Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 18, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Word provides shortcut key combinations for many different formatting options. One common formatting attribute that does not have such a combination is strikethrough. Most people add it by displaying the Font dialog box and then selecting Strikethrough in the Effects area of the dialog box.
You can define your own shortcut key for strikethrough by customizing Word. All you need to do is follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Font tab of the Font dialog box.
Figure 2. The Customize Keyboard dialog box.
It should be noted that there are a variety of ways that you can display the Customize Keyboard dialog box, which is necessary for the above steps. The method used in these steps was selected because after you complete steps 1 through 3, the Customize Keyboard dialog box is already filled in with the proper settings to invoke the strikethrough formatting. If you use a different method to display the dialog box, you'll need to make the specific settings in that dialog box required to apply strikethrough formatting. (In other words, the above method of invoking the Customize Keyboard dialog box saves you some time when compared to other methods.)
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (418) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Strikethrough Shortcut Key.
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