How to Cross Out Text on Reddit on Android: 4 Steps

If you have ever typed a Reddit comment, changed your mind halfway through, and wanted your sentence to look gloriously wrong on purpose, welcome. You are looking for strikethrough text, also known as the classy little line that crosses out words without deleting them. It is perfect for jokes, corrections, sarcasm, fake confidence, and the classic Reddit move of saying one thing while obviously meaning another.

The good news is that learning how to cross out text on Reddit on Android is not hard. The even better news is that you do not need a secret menu, a premium subscription, or a degree in keyboard archaeology. In most cases, you only need a tiny bit of Reddit markdown: two squiggly marks before your text and two after it. That is it. Tiny symbols, huge energy.

In this guide, you will learn the exact four steps, see examples you can copy, fix common mistakes, and understand why Reddit formatting sometimes behaves like it drank three energy drinks before opening your draft. Let’s make your text dramatically wrong in the right way.

What Does Crossing Out Text on Reddit Mean?

Crossing out text means applying a strikethrough effect. Instead of removing words, Reddit displays them with a line through the middle. It usually looks something like this: I totally knew what I was doing.

People use Reddit strikethrough for all kinds of reasons:

• To show a correction without hiding the original words
• To make a joke land harder
• To add irony or sarcasm
• To show an update in a post or comment
• To make a sentence look delightfully dramatic

In other words, it is one of the most useful little formatting tricks on the platform. If bold text is the loud friend, strikethrough is the friend whispering, “I said what I said… but also, maybe not.”

How to Cross Out Text on Reddit on Android in 4 Steps

Here is the quick version first: place ~~ before the text you want to cross out, then place ~~ after it. When Reddit renders the comment or post correctly, that text will appear with a line through it.

1. Step 1: Open Reddit on Your Android Phone and Start a Comment or Text Post

   Open the Reddit app on your Android device and go to the post or community where you want to write. Tap into the comment box or create a text-based post. You need a text field where Reddit formatting is allowed, so this works best in comments and text posts rather than places that do not support full formatting.

   Once your cursor is blinking, you are ready. That tiny flashing line is not just a cursor. It is the starting gun.

2. Step 2: Type Two Tildes Before the Words You Want to Cross Out

   Now type ~~ right before the word or phrase you want to strike through. The tilde symbol looks like this: ~. On many Android keyboards, you can find it by tapping the symbols key such as ?123 and then switching to the extra symbols screen if needed.

   This part matters: you need two tildes, not one. One lonely tilde is not enough. One tilde is just out there trying its best.

3. Step 3: Type Your Text, Then Add Two More Tildes

   After the first two tildes, type the text you want crossed out. Then close it with another set of two tildes.

   For example, type this:

   ~~This is crossed out~~

   When Reddit renders it properly, it will appear like this:

   This is crossed out

   You can use this on one word, one phrase, or a whole sentence. Just make sure the opening and closing symbols are both there. Think of them like tiny doors. Your text must walk through both of them to get the full strikethrough effect.

4. Step 4: Post or Preview Your Comment and Check the Formatting

   Once you finish typing, submit your comment or post. If Reddit processes the markdown correctly, your text should appear crossed out. If it still shows the symbols instead of the effect, do not panic. Reddit’s editor on Android can vary depending on app version, rollout, and whether you are using a rich-text tool or plain markdown behavior.

   In most cases, the fix is simple: check for missing tildes, spaces in the wrong place, or try rewriting the phrase cleanly. If needed, edit the comment or post and test the formatting again.

Quick Copy-and-Paste Examples

Need a few ready-made examples? Here you go:

• ~~I was early~~ I was 27 minutes late.
• I absolutely ~~love~~ tolerate Monday mornings.
• My battery is at ~~82%~~ 4% and I am brave.
• ~~This opinion is final~~ I changed my mind after one reply.

Rendered, they would look like this:

• I was early I was 27 minutes late.
• I absolutely love tolerate Monday mornings.
• My battery is at 82% 4% and I am brave.
• This opinion is final I changed my mind after one reply.

Why Reddit Strikethrough Sometimes Does Not Work on Android

If you typed the symbols and Reddit still gives you plain text, you are not cursed. Usually, one of these issues is the reason:

You Used One Tilde Instead of Two

This is the most common mistake. Reddit strikethrough needs ~~text~~, not ~text~. Two in front, two in back. It is not being dramatic. It is being specific.

You Forgot the Closing Tildes

If you only type the opening tildes and never close the phrase, Reddit may not format it correctly. Always wrap the full section.

Your App Interface Is Different

Reddit’s Android app has gone through changes, and formatting tools can appear differently depending on the version you have. Some users may see richer formatting options for posts, while others still rely on markdown behavior more directly. That is why the markdown method remains the safest trick to know.

You Added Strange Spacing or Broke the Phrase Awkwardly

Reddit usually handles standard formatting well, but messy spacing can make it act weird. Keep the symbols tight around the phrase. Clean input usually wins.

You Are Posting in a Field With Limited Formatting

Most comments and text posts are fine, but not every text field across Reddit behaves the same way. If something feels broken, try the same formatting in a comment first. Comments are often the easiest place to test whether your Reddit markdown is behaving.

Can You Cross Out Text in Reddit Comments and Posts?

Yes, in many cases you can use strikethrough in both comments and text posts on Reddit. Comments are the classic place where people use it for humor, edits, and gentle self-destruction. Text posts can support it too, especially where markdown or supported rich-text formatting is available.

If your goal is simple and reliable, comments are usually the easiest place to test the feature. Write a short throwaway comment in a practice-friendly subreddit or in a draft reply and confirm the formatting works before composing your masterpiece about why cereal technically counts as soup.

How to Type the Tilde Symbol on Android

If the real problem is not Reddit but the keyboard, here is the practical fix: open your Android keyboard’s symbols screen. On many keyboards, you tap ?123, then tap another symbols button to reach extra characters. The tilde ~ often lives there with other punctuation marks.

Some keyboards also let you long-press certain keys for extra symbols. The exact path depends on whether you use Gboard, Samsung Keyboard, or another app, but the idea is the same: find the tilde, then use it twice before and twice after the text.

Yes, it takes a few taps. No, Reddit does not hand you a giant button labeled “Make this sentence look comically regretful.” Life is unfair.

Common Reddit Formatting Mistakes to Avoid

If you want your Reddit text formatting to work smoothly, avoid these classic errors:

• Using asterisks instead of tildes for strikethrough
• Adding only one tilde on each side
• Forgetting to close the phrase
• Expecting every Android screen in the app to behave the same way
• Typing the markdown and then assuming Reddit will magically forgive a typo

Markdown is simple, but it is not psychic. It rewards tiny details. Annoyingly. Reliably. Beautifully.

Bonus Tips for Better Reddit Formatting

Once you learn strikethrough, you are only one tiny step away from becoming the person who knows “weird Reddit text tricks” in the group chat. Use these simple add-ons to level up:

• Bold: **text**
• Italic: *text* or _text_
• Spoiler: >!text!<
• Inline code: `text`

Knowing a little Reddit markdown goes a long way, especially on mobile where formatting controls may not always feel obvious. Once you get comfortable, your comments become easier to style, easier to read, and a lot more fun to write.

Real-World Situations Where Strikethrough Makes Your Comment Better

Strikethrough is not just a cosmetic trick. It changes the tone of a sentence in a very human way. Here are a few moments where it really shines:

For Self-Correction

You can show the original thought and the revised version without making the joke disappear.

For Humor

Reddit loves timing, and strikethrough can act like a pause, a wink, or a deadpan reveal.

For Updates

If you edit a text post and want readers to see what changed, crossed-out text can make the update feel transparent and easy to follow.

For Sarcasm

Sometimes regular text is not enough. Sometimes you need the sentence to visibly betray itself.

Experience: The Very Reddit Adventure of Learning Strikethrough on Android

There is a specific kind of comedy that happens when someone tries to learn how to cross out text on Reddit on Android for the first time. It usually begins with confidence. Not healthy confidence. The kind of confidence that says, “How hard can this be?” Moments later, that same person is staring at a comment box like it just asked them to assemble furniture without instructions.

First comes the search for the tilde. If you use Android long enough, you discover that every symbol has a personality. The period is always available. The comma is chill. The tilde, however, behaves like a mysterious cave creature that only appears when you solve three keyboard puzzles and tap the right symbols screen. You open the keyboard, tap ?123, see numbers and punctuation, feel hopeful, and then realize the tilde has still not arrived. So you tap again. Now you are in the bonus symbol dungeon. There it is. Tiny. Smug. Powerful.

Then comes the first attempt. You type one tilde, then your text, then one more tilde, post the comment, and nothing happens. The phrase just sits there in public wearing raw punctuation like an outfit it did not ask for. This is usually the moment when people become philosophers. “What is formatting?” “What is meaning?” “Why does a simple squiggle now control my emotional well-being?”

Eventually, you learn the secret: two tildes on each side. Suddenly, Reddit obeys. The text appears crossed out, and for one shining moment, you feel like a wizard who specializes in sarcasm. You do not tell anyone how long it took. You simply move forward with dignity and your new power.

After that, the real fun starts. You begin using strikethrough for tiny jokes in comments. You write, “I definitely ~~read the whole article~~ glanced at the headline.” You write, “This is ~~terrible~~ surprisingly decent.” You use it to soften opinions, add comic timing, and make your edits feel intentional instead of messy. It becomes less of a formatting trick and more of a tone-setting device.

What is funny is how such a small skill changes the way you write on Reddit. Once you know one markdown move, you start noticing others. You spot bold text, spoilers, code blocks, weirdly elegant comments, and suddenly you understand that half of Reddit’s personality is hiding in punctuation. Not fancy punctuation, either. Just little symbols doing incredible amounts of social labor.

For Android users especially, learning this can feel weirdly satisfying because mobile interfaces do not always make formatting obvious. On desktop, buttons and menus can hold your hand. On Android, sometimes you have to meet Reddit halfway. But that is part of the charm. You learn the trick, it works, and now you have a tiny edge. You are no longer the person wondering how other commenters make crossed-out punchlines. You are the commenter making them.

And honestly, that is the whole experience in a nutshell: mild confusion, a keyboard scavenger hunt, one microscopic lesson in markdown, and then a deeply unnecessary amount of pride over crossing out a sentence on the internet. Which, to be fair, is a very Reddit feeling.

Conclusion

If you want to know how to cross out text on Reddit on Android, the process is refreshingly simple once you know the formula: type two tildes before the text and two after it. That is the core of Reddit strikethrough. Open the app, start your comment or text post, wrap the words in ~~, and post it.

That tiny formatting move can make your comments funnier, clearer, and more expressive. It helps with jokes, edits, sarcasm, and those wonderfully human moments when you want to admit you were wrong without fully deleting the evidence. Which is, frankly, very on-brand for Reddit.

So the next time you want to make a sentence look crossed out on Reddit, do not wrestle with the app. Just remember the magic little sandwich: ~~your text~~. Four symbols. One effect. Endless opportunities for dramatic internet honesty.

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