Zalgo Text Generator

Turn text into cursed, glitchy Zalgo text and copy it with one click.

Zalgo text
40%
Type or paste text and it turns into Zalgo text as you type. Set the intensity, choose where the marks go, and press Re-roll for a different scramble of the same text.

About the Zalgo Text Generator

What is Zalgo text?

Zalgo text is ordinary text with Unicode combining marks piled above, through and below each letter.

The marks pile up until the text looks glitchy or cursed. Combining marks are the accents Unicode adds to a letter, such as the acute in é. Nothing in the standard limits how many can follow one letter, so a generator piles them on until the text spills into the lines around it. The result is still plain text, which is why it pastes almost anywhere.

Facts worth knowing before you paste

  • Zalgo text is not a font. It is normal letters followed by extra characters, so it needs nothing installed and survives copy and paste.
  • The marks come from one Unicode block. Combining Diacritical Marks, U+0300 to U+036F, holds 112 characters, and this tool uses 107 of them.
  • Every mark counts as a character. Two short words can grow from 8 characters to 40 or more, which matters in a bio or a username field with a limit.
  • The name comes from a 2004 creepypasta. A Something Awful forum member posted image macros of glitched cartoon characters shouting Zalgo, and the distorted lettering took the name.
  • It is also called cursed text, glitch text or demonic text. The technique is the same under every name.

How to make Zalgo text

  1. Type or paste your text. The Zalgo version appears on the right as you type.
  2. Set the intensity. Light keeps words readable, Medium is the usual look, Heavy spills over the lines, and Void buries the letters.
  3. Choose where the marks go. Above, Through and Below can be turned on and off separately.
  4. Press Re-roll for a different scramble. The marks are picked at random, and Re-roll draws a new set without changing your settings.
  5. Copy or download the result. Emoji and accented letters in your text stay intact.

Example

This text will be converted to Zalgo text with marks above, through and below the letters. The intensity is Medium and all three positions are on:

Input: plain text
HE COMES
Output: Zalgo text
H̴̸͓̭̓ͅȨ̛̿ͪ C̝̒͢O̥ͯM̧͓͈̹̟̐Ę̨͍́̎ͨSͭͣ͊ͭ̀

Those 8 characters became 40, and 32 of them are marks. Slide the intensity to Void and the same two words need 79 characters, 71 of them marks.

Zalgo marks cheat sheet

Three groups of marks make the effect. The table shows a few from each group on the letter o.

The three groups of combining marks used for Zalgo text
PositionMarks usedExamples on the letter oWhat they do
Above50o̍ o̎ ō o̅ o̿ ȏ ŏ o̐ o͒ o͗Stack upward into the line above
Through17o̕ ơ ò ó o͘ o̡ o̢ o̧ ǫ o̴Cross the letter or attach to its side
Below40o̖ o̗ o̘ o̙ o̜ o̝ o̞ o̟ o̠ o̤Hang downward into the line below

Where Zalgo text works

Any field that accepts Unicode text will store Zalgo text. What you see afterwards depends on the app that draws it. Browsers stack the marks as intended. Some apps clip them to the line height, and a few strip combining marks from usernames or titles.

Paste a short sample first. If the marks show up, the rest will too, and if a field has a character limit, the count next to the output tells you what the Zalgo version will cost.

Common mistakes

  • Treating it as a font. There is nothing to install or select. The marks travel with the text.
  • Pasting Void into a name field. Fields with a character limit count every mark, so even a short name can go over.
  • Breaking emoji. Some generators push marks between the two halves of an emoji and it turns into two broken symbols. This one leaves emoji untouched.
  • Sending heavy Zalgo where it reads as spam. Text that spills over other lines gets removed in some communities. Use Light or Medium in chats.

Common Use Cases

Zalgo text has a narrow job:

  • Horror and Halloween posts. A caption or a story title in Medium or Heavy sets the mood without an image.
  • Bios and display names. Light keeps a name readable while it still looks wrong in the right way.
  • Memes and creepypasta. The classic use, from HE COMES onward.
  • Testing input handling. Developers paste it into forms to see how a field, a database or a renderer copes with stacked combining marks.

For other styles of decorated text, the Small Text Generator and the Upside Down Text Generator swap each character for a lookalike instead of stacking marks on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you make Zalgo text?

Type or paste text into the generator, set the intensity, and copy the result. Each letter gets random combining marks from the Unicode block U+0300 to U+036F, so no font or app is needed.

Is Zalgo text a font?

No. It is ordinary letters followed by stacked combining marks, so it pastes into any field that accepts Unicode text and needs nothing installed.

Why is Zalgo text banned in some places?

Heavy Zalgo spills over neighboring lines and can flood a chat, so some communities delete it. Whether it is allowed is the platform's or the moderator's call, so test a short sample first.

Is Zalgo text a virus?

No. It is plain Unicode text and cannot run anything, but very heavy Zalgo can slow or freeze text rendering in some apps, which is why it is sometimes mistaken for malware.

How do I remove Zalgo text?

Switch to Remove Zalgo marks and paste the text. The tool strips every combining mark and keeps normally typed accented letters such as é, so you can copy the clean result.

Is Zalgo text copyrighted?

No. The marks are part of the Unicode standard and the technique is not owned by anyone, so you can use the text freely.