shortcut to cross out text

Guri Bee

2 min read

·

18-10-2024

1

0

Share

Strikethrough Text: The Quick and Easy Way to Show Changes

Ever need to show that a piece of text has been removed or is no longer relevant? That's where the strikethrough text format comes in handy. It allows you to visually indicate that something has been canceled, edited out, or is no longer accurate.

Why Use Strikethrough?

• Clarity: It's an intuitive way to highlight changes or deletions, making it easy for readers to understand what's been altered.
• Efficiency: It saves you time compared to manually adding "deleted" or "removed" tags.
• Professionalism: It helps to maintain a clean and organized look, especially in documents like meeting minutes or technical specifications.

How to Create Strikethrough Text

While there are various ways to achieve this, here are some popular methods:

1. Using Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Windows & Linux: Alt + Shift + 5
• Mac: Command + Option + 8

These shortcuts work in most text editors and word processing software.

2. Using Markdown:

Markdown, a lightweight markup language, allows you to strikethrough text using two tildes (~) before and after the text:

~~This text will be crossed out.~~ 

This is particularly helpful when working with platforms that support Markdown, like GitHub, Reddit, or Notion.

3. Using HTML:

If you're dealing with HTML code, you can use the <strike> or <del> tags:

<strike>This text will be crossed out.</strike> 
<del>This text will be crossed out.</del>

Both tags achieve the same result, but <del> is generally considered more semantically correct, indicating that the text has been deleted.

Beyond Basic Formatting:

• Style Customization: Most editors allow you to customize the appearance of strikethrough text, such as its color or thickness.
• Combining Formats: You can combine strikethrough with other formatting options like bold or italic to further emphasize changes.

Examples:

• Meeting Minutes: "The original proposal was to launch the campaign on June 1st, but it has been postponed to July 15th."
• Code Documentation: "The previous method was to use a for loop, but we have switched to a more efficient forEach method."
• Personal Notes: "I need to buy: milk, eggs, bread and cheese."

In Conclusion:

Strikethrough text is a powerful tool for indicating changes or deletions in a clear and concise manner. It's a useful addition to your writing toolkit and can help you communicate more effectively, especially in technical or collaborative environments.

Attribution:

The information regarding keyboard shortcuts was sourced from various GitHub issues and discussions, specifically:

• Strikethrough Shortcut in Visual Studio Code
• Strikethrough Shortcut in Sublime Text

This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of using strikethrough text, incorporating information from GitHub while adding context and practical applications.