Strikethrough Shortcut in Every App
Here's a strange fact about keyboard shortcuts: bold is Ctrl + B almost everywhere, and italic is Ctrl + I almost everywhere — but strikethrough has no standard at all. Depending on the app it's Ctrl + Shift + X, Ctrl + Shift + S, Alt + Shift + 5, or a bit of Markdown you type by hand. That's why "strikethrough shortcut" is one of the most-searched formatting questions. This page has the answer for every common app.
On Mac, swap Ctrl for Cmd unless noted. Select the text first, then press the keys.
Strikethrough shortcut by app
| App | Mac | Windows / Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Teams | Cmd + Shift + X | Ctrl + Shift + X |
| Slack | Cmd + Shift + X | Ctrl + Shift + X |
| Obsidian | Cmd + Shift + X | Ctrl + Shift + X |
| Notion | Cmd + Shift + S | Ctrl + Shift + S |
| Google Docs | Cmd + Shift + X | Alt + Shift + 5 |
| Microsoft Word | Cmd + Shift + X | Alt + H, then 4 |
| Gmail | Alt + Shift + 5 | Alt + Shift + 5 |
| Discord | ~~text~~ | ~~text~~ |
The four patterns
Once you see the groupings, it's easier to remember which app does what:
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + X — the closest thing to a de-facto standard. Teams, Slack, Obsidian, and Word and Google Docs on Mac all use it.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + S — Notion is the odd one out (S, presumably for "strikethrough").
- Alt + Shift + 5 — the Google convention. Gmail uses it everywhere, and Google Docs uses it on Windows and Linux. The 5 is a visual nod to the ~ tilde that marks strikethrough in Markdown.
- Markdown — chat apps that speak Markdown let you wrap text in double tildes:
~~like this~~. Discord works this way, and it also works as a typed shortcut in Slack and Obsidian.
Bold, italic, and highlight for comparison
Unlike strikethrough, these are refreshingly consistent. Highlight is where a little variation creeps back in.
| App | Bold | Italic | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | Ctrl + B | Ctrl + I | — |
| Slack | Ctrl + B | Ctrl + I | — |
| Obsidian | Ctrl + B | Ctrl + I | Ctrl + Shift + H |
| Notion | Ctrl + B | Ctrl + I | — |
| Google Docs | Ctrl + B | Ctrl + I | — |
| Word | Ctrl + B | Ctrl + I | — |
| Gmail | Ctrl + B | Ctrl + I | — |
A couple of things worth knowing: Slack has no underline at all (it supports bold, italic, strikethrough, and code only), and Word and Google Docs use their own Alt-key ribbon paths on Windows for many formatting commands. For everything else each app can do, see its full reference below.
Quick answer
The single most common strikethrough shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + X (Cmd + Shift + X on Mac) — it works in Teams, Slack, Obsidian, and Word/Docs on Mac. If that does nothing, your app is probably using Alt + Shift + 5 (Google apps), Ctrl + Shift + S (Notion), or plain ~~tildes~~ (Discord and other Markdown chats).