Mail strike through keyboard shortcut

I came here searching for an answer to the same problem. This thread was the first hit in Google. Fortunately, the second result has the answer. See this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4250591?answerId=19432338022#19432338022

A user named paikinator posted this:

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Make your strikethrough a simple keystroke:

1. Create a word with a strikethrough using Format->Font->Show Fonts to bring up the font inspector as Marko said. Highlight a word and apply the desired strikethrough.

2. Next, using the highlighted word you used the strikethough on..... Select Format->Font->Copy Style (option-command-C)

3. Apply your strikethrough as often and wherever you want to using the simple keystroke (option-command-V)

Note: This doesn't preclude you from copying and pasting text too and from the clipboard at will.

The Style will remain in the clipboard until you. Any text you copy paste can be changed without interfering with the style.

sidenote: not sure if the style will stay if you close notes, but I always have mine open so strikethrough is always available by keystroke. No more surfing through menus every time.

I can even apply strikethough to other text such as in stickies after copying the style!!! Haven't tested it with all apps however.

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I've tried it and it worked in Notes and Mail.

The latest OS (10.11 El Capitan) finally fixes this issue forever: it actually added a "Make text strikethrough" button in the menu tab of each email. No more having to open up the Fonts window, etc etc.

Yay for small upgrades. (see attached image)

The GUI scripting solution that I alluded too earlier worked in Mavericks, but no longer works on Yosemite. Not much surprise there.

The simplest solution (before El Capitan Mail) has already been mentioned: command-T. If you want red strike-through, choose the color from the strike-through menu before applying the strike-through itself.

And if one cannot be bothered with mere command-T as a solution, and prior to installation of released El Capitan, I wrote an AppleScript and shell script combination that messages the clipboard RTF text, and inserts a strike-through in the selected text. I built this into an Automator Service, and as you know, a keyboard shortcut can be assigned. This solution works on Mavericks and Yosemite 10.10.4 and completely eliminates the breakage of GUI scripting.

Usage: Simply select the text for the strike-through (ensure there is whitespace behind the selection), and it will be automatically copied to the clipboard, a strike-through applied in the RTF clipboard content, and pasted back into your text selection.

Here is the Automator Service workflow:

Open a new TextEdit document, and from the format menu, choose make plain text (if you don't have a programmer's editor), and copy/paste the following Bash script into it. Save it, and change its location accordingly in the Automator AppleScript accordingly.

#!/bin/bash

#

# rtf_strike.sh

#

# get the raw RTF code from the clipboard, retaining all of the original

# copied selection characteristics (e.g. font, color, size, etc.). Use Perl to

# massage the RTF code, and sed to insert the RTF strikethrough operator

# to produce the strike-through effect on the original selection. Toss it

# back on the clipboard when done.

# Reference

## stackoverflow dot com/questions/2545289/getting-rtf-data-out-of-mac-os-x-pasteboard-clipboard

/usr/bin/osascript -e 'the clipboard as «class RTF »' | \

/usr/bin/perl -ne 'print chr foreach unpack("C*",pack("H*",substr($_,11,-3)))' | \

/usr/bin/sed -e 's/\\cf/\\strike\\cf/;$s/}$/\\strike0}/g' | /usr/bin/pbcopy

exit 0

VikingOSX wrote:

That GUI script solution now (haha) breaks in Yosemite 10.10.4.

You're right, as always. However, my previous version of a GUI script can be updated for Yosemite 10.10.4 as follows :

tell application "Mail"

activate

repeat until frontmost is true

end repeat

end tell

tell application "System Events"

tell process "Mail"

set flag to (window "Fonts" exists)

if not flag then

keystroke "t" using {command down}

repeat until window "Fonts" exists

end repeat

end if

tell menu button 1 of group 3 of toolbar 1 of window "Fonts"

click

clickmenu item 2 of menu 1

end tell

if not flag then keystroke "t" using {command down}

end tell

end tell

And, again, just replacing “click menu item 2 of menu 1” with “click menu item 1 of menu 1” in the above script, you could easily write another script that would remove strikethrough.

Hi there! I implemented the shortcut, just as Leon suggested, and it works just as he said: in TextEdit, but not in Mail (or Notes, where I would actually like to have it). Anyone know of a way to get the strike-through shortcut working in Notes?

As with Leon the original poster, I've searched for a keyboard shortcut in Mail for Strike-through for years. I can say with fair certainty, it doesn't exist 🙂.

I've tried using Macro programs (such as QuicKeys) and a couple other hacks for creating keyboard shortcuts in Lion and Mountain Lion. It's absolutely a no go.

The only way is still manual: going into the Fonts window and hand-selecting the strike-through each time.

I was thinking of giving AppleScript / automator a try, or did you try it yet?

What is this sorcery to which you speak?

I wish I knew AppleScript, but don't. I'm just a lowly user, thus the reliance on things like QuickBooks. Even Automator baffles me.

If you come up with a solution, definitely post it. I'd love to hit a keystroke to create a strike-through.

Hi, sorry didn't test it.

I use Scapple as a notepad / ledger for my to do's and list and so on. I was looking for a strikethrough shortcut for that. And there it works :-).

Actually it does different things in different apps, funny.

Time shifter—thank you. That truly is the next best thing. I can't understand why the Mac—the one platform that was made for copy writing, editing, design and all things creative—doesn't have a global keyboard shortcut for strikethrough, or a way to make it so.

But this will work for the time being, because as much as I use CMD-V and CMD-SHIFT-OPT-V, for some reason I never used CMD-OPT-V before. This will do nicely.

Thanks again!

You could use a GUI applescript to automate the whole process of bringing up the Fonts window (⌘T) and selecting strike-through from the menu button. Then you could use FastScripts (free for 10 keyboard shortcuts) to make it possible to call the script with a shortcut.

Command-T brings up the Fonts window and strike-through is available there.

<Image Edited by Host>