Glitch Text Generator

What is glitch text?

Glitch text is text made to look like the screen is failing: letters streaked, smeared and half overwritten, like a corrupted file or a video signal dropping out. A mild version looks like this: s͇͒͝i̘̍̂g͛͐ͅn͚ͥ͏ą̳̝l͉̳̾ l͕ͫ͠o͓ͩ͞s̖̋̀t̻̰͆.

The look comes from glitch art, where digital errors are used on purpose as a style: a damaged image file, a video that skips, a worn-out VHS tape. Here the “errors” are small Unicode marks attached to each letter. They are real characters, so what you get is glitch text to copy and paste, not a picture.

How to use the glitch text generator

• Type: enter your text in the box, up to 1,000 characters.
• Set the strength: in the Make it your own panel, drag the How glitchy slider from 1 (subtle) to 20 (chaos). It starts at 6.
• Aim the marks: three checkboxes, Above, Through and Below, decide where the marks land. Untick one to keep that side of the letters clean.
• Shuffle: the same settings with a fresh random set of marks. Tap it until the shape looks right.
• Copy: tap Copy next to your result, or tap any of the six ready-made styles underneath.

The six glitch styles on this page

Light, regular and heavy glitch are one effect at three fixed strengths. Wavy strikethrough and slashed are the tidy options: a single mark per letter, so the text never grows taller than its line. These six rows do not change with the slider. For anything in between, use the panel.

How glitchy should it be? Picking a strength you can read

With all three boxes ticked, the slider number is the most marks a letter can get above it, and the same again below. Each letter gets at least half that many. A rough guide:

The examples are set to 2, 6, 12, 20. The last one is cut off by its box, which is what many apps do to tall glitch text as well. Fonts stack the marks differently, so paste your text where it will be used and look at it on a phone before you settle on a number.

Tips for glitch names people can still read

• Stay at 3 or lower. A name is read in a split second, often at a small size. Strength 6 looks great in the generator and turns into a smudge in a member list.
• Try Through only. Untick Above and Below. The marks then cross the letters or hook onto them instead of piling up, which gives a scan-line look that never leaves the line: Ņįg̶h̨t̨Ǫw̨l̸.
• Glitch one word. “Night O͖͋͡ẘͯͤl̖̋̀” reads faster than a name that is glitched from end to end.
• Pick one direction. Below only leaves the tops of the letters clean. Above only keeps the marks out of whatever is written underneath your name.
• Count the marks. Every mark is a character. “NightOwl” in Light Glitch is 32 characters: 8 letters plus 24 marks. Discord nicknames stop at 32.
• Use the name field, not the handle. Instagram, TikTok and X usernames only allow plain letters, numbers, underscores and periods, and Discord usernames only lowercase letters, numbers, underscores and periods. Glitch text goes in the display name or nickname.

Where glitch text is used

• Gaming and profile names. Display names, Discord nicknames and clan tags, usually at a low strength. Many games only accept plain letters in the name itself, so test before you commit.
• Stream and video titles. One glitched word stands out in a list of plain titles. Keep the words people search for in normal letters, because search may not match letters that carry marks.
• Discord. Nicknames, server names, channel names and messages. Go easy in busy servers: moderation bots often delete heavy glitch text as spam.
• Vaporwave-style and aesthetic titles. The spaced + glitch style spreads the letters out and adds a little static: d̶͌́ r͕͊͠ e̴̩̿ a͕͊̿ m̫̠̕. The added spaces count as characters, so it works best on a short title.
• Captions and bios. A short “o̸f̸f̸l̸i̸n̸e̸” or “l̴o̴a̴d̴i̴n̴g̴” works where the app has no formatting buttons.

Glitch text vs. a glitch effect

Two different things share the name. Glitch text is made of characters, so it can be pasted into a text field. A glitch effect in a video or image editor is made of pixels, so it can do far more but only exists as a picture or a clip.

If you want the red-and-cyan split or a title that flickers, that is an effect: make it in an editor, or with CSS animation on your own website. If you need something to paste into a name, bio or chat, you need characters, and that is what this page makes.

Glitchy, corrupted, distorted: is there a difference?

No. A glitchy text generator, a corrupted text generator and a distorted text generator all do the same thing under different names. A “glitch font” is not a font either. Nothing is installed, and the letters keep whatever typeface the app already uses. For where the older name “zalgo” comes from and how the marks work, see the Zalgo Text Generator. For spooky versions with upside-down, mixed-case and spaced-out letters, see the Cursed Text Generator.

More text tools

Need the name before you glitch it? Try the Gamertag Generator or the Username Generator. The Strikethrough Text Generator has more crossed-out styles, the Discord Text Formatter covers Discord's built-in formatting, and the Fancy Text Generator has every style on one page.

Free and private

The generator runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, there is no sign-up, and it costs nothing.