How To Undo Strikethrough In Excel: Complete Removal Guide For Desktop And Web

To undo strikethrough in Excel, select the target cells and press Ctrl + 5 on Windows or Command + Shift + X on Mac to instantly toggle off the font effect. If the shortcut does not remove the line, open the Format Cells menu via Ctrl + 1, navigate to the Font tab, and uncheck the Strikethrough box. Persistent lines typically stem from active Conditional Formatting rules, which must be cleared or managed through the Styles tab on the Home ribbon.

Pre-Removal Assessment & Cell Formatting Prerequisites

Removing strikethrough lines from a Microsoft Excel worksheet requires identifying how the formatting was originally applied. Strikethrough can exist as direct character formatting, an automated conditional formatting rule, a custom cell style, or an overlaid graphic object. Correctly diagnosing the layer of application ensures you select the fastest removal technique without destroying essential cell values, formulas, or number formats.

• Required Application Environments: Microsoft Excel for Windows (2016 through Microsoft 365), Excel for Mac (v16.0+), Excel for Web, or Excel Mobile.
• Prerequisite Knowledge & Standards: Basic cell range selection techniques (continuous vs. non-adjacent selections), understanding of the Excel Home tab ribbon hierarchy, and familiarity with modal dialog navigation.
• Workflow Benchmarks:
  
  
  • Single-cell keyboard toggle: 1 to 2 seconds.
  • Range format restoration via dialog: 5 to 10 seconds.
  • Conditional formatting rule override removal: 30 to 60 seconds.
  • Mass spreadsheet cleanup via Clear Formats: Under 15 seconds.

Step-by-Step Strikethrough Removal Execution Workflows

Step 1: Execute Native Keyboard Shortcuts for Direct Toggle

Keyboard shortcuts provide the fastest method to remove hardcoded strikethrough formatting from highlighted cell ranges or individual characters.

1. Highlight the cell, range of cells, entire rows, or columns containing the strikethrough text.
2. On Windows operating systems, press Ctrl + 5 simultaneously.
3. On macOS operating systems, press Command + Shift + X (or Command + 5 in legacy Excel versions).
4. Verify that the horizontal line through the text disappears. If the shortcut fails to alter the text, the strikethrough is controlled by conditional logic or object layers rather than direct font formatting.

Pro-Tip: Always use the number 5 key located on the main alphanumeric section of your keyboard. The number 5 key on dedicated numeric keypads may fail to trigger the formatting toggle depending on your Num Lock status and OS key mapping.

Step 2: Clear Strikethrough via the Format Cells Interface

When working with complex cell ranges where only specific cells have strikethrough applied, using the Format Cells dialog box offers granular visual control over font properties.

1. Select the target cell range using your mouse or keyboard selection shortcuts (Shift + Arrow Keys).
2. Right-click anywhere within the selected range and choose Format Cells from the contextual menu, or press Ctrl + 1 on Windows (Command + 1 on Mac).
3. In the Format Cells tabbed window, click on the Font tab located between Font Alignment and Border options.
4. Locate the Effects section in the lower-left area of the window.
5. Inspect the Strikethrough checkbox. If the box is checked, click it once to uncheck it. If the box contains a solid square or grey fill (indicating a mixed selection where some cells have strikethrough and others do not), click the box until it is completely empty.
6. Click the OK button at the bottom right or press Enter to commit the structural font changes.

Warning: Clicking an indeterminate (grey filled) checkbox once will apply strikethrough to every cell within your current selection. You must click it a second time to force the state to unchecked, removing the line across all selected elements.

Step 3: Remove Strikethrough from Partial Cell Text Strings

If a cell contains a long string of text where only specific words or character segments are struck through, executing a global cell selection will alter the whole string. Follow these steps to target exact text fragments:

1. Double-click the target cell, or select the cell and press F2 on Windows to enter in-cell Edit Mode. Alternatively, highlight the target text inside the Formula Bar above the worksheet grid.
2. Drag your cursor precisely over the characters from which you wish to strip the horizontal line.
3. Press Ctrl + 5 on Windows or Command + Shift + X on Mac.
4. Alternatively, right-click the selected text, select Format Cells, uncheck Strikethrough under the Effects heading, and click OK.
5. Press Enter or click outside the cell to exit Edit Mode and save your textual changes.

Step 4: Neutralize Rule-Based Strikethrough in Conditional Formatting

When pressing Ctrl + 5 or clearing font properties inside Format Cells fails to remove a strikethrough line, the format is being dynamically enforced by a Conditional Formatting rule. Direct formatting changes cannot override conditional formatting.

1. Click anywhere within the affected cell range, or press Ctrl + A to select the entire active worksheet.
2. Navigate to the Home tab on the main Excel ribbon.
3. Locate the Styles group and click on Conditional Formatting.
4. Select Manage Rules at the very bottom of the drop-down menu to open the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager dialog.
5. Change the top dropdown selection labeled Show formatting rules for: from "Current Selection" to This Worksheet to view all automated rules.
6. Scroll through the rule list to find rules displaying a strikethrough format in the Preview column.
7. Select the offending rule and choose one of two execution paths:
   
   
   • To delete the rule entirely: Click the Delete Rule button at the top of the window.
   • To keep the rule logic but remove only the strikethrough: Click Edit Rule, click the Format... button inside the Edit Formatting Rule window, navigate to the Font tab, uncheck Strikethrough, and click OK across all open dialog windows.
8. Click Apply, then click OK to close the Manager and update your spreadsheet layout.

Step 5: Purge Formats Using Mass Ribbon Tools

If you need to quickly sanitize a dirty dataset imported from an external database or web scrape, you can wipe out all character styles—including strikethroughs—using the Clear command.

1. Highlight the target range or press Ctrl + A to select all worksheet cells.
2. Navigate to the Home tab on the ribbon and move to the Editing group on the far-right side.
3. Click the Clear button (represented by a pink eraser icon).
4. Select Clear Formats from the sub-menu options.

Warning: Executing Clear Formats completely resets all visual properties of the selected cells. This includes custom number formats (currency, dates), background fill colors, font sizes, borders, and text alignments. Use this tool only when full structural re-formatting is intended.

Step 6: Clear Strikethrough Driven by Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

For spreadsheets governed by automated macros where font properties are manipulated through code, manual UI changes may be overwritten upon workbook recalculation. You can force-clear the strikethrough property across selected cells using Excel's Immediate Window without creating a permanent module script.

1. Press Alt + F11 on Windows (Option + F11 on Mac) to launch the Visual Basic Editor.
2. If the Immediate Window is not visible at the bottom of the editor interface, press Ctrl + G to display it.
3. Switch back to your worksheet briefly to select the target range containing the locked strikethrough formatting.
4. Click back into the Immediate Window, type Selection.Font.Strikethrough = False, and press Enter.
5. Close the Visual Basic Editor window and confirm that all text lines within the selection have been reset to normal font display.

Removal Method Selection & Technical Execution Matrix

Troubleshooting Persistent Strikethrough Errors & Anomalies

Scenario 1: The Ctrl + 5 shortcut fails to remove the line across selected cells

• Root Cause: The strikethrough is being generated by a Conditional Formatting rule or the cell is protected within a locked worksheet structure. Alternatively, the user is utilizing the numeric keypad key while Num Lock is disabled.
• Actionable Fix: First, verify key press input by using the top-row number 5 key. If the line remains, navigate to Home > Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules and delete any active rules governing the range. If rules are absent, check the Review tab to ensure the sheet is not protected; if protected, click Unprotect Sheet and retry the shortcut.

Scenario 2: Horizontal lines remain after Format Cells shows Strikethrough as unchecked

• Root Cause: The line is an independent drawing object (such as a Line shape inserted from the Insert tab) or a central cell border drawn through custom grid settings, rather than actual font character strikethrough.
• Actionable Fix: Press F5 to bring up the Go To dialog, click Special..., select the Objects radio button, and click OK. If a shape line becomes highlighted with vector handles, press the Delete key. If no objects are found, select the cells, go to Home > Font > Borders dropdown, and choose No Border to clear custom internal borders.

Scenario 3: Strikethrough reappears automatically whenever data is entered or calculated

• Root Cause: An active event-driven macro (such as an Worksheet_Change procedure) is monitoring cell values and re-applying the .Font.Strikethrough = True property programmatically upon every cell recalculation.
• Actionable Fix: Press Alt + F11 to enter the VBA Editor. In the left-hand Project Explorer, double-click the specific Sheet module (e.g., Sheet1) and inspect the code for Worksheet_Change or Worksheet_Calculate procedures. Delete or comment out lines containing Font.Strikethrough = True by adding an apostrophe before the code line, then save the workbook as a standard macro-enabled file (.xlsm).

Scenario 4: Excel for Web does not register the keyboard shortcut

• Root Cause: Browser-level keyboard shortcuts or browser extensions are intercepting the key combination before it reaches the Excel web runtime engine.
• Actionable Fix: Highlight the cells in Excel for Web, navigate to the Home tab, click the More Font Options icon (represented by three horizontal dots within the Font section), and click Strikethrough directly from the context menu to toggle the setting off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won't Ctrl + 5 remove the strikethrough in my Excel spreadsheet?

If pressing Ctrl + 5 does not eliminate the line, the strikethrough is likely applied via Conditional Formatting rather than standard font properties. You must clear the rule through Home > Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules. Alternatively, check whether you are using the numeric keypad's 5 key instead of the top-row alphanumeric 5 key.

How do I remove strikethrough from text in Excel for Web?

In Excel for Web, select the target cells, go to the Home tab, click the three-dot overflow menu in the Font group, and click Strikethrough. Alternatively, open the Format Options panel by right-clicking the selection, choosing Format Cells, and clearing the Strikethrough checkbox under Font effects.

Can I search for and remove strikethrough from an entire workbook at once?

Yes. Press Ctrl + F to open Find and Replace, click Options, click Format... next to the Find What field, select the Font tab, check Strikethrough, and click OK. Leave the "Replace With" formatting empty, then click Find All, press Ctrl + A inside the search results box to select all matched cells, close the dialog, and press Ctrl + 5 to strip the formatting globally.

Will removing strikethrough delete the cell text or reset number formats?

Removing strikethrough via Ctrl + 5 or the Format Cells dialog alters only the visual font effect and will not modify, overwrite, or erase your underlying text, formulas, or custom numeric formats. Only the Clear Formats tool will reset external properties like currency symbols or background fills.

How do I remove strikethrough from specific non-adjacent cells simultaneously?

Hold down the Ctrl key on Windows (Command key on Mac) while clicking individual non-adjacent cells across your worksheet grid. Once all desired cells are selected, release the modifier key and press Ctrl + 5 (or Command + Shift + X on Mac) to strip the strikethrough effect from all highlighted cells at once.

Optimize Your Enterprise Spreadsheet Workflows

Mastering cell format management ensures your enterprise financial models, task trackers, and analytical reporting remain clean, readable, and professional. Audit your automated workbook rules regularly to prevent formatting conflicts and streamline data presentation across your organization.