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Zalgo Text Generator
Turn ordinary words into creepy, glitched, haunted-looking text. This free zalgo text generator stacks Unicode combining marks above, below, and through every letter you type, so "hello" comes out looking corrupted by some digital curse. Pick an intensity from mild to extreme, choose which directions the marks go, and copy the result to paste into a bio, a post, a username, or a Halloween message.
How it works
Zalgo text is a trick built on a real feature of Unicode. Most letters are single characters, but Unicode also has combining diacritics: small marks that do not take up their own space and instead attach to the character before them. An accent such as the mark in é is a combining character. Zalgo takes that idea to an extreme by attaching not one mark but many — a dozen or more — to every letter, some above, some below, and some straight through the middle. The marks pile up until the text looks like it is glitching, dripping, or possessed.
This generator uses three sets of combining marks. The marks above the letter come from Unicode range U+0300–U+036F, including accents, tildes, dots, and hooks that stack upward. The marks below come from U+0316–U+0333, including underlines, dots, and hooks that hang underneath. The marks through the middle come from U+035C–U+0362, the strikethrough-style marks that cut across the letter. Because every mark is a genuine Unicode character, the result is plain text: you can copy it, paste it, and send it anywhere text works.
The intensity slider controls how many marks each letter receives. At intensity 1 or 2, each letter gets one or two marks, which looks spooky but stays readable — good for a username or a display name. In the middle, around 5, each letter gets a handful of marks, which is the classic zalgo look: clearly glitched, still readable if you squint. At 9 or 10, each letter can carry more than a dozen marks, and the text becomes a towering mess that overflows its lines — fun for a Halloween post, unreadable for anything serious. The presets set the slider for you: mild is 2, medium is 5, and extreme is 9.
The direction controls let you shape the glitch. Turning off the marks above keeps the mess below the line, which reads a little better. Turning off the marks below keeps the mess above, which looks like the text is dissolving upward. The middle marks cut through the letters themselves and are the ones that make text look struck through or corrupted. Cursed mode applies marks to spaces and punctuation too, so even the gaps between words glitch. Every change updates the preview live, and the copy button puts the exact transformed text on your clipboard.
Marks are combining characters U+0300–U+036F
Worked example
Type the word hello and leave the intensity on medium (5), with all three mark directions on.
Step 1: The generator reads the five letters h, e, l, l, o.
Step 2: For each letter it picks a random set of marks: a few above, one or two through the middle, and a few below. The h might get three marks above, one through the middle, and two below.
Step 3: The five letters plus their marks are joined into one string. The result is 5 visible letters but far more characters — the output is typically 30 to 50 code points long, and every letter carries at least one combining mark from the U+0300–U+036F range.
Step 4: The preview shows the glitched word, and the copy-ready box holds the exact text. Press Copy Result and paste it into a post or bio.
Try the same word at intensity 2 and the output stays short and readable, with only one or two marks per letter. At intensity 10 the same five letters explode into a tall stack of marks that overlaps the lines above and below. The word is still "hello" underneath — a screen reader and a search box see the plain letters — but to the human eye it looks properly cursed.
FAQ
What is zalgo text?
Zalgo text is normal text covered in Unicode combining diacritics — tiny marks that stack above, below, and through each letter instead of sitting beside it. The marks pile up so high and low that the text looks glitched, corrupted, or haunted. It started as an internet creepypasta joke in the late 2000s and is now used for spooky usernames, Halloween posts, and memes.
How does the zalgo generator work?
It adds combining characters from the Unicode ranges U+0300 to U+036F to every letter you type. Marks above the letter come from one set, marks below from another, and marks through the middle from a third. The intensity slider controls how many marks each letter gets: mild adds one or two, medium adds a handful, and extreme stacks so many that the text becomes a tall glitchy mess.
Where can I paste zalgo text?
Almost anywhere that accepts Unicode text: social media bios and posts, chat apps, usernames, comments, and documents. Most modern platforms render combining marks correctly. A few older systems, some games, and some username fields strip or block them, so if the marks disappear in one place, try a milder intensity or a different app.
Is zalgo text readable by screen readers?
Not well. Screen readers read the base letters, but the stacked combining marks are usually ignored or read as noise, and extreme zalgo can be very hard to read for anyone. Keep zalgo to short jokes, names, and decorations, and never use it for important information that someone must be able to read.
Does zalgo text work on phones?
Yes, on most modern phones. iOS and Android both render combining diacritics, so zalgo text shows up in messages, bios, and posts on a phone just as it does on a computer. Very extreme zalgo can make lines overlap or push text off the screen on small displays, so the medium setting usually looks best on mobile.