Strikethrough in Excel

Strikethrough in Excel (Table of Contents)

• Strikethrough in Excel
• Shortcuts to Apply Strikethrough in Excel

Strikethrough in Excel

Strikethrough in excel is a type of formatting option. But what does Strikethrough mean? In Excel, it refers to drawing a line through a value in a cell. One such example is this:

Shortlisting

Mostly, strikethrough in excel is used to show that a task or an activity has competed once the value is crossed. Unlike MS Word, where we have a button for Strikethrough on the Home tab of the Ribbon, there is no such direct option for strikethrough on MS Excel Ribbon. So how can we apply Strikethrough in Excel? Well, in this article we will go through different methods to apply and remove strikethrough in Excel. It also includes adding the strikethrough button on the Ribbon.

Shortcuts to Apply Strikethrough in Excel

On the Home button, click on the lower right of the Font tab to apply strikethrough in excel. This is explained in the below example.

Method #1 – Strikethrough Manually from Home Button

Here is the sample data on which strikethrough is applied.

Suppose we select Executives to strikethrough.

Now click:

Once you have clicked the above option on the Font Tab, you will see this window opened.

Under “Effects”, check the box adjacent to strikethrough, press OK, to save changes. You will then see the below result.

A line now passes through all the cells in column “Executive”. In short, the strikethrough Effect is applied.

We can remove or disable strikethrough in excel anytime by selecting the relevant cell/cells and by unchecking the strikethrough box.

Press OK and the strikethrough effect will be removed from cells.

Strikethrough can be applied to any type of cell. It is not only limited to text but can be any number, date, currency or any other type.

Method #2 – Strikethrough in Excel using Format Cells Dialog Box

Another way to apply strikethrough in excel is by using the Format Cell dialog box. It is illustrated by the help of previous sample data.

Example: Now we will select all the cells under the Role column.

Now, you can use any of the ways to bring Format Cell dialog box as shown below.

Step 1 – Right-click on the selected cell/cells and then select Format Cells option in the drop-down menu.

Now click on format cells, and the Format Cell dialog box will appear as below.

Now, under the Effects, you need to check the box for strikethrough and press OK. You will see the below result.

Step 2 – Select the cell/cells and press CTRL+1, and you will see the Format Cell dialog box. Then, as shown above, select the strikethrough option under “Effects” and all the selected cell/cells will have a line passing through them. In case you want to remove strikethrough from the selected cell/cells, just follow the same procedure and uncheck the strikethrough box as shown below.

Press OK and the strikethrough effect will be removed from the selected cell/cells.

Method # 3 – Strikethrough in excel through the keyboard shortcut

The fastest way to apply strikethrough on cell/cells is by pressing CTRL+5

Example:  Here is a sample data on which we will apply the breakthrough effect.

This example shows various steps in an HR Procedure. Some are marked “Done”, some are” not done”. We will apply the breakthrough on the steps that are marked as “Done”.

For this we need to select the steps that are marked “Done” as shown below.

Now, press CTRL+5 and the selected cells will have a line passing through them like below.

Method # 4 – Create and add a strikethrough button on Excel Ribbon.

We can create a strikethrough button by following the below steps.

Step 1 – Press right-click anywhere on the Excel ribbon and you then select “Customize the Ribbon” option as shown.

Once you have selected it, you will see the below window.

Step 2 –  Now we will create a new button to be added to the custom group. For this select Home and click “New Group” under the heading “customize the ribbon”>Main Tabs

Now since the new group is selected, we will go to “Choose Commands from”. And in the Dropdown, we will select “Commands Not in the Ribbon”. Find and then select “Strikethrough” in the commands list, then  as shown below.

Step 3 – Once you press “OK” you will see Strikethrough button added on the ribbon as shown.

You can now just select the cells/cells and click on the Strikethrough button on the ribbon and the cells will have the strikethrough effect.

To remove strikethrough, again click on the button.

Method 5 – Adding Strikethrough button to Quick Access Toolbar.

To add the button, follow the below steps.

Step 1 – Click on the downward arrow that you will find on the upper left of the Excel Window. Then click “More Commands” as shown below.

Step 2 – Now under “Choose Commands From”, select “Commands Not in the Ribbon” from the dropdown. Now click on “Add”, this will add Strikethrough in the commands list on the right block.

Step 3 – Now click “OK”. And you will find a new button on the upper left corner of the worksheet.

The Strikethrough button is now added.

You can now apply the strikethrough by clicking on the button after you have selected the cells. Clicking again on it will remove the strikethrough.

Method 6 – Applying strikethrough using conditional formatting.

Below is the example showing as to how can we do this. Taking one of our previous examples, where we had HR procedure steps and their status.

Now if we want to strikethrough the HR procedure step where the status is “Done” we can do it by conditional formatting. Select all the cells in the HR procedure column, now go to Conditional Formatting>New Formatting Rule> Use a formula to determine which cells to format.

Now write=$b2=”Done” then go to “Format”. Check the strikethrough box.

Click “OK” and then again click “OK” to close the new formatting rule window. You will see the below result.

You can remove strikethrough formatting by following the below process.

Things to Remember about Strikethrough in Excel.

• You can use any method to remove strikethrough. This means if you have applied it through the keyboard shortcut of CTRL+5, you can remove it by either clicking on the strikethrough button on the Ribbon or by going to the Format Cell dialog box and then unchecking the strikethrough box.
• It would be best to add the strikethrough button either to the Quick Access Toolbar or Excel Ribbon. Since it is easy, accessible and fast to apply.

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