Strikethrough Shortcut Key (Word, Excel & PowerPoint)

So you want to cross out text (like this) in Word, Excel and/or PowerPoint using your keyboard shortcuts...

You are in luck!

Word, Excel and PowerPoint all have different sets of keyboard shortcuts you can use to create the strike through text effect.

On top of that, you will see that there are a variety of other text effects you can quickly apply if you use the Font Dialog box shortcuts described below:

If you are NOT interested in learning the keyboard shortcuts but still want to create the crossed out text effect in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, see our guide here.

There are three keyboard shortcuts you can use to get at the Font Dialog box in Excel to create the strike through text effect.

1. Select the cells that you want to strikethrough in your spreadsheet
2. Hit Ctrl + 5 on your keyboard

1. Select the cells that you want to strikethrough in your spreadsheet
2. Hit Alt, then H, then FN on your keyboard to open the Font dialog box
3. Hit Alt + K to select the Strikethrough effect
4. Then hit Enter to accept the changes

Hitting Alt + K inside the Font dialog box automatically selects the command for strike through. Alternatively, you can click the strike through command with your mouse if you don't want to remember the Alt + K shortcut.

1. Select the cells that you want to strikethrough in your spreadsheet
2. Hit Ctrl + 1 on your keyboard to open the Format Cells dialog box
3. Inside the dialog box, hit F to jump to the Font options (if it is not already open)
4. Hit Alt + K to select the strikethrough option
5. Then Hit Enter to accept the changes

Also, a quick note on the Font Dialog box in Excel to remember is that the dialog box always opens exactly as you left it the last time you used it (see the tabs of the dialog box below).

That means that if you last used the Font tab when you closed out of the dialog box, the next time you open the dialog box, it will start with the Font tab selected.

Inside the Font tab you will also find a few other text effects that you can apply using your keyboard shortcuts. To use these shortcuts, simply hold the Alt key and hit the underlined letter (as pictured below).

• Strikethrough: Alt + K
• Superscript: ALt + E
• Subscript: Alt + B

There are two different shortcuts you can use to put a line through your text in Microsoft Word (like this).

Which one is better depends on what you are doing and how many formatting options you want to put at your fingertips (like the double strikethrough effect).

1. Select the text you want to strike out in your Word document
2. On your keyboard hit Alt, H, 4

1. Select the text you want to strikethrough
2. Hit Ctrl + D to open the Font Dialog box
3. Inside the Font Dialog Box, hit Alt + K to select the Strikethrough
4. Hit Enter for okay

• Strikethrough: Alt + K 
• Double Strikethrough: Alt + L
• Superscript: Alt + P
• Subscript: Alt + B
• Small caps: Alt + M
• All caps: Alt + A
• Hidden: Alt + H

To remove a strikethrough in Word, simply select the text and either use the shortcut again to remove it, or hit Ctrl + Spacebar to remove all formatting (reverting the formatting back to whatever is set on your template).

Just like in Word, there are there are two different shortcuts you can use to put a line through your text in Microsoft PowerPoint (like this).

Which one is better?

That depends on what you are trying to accomplish and/or how many formatting options you want at your fingertips (with the Font Dialog Box shortcut giving you more options).

1. Select the text (or object with text in it) that you want to strikethrough on your slide
2. On your keyboard hit Alt, H, 4

1. Select the text (or object with text) that you want to strikethrough on your slide
2. Hit Ctrl + T on your keyboard to open the Font Dialog box
3. Inside the Font Dialog Box, hit Alt + K to select the single strikethrough
4. Hit Enter for okay

If you use the Font Dialog box shortcut in PowerPoint (Ctrl + T), you also open up a number a number of other formatting options that you can additionally shortcut inside the dialog box by holding the Alt key and hitting the effects underlined letter (as pictured below).

• Strikethrough: Alt + K
• Double Strikethrough: Alt + L
• Superscript: Alt + P
• Subscript: Alt + B
• Small caps: Alt + M
• All caps: Alt + A
• Equalize Character Height: Alt + Q

To remove a strikethrough in PowerPoint, simply select the text (or object) with the strike out effect and either use the shortcut again, or hit Ctrl + Space Bar on you keyboard to clear all of the text’s formatting (reverting it back to the formatting set for your template).

To learn how to create a PowerPoint template from scratch that you can use across your organization, see our step-by-step guide here.

As you can see, there are a variety of keyboard shortcuts you can use across the Microsoft Office suite to cross out text.

And while the keyboard shortcuts in Word and PowerPoint nice, the Font Dialog boxes give you the most formatting options.

If you enjoyed this tutorial and want to learn other keyboard shortcuts and tricks to speed up your work, visit us here.