How to Strikethrough Text in Markdown

The quick answer: Wrap text with double tildes — ~~strikethrough~~ — to add a strikethrough.

Syntax

~~this text has a line through it~~

This renders with a horizontal line through the text, commonly used to show deleted or outdated content.

Platform Support

Strikethrough is a GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) extension — it's not in the original CommonMark spec. It works on:

• GitHub, GitLab, Notion, Obsidian, Discord, Slack
• Most modern markdown editors

It does not work in basic CommonMark parsers or some older tools.

Use Cases

Strikethrough is useful for:

• Showing corrections — ~~wrong answer~~ correct answer
• Completed tasks in notes — ~~buy groceries~~
• Crossed-off items in changelogs and to-do lists
• Price comparisons — ~~$99~~ $49

Common Mistake

Single tildes ~text~ are subscript syntax in some parsers (Obsidian, Pandoc), not strikethrough. Always use double tildes ~~text~~ for strikethrough.

---

Full details at the Markdown Strikethrough reference.