How to Remove Strikethrough in Excel

Strikethrough in Excel is a font effect that allows users to cross out text, often used to indicate that an item is completed or to mark it for deletion without actually removing it from the document.

While this feature can be useful for tracking changes or tasks, there are times when you might need to remove the strikethrough from your data to clean up your spreadsheet or prepare it for presentation.

Whether you’ve inherited a document with strikethroughs or applied them yourself, it is important to know how to clear this formatting when the need arises.

In this article, I’ll walk you through different ways of quickly removing strikethrough formatting in Excel.

Method 1: Remove Strikethrough in Excel with Cell Formatting

The simplest way to remove the strikethrough format from text or numbers in Excel is by changing the format of the cell.

Let’s understand how to use this technique by applying it to a hypothetical data set. 

Consider the dataset given below (where I have some cells that have the strikethrough format applied):

Dataset used in this article for reference to remove strikethrough

To remove strikethrough from this data set, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Select the cell or cells where you want to remove the strikethrough.

Step 2: Click on the “Home” tab. In the “Font” section, click on the extend icon seen in the bottom right-hand side of the image. 

click on the 'home' tab

Step 3: 

  • Once you click on the icon, a dialog box titled “Format Cell’ will appear on your screen. 
  • Navigate to the ‘Font’ Tab
  • You will find a checkbox for “Strikethrough.” Uncheck this box and click “OK.” 
In the 'Font' section, find the strikethrough option and uncheck the box to remove it from the cells

Keyboard Shortcut to directly pop-open the ‘Format Cell’

  1. Highlight the cells you want and use the Strikethrough formatting.
  2. Then, press Ctrl + Shift+ F. The format cell window will open up

Method 2: Remove Strikethrough with the Right-Click Menu

The right-click menu is another great way to quickly remove strikethrough from your Excel data set. This way, you can bypass the ‘Home’ Tab

Step 1: Select the cells or ranges you want to remove the strikethrough formatting on.  

Select the cells to remove strikethrough using Method 2

Step 2: Right-click on any of those cells and select “Format Cells” from the menu.

Right click on any of the cells and choose option as 'Format Change'

Step 3: 

  • This will make the “Format Cells” dialogue box pop-open
  • Navigate to the ‘Font’ Tab
  • You will find a checkbox for “Strikethrough.” Uncheck this box and click “OK.” 

Strikethrough will be removed from the selected cells

Also read: How To Highlight Blank Cells In Excel

Method 3: Keyboard Shortcut to Remove Strikethrough Format in Excel

The quickest and most efficient way to remove strikethrough in Excel is by using keyboard shortcuts.

If you have only a few cells with strikethrough formatting, you can use this technique. 

Let’s take the example of the earlier data set again and learn how to remove strikethrough from the cells.

Step 1: Select the cell or cells you want to remove the strikethrough from

Select the cells from which you want to remove strikethrough via method 3

Step 2: Press either Ctrl+5 (on Windows) or Command+5 (on Mac). This will instantly remove any existing strikethrough formatting from your selected cells.

Press either Ctrl+5 (on Windows) or Command+5 (on Mac) to instantly remove strikethrough

Method 4: Add the Strikethrough Button to the Excel Ribbon

Add a Strikethrough action tab to the Quick Access Toolbar on the Excel ribbon to easily access the feature. With one click, you can apply the strikethrough formatting.

Step 1: Click on any existing icon to add an icon to your Quick Access Toolbar. Then, choose Customize the Ribbon.

Learn to add strikethrough icon to your quick access toolbar for ease of use

OR Click on the drop arrow and click on ‘More Commands’ as shown in the screenshot below.

Steps to add strikethrough to Quick Access toolbar

Step 2: When you do this, Excel Options will appear. 

Step 3: From the drop-down menu at the top, select ‘All Commands’ under ‘Choose Command’ Or Popular Command

Steps to add strikethrough to Quick Access Toolbar

Step 4: After you receive a list of commands, pick the Strikethrough option and click the Add button in the center of the Excel Options menu.

Steps to add strikethrough to Quick Access Toolbar

Step 5: You can locate the Strikethrough icon in your Quick Access Toolbar. To apply formatting to selected cells, highlight them and double-click this icon. 

Final result showing Strikethrough added in the Quick Access Toolbar

Method 5: Remove Conditional Strikethrough in MS Excel Using the Clear Rules Option

If the above options didn’t work on any particular cell or all the cells, it might be because cells were conditionally formatted that way. In this case, to remove strikethrough from your Excel data, you’ll need to use the “Clear Rules” option.

Step 1: Select the cells or ranges from which you want to remove the conditional strikethrough.

Remove strikethrough via conditional formatting

Step 2: Click on the “Home” tab in the top menu bar. Go to the “Styles” section and click on “Conditional Formatting”.

Step 3: Once you click on “Conditional Formatting”, a drop-down menu will appear. From the given options, move your cursor to “Clear Rules”. 

Select 'Clear Rules' to remove any rules from the selected cells to remove strikethrough

Step 4: Click on “Clear Rule from Selected Cells”

Select 'Clear Rules' to remove any rules from the selected cells to remove strikethrough

This will disable any conditional formatting that was applied to any of the cells earlier, and strikethrough will be removed from those cells.

Note: You should keep in mind that this method will not remove strikethrough for the cells that were not conditionally formatted. For that, you can easily apply any of the three methods mentioned above.

With these handy tips and techniques at hand, now you know how to remove strikethrough from Excel with ease. No more struggling with unwanted strikethrough formatting in your data! Whether you prefer the simplicity of the Font section, the quick keyboard shortcuts, or the convenience of the right-click menu, you have multiple methods to choose from. However, if you encounter stubborn strikethrough that seems unyielding to these methods, don’t fret. Remember, it might be due to conditional formatting rules. In such cases, the powerful “Clear Rule” option comes to your rescue, helping you bid farewell to those lingering strikethroughs.

So, keep your spreadsheets clean, professional, and free from unnecessary distractions. By following any of the above methods to remove strikethrough, you can present your data with clarity and precision, leaving no room for confusion or ambiguity. 

Excel is undoubtedly a powerful tool, and armed with this knowledge, you’re well-equipped to harness its potential to the fullest.

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