Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strike-through

This website contains links to software which is either no longer maintained or will be supported only until the end of 2019 (CKFinder 2). For the latest documentation about current CKSource projects, including software like CKEditor 4/CKEditor 5, CKFinder 3, Cloud Services, Letters, Accessibility Checker, please visit the new documentation website.

If you look for an information about very old versions of CKEditor, FCKeditor and CKFinder check also the CKEditor forum, which was closed in 2015. If not, please head to StackOverflow for support.

These four basic font styles are frequently used in both print and online documents. Due to their popularity each one of them is available under a separate toolbar button. To turn the style on, press the button or use the respective keyboard shortcut. To turn it off, use the button or a keyboard shortcut again.

To write in bold (i.e. using thicker letters), press the Bold toolbar button or use the Ctrl+B keyboard shortcut.

To write in italics (i.e. using slanted letters), press the Italic toolbar button or use the Ctrl+I keyboard shortcut.

To underline the text (i.e. draw a horizontal line underneath the letters), press the Underline toolbar button or use the Ctrl+U keyboard shortcut. Remember that the underline style will also be applied to all white space of the selected fragment.

To strike the text through (i.e. draw a horizontal line through the letters), press the Strike Through toolbar button. Remember that the strike-through style will also be applied to all white space of the selected fragment.

The bold, italics, underline and strike-through styles can be applied to the whole document, a paragraph, or a text fragment of arbitrary length — even a single letter. Do note, however, that for aesthetic and readability reasons it is recommended not to combine too many different formatting styles in one document.

Bold, italics, underline, and strike-through used in CKEditor


In CKEditor it is possible to combine these styles or use them in conjunction with other formatting methods. It is worth remembering, however, that bold, italics, underline, and strike-through often have special meaning. Strike-through, for example, is often employed to denote the recently deleted text, while underline may suggest recently inserted text or a link. Since their usage is partly standardized, it is important to use these styles consistently across your documents.

Bold, italics, underline, and strike-through combined in CKEditor
This page was last edited on 10 June 2011, at 13:30.