Unleash Your Creativity: Mastering Crossouts in Google Slides
Google Slides is a powerful tool for creating dynamic presentations. Whether you’re working on a school project, a business pitch, or a personal slideshow, Google Slides offers a range of features to make your content more engaging. One such feature is the ability to use crossouts—striking through text for emphasis or style. This simple yet effective tool can help you enhance your presentations and make your content visually appealing. In this guide, we’ll show you how to master crossouts in Google Slides and explore the creative possibilities they bring to your slides.
What are Crossouts in Google Slides?
A crossout, or “strikethrough,” is a text formatting option that places a line through selected words or sentences. This can be a great way to highlight edits, indicate revisions, or simply add a touch of creativity to your slides. Using crossouts in Google Slides can make your presentation more dynamic and visually engaging. Whether you’re striking through outdated information, showing progression, or just for stylistic purposes, crossouts are an excellent way to grab attention and communicate effectively.
Why Use Crossouts in Google Slides?
Using crossouts in Google Slides offers several benefits:
- Visual Clarity: Striking through text can make your message clearer, especially when comparing new and old information.
- Engagement: The added visual element of a crossout can make your slides stand out and keep your audience engaged.
- Creativity: Crossouts can give your slides a unique look and feel, setting your presentation apart from others.
- Revision Tracking: In collaborative settings, striking through outdated information can signal changes or revisions to a shared document.
How to Use Crossouts in Google Slides
Now that you understand the benefits of crossouts in Google Slides, let’s dive into the step-by-step process of how to apply them.
Step 1: Open Your Google Slides Presentation
First, open the presentation where you want to use the crossout feature. If you haven’t started yet, create a new presentation by going to Google Slides and selecting a blank presentation or a template of your choice.
Step 2: Select the Text You Want to Cross Out
Navigate to the slide containing the text you want to strike through. Click on the text box that holds the text. Highlight the specific word, phrase, or sentence that you wish to cross out. If you want to strike through all the text in the box, simply press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac) to select everything in the text box.
Step 3: Apply the Strikethrough Format
Once you’ve selected the text, follow these steps to apply the strikethrough effect:
- Click on the Format menu at the top of the screen.
- From the dropdown menu, hover over Text, and then select Strikethrough.
Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Alt+Shift+5 (Windows) or Command+Shift+X (Mac) to quickly apply the strikethrough.
Step 4: Customize Your Strikethrough
While Google Slides doesn’t offer a wide range of customization options for strikethroughs, you can combine them with other formatting features to create a unique look. For instance, you can adjust the font style, size, and color of the text before or after applying the crossout, making the effect more prominent or subtle depending on your preference.
Step 5: Review and Save
Once you’ve applied the strikethrough, review your slide to ensure the formatting looks the way you want it. Afterward, save your presentation, and you’re done!
Creative Ways to Use Crossouts in Google Slides
Crossouts aren’t just for showing deleted content—they can also be used creatively to make your presentations more interesting. Here are some fun ideas:
- Revision Highlights: Use crossouts to show changes in a step-by-step process or to visually track updates.
- Show Progress: Strike through old tasks or goals as they are completed to give your audience a sense of progression.
- Crossout Unwanted Options: In a multiple-choice slide, you can cross out irrelevant options, helping focus attention on the correct answers.
- Visual Storytelling: Use crossouts as part of a visual narrative, such as striking through ideas to emphasize new directions or innovations.
Troubleshooting Tips for Strikethroughs in Google Slides
While applying crossouts in Google Slides is usually straightforward, there may be occasional issues that arise. Here are some common troubleshooting tips:
1. Strikethrough Won’t Apply
If the strikethrough option doesn’t seem to work, make sure you’ve highlighted the text correctly. If the issue persists, try refreshing the page or reloading the document. You can also check if you have any conflicting add-ons or extensions in your browser that might be interfering with the functionality of Google Slides.
2. Strikethrough is Too Subtle
Google Slides doesn’t allow you to adjust the thickness or style of the strikethrough line, but you can enhance its visibility by changing the color or style of the text itself. You can also make use of bold or italicized text to make the crossout stand out more.
3. Crossout is Not Visible on Presentation Mode
If the strikethrough is not visible when you’re in presentation mode, ensure that the text box or slide isn’t being covered by other elements such as shapes or images. You may need to adjust the layering of elements to ensure the crossout is visible.
4. Undoing the Strikethrough
If you accidentally apply a strikethrough and need to remove it, simply highlight the text again and either go back to the Format menu and uncheck the Strikethrough option, or use the undo shortcut Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) to revert your changes.
Enhance Your Presentations with Strikethroughs in Google Slides
Mastering the use of crossouts in Google Slides can significantly elevate your presentations, making them more visually appealing and effective at conveying your message. Whether you’re using them to track revisions, show progress, or simply add a creative touch, crossouts are a simple yet powerful tool. With the steps outlined in this guide, you can now confidently incorporate strikethroughs into your slides to unleash your creativity.
For more tips and tricks on using Google Slides effectively, check out this Google Slides tutorial.
If you’re interested in learning more about creative tools for presentations, visit Presentation Tips for a wealth of resources.
Conclusion
Google Slides is packed with features that help you create stunning presentations, and the ability to use crossouts is just one of them. Whether you’re working on a business proposal, educational material, or a personal project, adding a crossout to your slides can help emphasize points, highlight progress, or simply add an interesting design element. Experiment with this feature today and watch your creativity flow!
This article is in the category Guides & Tutorials and created by SlidesGuide Team