Microsoft Excel: Mastering the Strikethrough in Excel for Effective Data Presentation

A: To apply the strikethrough format in Microsoft Excel, select the cell or range of cells you want to strikethrough. Then, go to the Home tab on the Excel Ribbon, find the Font section and click the strikethrough option. This will cross out the text in the selected cells.

A: The keyboard shortcut to apply the strikethrough format in Excel is Ctrl + 5. Simply select the text you want to strike through and press this key combination.

A: Yes, you can apply a partial strikethrough in Microsoft Excel. To do so, double-click the cell which contains the text. Then, select the specific text you want to strikethrough, right-click and select the Format cells option from the dialog box. From the font tab of the Format Cells dialog box, select Strikethrough and click Ok.

A: To use the Strikethrough feature in an Excel spreadsheet, select the cell groups, then on your Excel ribbon, under the Home tab, select the Font option, and then tick the Strikethrough box.

A: You can remove strikethrough in Excel using almost the same process as applying it. Select the cells with the strikethrough text, open the Font tab in the Format Cells dialog box, and untick the Strikethrough option. Click OK, the strikethrough format will be removed.

A: To apply strikethrough through the quick access toolbar (QAT), right click on the toolbar and select ‘More Commands’. In the Excel Options dialog box, find the Strikethrough command, add it to the QAT and click OK. Now you can use the strikethrough command directly from the QAT.

A: Yes, you can apply a strikethrough format based on certain conditions in Excel. You can do this by setting up a conditional formatting rule. In the Format Cells dialog box, select the ‘Strikethrough’ option in the ‘Font’ tab. Then, define the condition under which this formatting will be applied.

A: Strikethrough in Excel worksheets can be used in several ways. You can use it to indicate completed tasks or invalid data entries without deleting them. This way, the original data remains intact for reference, but is visibly marked as no longer accurate or relevant.

A: To apply strikethrough to a font using the ‘Format Cells’ dialog box, first, select the cells that contain the text. Right-click and choose the Format Cells option. In the resulting dialog box, navigate to the Font tab, then check the box for strikethrough. Click ‘OK’ to apply the strikethrough format to the selected text.

A: You can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 5 to place a line or apply strikethrough formatting to the selected number or text in Microsoft Excel.

A: There are a couple of theories behind the choice of Ctrl+5 for strikethrough in Excel. One theory suggests that the initial preference was to use Ctrl+S for strikethrough, as it seems like a logical choice. However, since Ctrl+S is already assigned to the “Save” function in Excel, an alternative key combination was required.

This theory states that the number 5 and the capital letter “S” bear some resemblance to each other, which led to the selection of Ctrl+5 as a backup option.
Another theory proposes that the choice of Ctrl+5 stems from the concept of tally marks. When creating tally marks manually, one typically draws four vertical lines and then adds a diagonal line across the previous four to represent the fifth mark. According to this theory, Ctrl+5 was chosen as it aligns with the idea that the fifth mark is the one that strikes through the others.

These theories provide plausible explanations for the use of Ctrl+5 as the keyboard shortcut for strikethrough in Excel, highlighting considerations about similarity with the letter “S” and the concept of tally marks.

Ctrl+5 in Excel is a keyboard shortcut that allows you to apply or remove the strikethrough formatting to the selected text. By pressing Ctrl+5, you can easily strike through any content to indicate that it is no longer valid or needs to be removed.
This shortcut works as a toggle, meaning that pressing Ctrl+5 once will apply the strikethrough formatting, and pressing it again will remove it. It provides a convenient way to quickly modify the appearance of text within Excel, making it visually distinct from the rest of the content.