How to X Out a Cell in Excel: Diagonal Borders, Symbols and More

To X out a cell in Excel, select it, press Ctrl+1 (Cmd+1 on a Mac) to open Format Cells, go to the Border tab and click both diagonal border buttons, then click OK. The two diagonal lines cross to form an X through the cell, and the cell’s contents and value are left untouched.

That is the cleanest method for most people, but it is not the only one. Depending on why you want the X, a typed symbol, strikethrough or a checkbox may suit you better. Below are the steps for each, plus how to undo them. Menu names are as described in Microsoft’s documentation as of October 2026; Microsoft does move ribbon items around from time to time, so labels may differ slightly in your version.

Method 1: Draw an X with diagonal borders (recommended)

Excel cells can carry two diagonal borders, one running from top-left to bottom-right and one from bottom-left to top-right. Turning both on gives you an X. Microsoft’s article Apply or remove cell borders on a worksheet points to the same place: the Border tab of the Format Cells dialog, which has two diagonal buttons.

Steps

1. Select the cell (or cells) you want to X out.
2. Open Format Cells. Either press Ctrl+1 (Cmd+1 on a Mac), or go to Home > Font group, click the arrow next to the Borders button and choose More Borders.
3. Click the Border tab if it is not already showing.
4. Optional: pick a line Style and Color first. The diagonal lines use whatever style and color are selected when you click the buttons.
5. In the Border preview area, click the diagonal button that runs from bottom-left to top-right, then the one that runs from top-left to bottom-right. The preview shows the X.
6. Click OK.

If you select a range rather than a single cell, every cell in the range gets its own X. For one large X spanning several cells, merge them first (Home > Merge & Center) and then apply the diagonals to the merged cell, as The Bricks suggests.

Drawing it freehand with Draw Border

If you prefer the mouse, the Borders dropdown on the Home tab also has a Draw Border option near the bottom. Choose it, and the pointer turns into a pencil. Drag diagonally across the cell once for each line. This is handy for one-off cells, but the dialog method is more precise and easier to repeat.

Good to know about diagonal borders

• They are purely visual. Borders do not change the cell’s value, so formulas, sorting, filtering and PivotTables behave exactly as before.
• Text still shows. If the cell contains a value, the X is drawn over it. That is usually the point (marking something as void), but it can make the content harder to read.
• Removal clears all borders. Microsoft’s instructions for removing borders are to click the arrow next to Borders and select No Border. That wipes every border on the selected cells, not only the diagonals. To remove only the X, reopen Format Cells and click the two diagonal buttons again to turn them off.

Method 2: Type an X or an X symbol

If you want the X to be the cell’s content rather than decoration, just type it. A capital X typed into a cell is the simplest mark there is, and because it is real data you can count it with a formula such as =COUNTIF(A2:A50,"X").

For a more polished look, insert a symbol:

1. Click the cell.
2. Go to Insert > Symbol (in some layouts, Insert > Symbols > Symbol).
3. Choose a font. Microsoft’s check mark guide uses Wingdings for its tick symbols, and the same font includes cross-style marks.
4. Select the X-style symbol you want and click Insert, then Close.

A few cautions. Microsoft’s sources I checked give the Wingdings character code for the check mark but not for the X, so look the symbol up in the dialog rather than relying on a code from a random website. If you use a Wingdings symbol, the cell must keep the Wingdings font or the character will display as a different letter. Microsoft also notes that inserting check mark symbols isn’t currently possible in Excel for the web, so plan to use the desktop app for this method.

Method 3: Strike through the text instead

Sometimes “X out” really means “cross out”, as in marking an item done or cancelled while keeping it readable. Strikethrough draws a single horizontal line through the text.

1. Select the cell (or double-click it and highlight just part of the text).
2. Press Ctrl+5 on Windows, or open Format Cells (Ctrl+1), go to the Font tab and tick Strikethrough.
3. Press Ctrl+5 again to remove it.

Third-party guides such as Excel TV agree on Ctrl+5 for Windows. The Mac shortcut is less clear: some guides cite Cmd+Shift+X and others say Ctrl+5 also works on certain Mac versions. I could not confirm either against Microsoft’s documentation, so on a Mac the Format Cells route is the reliable one. Like borders, strikethrough is formatting only and does not change the value.

Method 4: Use a checkbox for things you tick off

If you are building a to-do list or tracker and want people to toggle items, an X drawn with borders is the wrong tool, because nothing records it. Microsoft’s Using Checkboxes in Excel article describes cell checkboxes for Excel for Microsoft 365 (Windows and Mac) and Excel for the web:

1. Select the range where you want checkboxes.
2. Go to Insert > Checkbox.
3. Click a checkbox, or select one or more and press Space, to toggle it.
4. Press Delete to remove them.

Each checkbox holds TRUE or FALSE, so you can count or filter completed items with ordinary formulas. Some users on Microsoft’s Q&A forum report not seeing the Checkbox button; if that happens, your version may not have the feature yet. The older Developer-tab form control checkbox is a different, floating control, so don’t confuse the two.

Which method should you use?

A practical rule of thumb: if anything downstream needs to know the cell is marked (a formula, a filter, a report), use a typed value or a checkbox. If the mark is only for people looking at the sheet, such as greying out unavailable time slots or marking a printed form’s unused boxes, diagonal borders are the tidiest option.

Troubleshooting

• The X only shows one line. You clicked only one diagonal button. Reopen Format Cells and click the other one.
• The X is too faint. Pick a thicker line style or a darker color in the Border tab before clicking the diagonal buttons, then reapply them.
• No Border removed more than you wanted. Press Ctrl+Z to undo, then remove just the diagonals from the Border tab instead.
• A neighbouring cell picked up a border. Microsoft notes that borders on shared edges also appear on adjacent cells. This affects outside edges, not diagonals, but it can surprise you if you applied a full border preset at the same time.

A note on sources

The border, checkbox and symbol steps come from Microsoft Support; the merge tip and Draw Border approach come from independent tutorial sites, and the strikethrough shortcut from third-party guides. Where those sources couldn’t be cross-checked against Microsoft (the Mac strikethrough shortcut and which formatting options appear in Excel for the web), I’ve said so above.