Users of Google Docs can save portions of the text they aren’t ready to erase right away by using the strikethrough feature. While improvising a written composition, writers can save crossed-out passages for later use. Strikethrough may be used in place of the suggested mode in Google Docs, which is useful for collaborative work. It shows every update that was made to a document before it was finalized.
What is Strikethrough & Why Use It?
Using the strikethrough tool, authors may highlight specific areas of their written work by drawing a line through them. Eliminating superfluous portions from a written work may also make it punchier or grab readers’ attention. It’s an extra instrument in the writer’s arsenal for enhancing the text’s impact.
Writers of today utilize it to highlight and entice readers to follow their ever-evolving thoughts and concepts. It may also lend comedy to a blog post or other online article, or it can express an honest perspective without being explicit.
Strikethrough adds a personal touch and establishes a direct connection with readers when it appears in the final form of the paper. It draws readers in and offers subtext about the inner workings of a writer’s mind. Moreover, bloggers utilize it to add sarcasm or sass while remarking on a trending issue.
Here are some reasons why the strikethrough function is useful:
Crossing Out Items: When you mark finished items off an electronic list, it might help you see your progress.
Text Retains: Strikethrough allows you to save words or sentences that you might decide later on to keep or remove. During final editing, you can go back over the crossed-out sections and determine whether or not to preserve them.
Thought Evolution: Using this feature, authors may provide an update or a progression of their ideas about a certain topic. It’s also a subtly effective way to lure readers to an online post and add comedy and subtext.
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Steps to Strikethrough in Google Docs
The Google Documents toolbar does not explicitly provide the option to highlight extraneous content. But there are two ways you can complete the task:
Making use of the nested menus’ function
Keyboard shortcut usage
Although both choices are pretty simple to use, if you are unfamiliar with the instructions, they may first seem challenging. Here’s how to accomplish both:
Choose the text in your Google Document that you wish to strikethrough, then navigate to the function hidden behind the submenu.
Click the Format option from the toolbar at the top of the page after making your decision.
Hover your cursor over or pick the Text option from the resulting menu.
Choosing this option opens a new menu where you may choose the Strikethrough tool.
Strikethrough Shortcuts
If you find it difficult to recall the preceding instructions, you may strikethrough in Google Docs by using the following keyboard shortcuts:
Press Alt+Shift+5 on a Windows computer after selecting the text you wish to cross off.
Press Command+Shift+X on a Mac.
The same keyboard keys can also be used to eliminate strikethrough. It may be eliminated using the clear formatting option, however doing so will also remove any additional formatting that was applied to the highlighted area.
To remove every formatting from a document:
To use Windows, use Ctrl + \
Press Command + \ on a Mac.
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Things to Remember
There are two factors to keep in mind while using strikethrough:
The final word count includes the content that has been crossed out. Therefore, you will need to cut these portions if you need to reach a word count requirement.
The formatting that is strikethrough persists even after the file is converted to a different format. But in plain text file types (.txt), it will be absent.