Zalgo text generator
The classic "cursed" internet-meme text effect, with actual control over how far it goes.
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.
Style mockup, not a live embed — actual rendering can vary by device and app version.
Where "zalgo" comes from
Zalgo is a mid-2000s internet horror meme — a formless, "corrupting" entity whose name became attached to text that looks glitched or possessed, stacked with visual noise. The name stuck to the technique itself: Unicode combining marks piled onto normal characters until the text reads as broken or cursed.
This generator defaults to a heavier preset than the plain glitch tool, since "zalgo" searches usually want the more extreme, classic look — but every slider is still fully open, so you can pull it back if you need the text to stay readable.
Frequently asked questions
What is zalgo text?
Text with Unicode combining marks stacked on it to look corrupted or cursed, named after a mid-2000s internet horror meme.
Is zalgo text a virus or malicious code?
No. It is plain Unicode text — there is no executable code involved, regardless of how chaotic it looks.
Why does heavy zalgo text sometimes get cut off?
Some apps limit fields by byte count rather than character count. Heavy "through" intensity adds the most bytes per character — lower that slider first if text is getting trimmed.