5 Ways to Strike Through Text in Excel Easily

Striking through text in Microsoft Excel can be a practical way to denote completed tasks, inactive data, or to add another layer of emphasis to your spreadsheets. With a variety of methods at your disposal, you can enhance your workflow and make your data presentation more effective. Here, we'll dive into five different techniques to strike through text in Excel.

Using the Font Dialog Box

One of the simplest ways to apply a strikethrough effect in Excel is through the Font dialog box:

• Select the cells or text you wish to strikethrough.
• Right-click on the selected area, and click on ‘Format Cells’ or use the shortcut Ctrl+1.
• Switch to the ‘Font’ tab if it’s not already selected.
• Under ‘Effects’, you’ll find the ‘Strikethrough’ checkbox. Check it to enable the strikethrough effect.
• Hit ‘OK’ to apply.

Using Ribbon Shortcuts

Excel’s ribbon provides a quick method to apply strikethrough:

• With the desired cells selected, navigate to the ‘Home’ tab on the Ribbon.
• Find the ‘Font’ group. Here, click on the small diagonal arrow in the bottom-right corner or press Ctrl+Shift+F to open the Format Cells dialog directly.
• Follow the same steps as in the previous method to apply the strikethrough.

Conditional Formatting for Dynamic Strikethroughs

Conditional Formatting allows you to automatically apply a strikethrough based on specific conditions:

• Select the range you want to conditionally format.
• Go to the ‘Home’ tab, click on ‘Conditional Formatting’, then choose ‘New Rule’.
• Under ‘Select a Rule Type’, choose ‘Use a formula to determine which cells to format’.
• Enter the formula that will trigger the strikethrough, for example, “=A1=‘Completed’” if cell A1 contains the text ‘Completed’.
• Click on ‘Format’, navigate to the ‘Font’ tab, and apply the strikethrough.
• Confirm with ‘OK’, then ‘OK’ again to apply the rule.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Excel provides keyboard shortcuts for many formatting tasks, including strikethrough:

• Select the text you want to format.
• Press Ctrl+5 to toggle strikethrough on or off.

🎯 Note: This method is one of the quickest for applying or removing strikethrough formatting.

Using VBA Macro for Bulk Strikethrough

For users comfortable with VBA, macros can automate bulk strikethrough formatting:

• Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA editor.
• Click on ‘Insert’ > ‘Module’ to create a new module.
• Enter the following VBA code:

Sub ApplyStrikethrough()
    Dim rng As Range
    Set rng = Application.Selection
    rng.Font.Strikethrough = True
End Sub

• Close the VBA editor and return to Excel.
• Go to the ‘Developer’ tab (if not visible, you might need to enable it from Excel Options), and click ‘Macros’.
• Select the macro ‘ApplyStrikethrough’, then click ‘Run’.

In wrapping up, striking through text in Excel is a versatile tool that can serve multiple purposes. Whether you prefer a straightforward approach with the Font dialog box, a more dynamic method with conditional formatting, or even the automation provided by VBA macros, Excel offers a range of methods tailored to different user preferences and skill levels. By mastering these techniques, you can streamline your workflow, enhance your data's readability, and make your spreadsheets more visually appealing.