Corrupted text generator
Text that looks like a damaged file: letters struck through and overwritten rather than decorated. For video edits, ARG clues, glitch-art captions and fake error screens.
Controls the density of accent marks stacked above each character.
Controls the density of strikethrough-style marks. These are the marks most likely to render as boxes on old devices — keep this low if you need the text to be widely readable.
Controls the density of marks stacked below each character.
At least one letter has more than 5 marks. Discord keeps only the first 5 per letter when you send it, so it will trim this: see our Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp and Slack test.
Style mockup, not a live embed — actual rendering can vary by device and app version.
Instant Glitch Presets
Why the through slider leads here
The through zone holds the marks that cross the letter: strokes, slashes and overlays (U+0334 to U+0338), wide marks that bridge two letters (U+035C to U+0362) and the ring of commas U+0489. They make a word look overwritten or half-deleted instead of decorated, which is the difference between corrupted text and the dripping creepy style.
So this page starts with through at 45 (1 to 6 marks per letter) and above and below at 30 (1 to 4 each). A letter carries 3 to 14 marks, averaging 8.5. That suits a caption, an edit or an image, and is too heavy for a username.
Three levels of damage
• Signal noise, 0/30/0: through marks only, 1 to 4 per letter. The word reads normally with strokes across it. It is the one corrupted look that stays inside the 5-marks-per-letter limit Discord applied in our chat app test, so use it for Discord messages.
• Corrupted file, 30/45/30 (this page's start): letters partly overwritten but still readable at caption size.
• Total loss, 70/90/70 and up: the base letters disappear under the marks. Use it for the word that is meant to be unrecoverable, and keep a clean version nearby if anyone needs to read it.
Corrupting part of a message
Damage reads as damage when most of the message is intact. The tool marks every letter you type and leaves spaces clean, so for a partly broken line, type only the damaged words, copy them, and paste them into your clean sentence.
For ARG clues, one detail matters: the original letters are never changed. Each letter is followed by its marks, so anyone who removes the combining marks (Unicode categories Mn and Me) gets your exact words back. That makes corrupted text a disguise, not encryption. If a clue needs to be hidden, hide it some other way.
Frequently asked questions
Can corrupted text actually corrupt a file or harm a device?
No. It is ordinary Unicode text: your letters followed by combining marks. It cannot run code or change files. The only side effect is visual. In apps where lines don't grow taller, heavy marks spill over the text above and below, which is what WhatsApp chat bubbles did in our test.
How do I get the original words back from corrupted text?
Delete the combining marks. The letters underneath are unchanged, so any tool that strips Unicode marks (categories Mn and Me) returns the plain text, with the same spelling and spacing. Code for it is in how to remove zalgo text.
What is the difference between distorted, garbled and corrupted text?
They are points on one scale, not different techniques. Distorted or garbled text keeps the word recognisable: through at 20 or lower. Corrupted text pushes through to 40 or more so the strokes start covering the letters. Unreadable text pushes all three sliders high.
How do I use corrupted text in a video edit?
Paste it into your editor's title tool, or use the Download PNG button and place the image instead. Use the image if the editor's text tool doesn't stack the marks properly; the PNG export looks the same in every editor.