Have you ever been reading something online or in a document and the author chose to draw a line through some of the text?
This is called “strikethrough” and it’s a helpful formatting choice for indicating that something should be disregarded, but may still be of value to the reader.
Most word processing applications have a strikethrough option, including Google Docs. Our guide below will show you how to cross out words in Google Docs by using the strikethrough formatting option found within the application.
How to Draw a Line Through Words in a Google Doc
The steps in this guide were performed in the desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser, but will work in other desktop Web browsers, too.
Step 1: Sign into your Google Drive and open the document with text to cross out.
Step 2: Select the text.
Step 3: Click the Format tab at the top of the window.
Step 4: Choose the Text option, then click the Strikethrough option.
Note that you can cross out words in Google Docs with the keyboard shortcut of Alt + Shift + 5. The “5” key that you need to use is the one above the letters on your keyboard. The number on the numberpad won’t work.
You can also remove strikethrough from text in the same manner.
Find out how to remove page numbers in Google Docs if you have a document with page numbers that doesn’t need them.
Matt Smith has been writing tech content online for more than 10 years. He has been published on dozens of popular websites and his works have accumulated millions of pageviews.
While focused primarily on tutorials and guides for popular electronics like the iPhone and iPad, as well as common applications like Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, he covers topics across the entire technology spectrum.