. Put ~~done~~ inside `code` or a ``` fence and Discord prints the tildes, not a strike.

You pasted from a rich-text source

Copying from Google Docs, Word, a website, or another chat app can silently drop the tildes, or paste a fancy Unicode tilde that Discord does not parse. Type the two ASCII tildes in Discord yourself. If you must paste the words, paste them into the Discord box first, then add ~~ on each side.

You tried it on a server or channel name

Discord strikethrough applies to normal chat messages — the message box in DMs, channels, and threads. It does not run on server names, channel names, role names, or display names. Those fields save the tildes as regular characters.

A fifth miss: one tilde. ~later~ is not strikethrough. You need two on each side.

Combine strikethrough with bold, italic and underline

You can stack formats on the same words. Keep every marker tight to the text — no spaces inside the wrappers.

Bold crossed out

Type this: **~~text~~**
When sent: text

Bold italic crossed out

Type this: ***~~text~~***
When sent: text

Underlined crossed out

Type this: __~~text~~__
When sent: text

The tildes stay next to the letters. **~~ text ~~** fails the same way a spaced ~~ text ~~ fails.

If you only need weight, not a strike, that is how to bold text in Discord: wrap the words in **text**. Italic is *text*. Bold italic is ***text***. Underline is __text__.

A real line in a raid ping looks like this:

**Boss:** loot is ~~optional~~ __mandatory__

When you'd actually use strikethrough

Use it when you want people to see the old words, not when you want them gone.

• A correction without editing the message: raid is ~~Friday~~ Saturday
• A joke that needs the crossed-out setup: I am a ~~casual~~ sweaty raider
• The option you rejected: going to the gym ~~tomorrow~~ never

Editing a message hides the mistake. Strikethrough leaves the mistake visible on purpose. That is the whole point.

Markdown strikethrough only lives in the chat box. If you want decorative letters for a bio or nickname, a cute font generator is the copy-paste route. The strike itself is built into Discord — you type it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Two tildes on each side, no spaces: ~~text~~. Type it in the Discord message box on desktop or mobile and send.