Glitch Text Generator

Glitch text

Glitch text, often called Zalgo text, adds Unicode combining marks above, below and through each base character so ordinary words look corrupted. Use it for usernames, captions, horror posts, stream overlays or game chats. Choose an intensity from light static to chaotic overflow, then copy the result as real Unicode text.

How to make glitch text

  1. 1

    Enter text

    Type or paste the words you want to distort. Latin letters give the most predictable Zalgo effect, but Unicode input is accepted.

  2. 2

    Choose intensity

    Pick 1 to 6 combining marks per character. Lower values stay readable; higher values spill above and below the line.

  3. 3

    Generate variants

    The generator attaches random marks from the Unicode combining diacritics range, so each run can look slightly different.

  4. 4

    Copy with care

    Paste the result into apps that preserve Unicode and keep a plain-text backup for places that strip formatting.

How Zalgo text works

Zalgo text is not a font, image or special keyboard. It is normal text followed by combining diacritical marks from the Unicode range U+0300–U+036F. Those marks attach to the previous character, so one visible letter can be made from a base code point plus several extra code points stacked above, below or across it.

Because the result is still text, you can copy it into many apps. Because the result also contains many extra marks, some platforms may normalize, trim or reject it, especially in usernames and form fields.

Intensity guide

Setting Marks per character Best use Visual result
1 1 Bios, short labels, light decoration Mostly readable with a small shimmer
2–3 2–3 Memes, captions, stream titles Classic glitch text with visible noise
4–6 4–6 Short horror lines or username flair Heavy Zalgo that can overflow line height

Compatibility and accessibility

  • Usually works: Discord, Reddit, YouTube descriptions, Notion, VS Code and most modern browsers.
  • May be cleaned up: usernames, SMS gateways, form fields that normalize Unicode, printed PDFs and apps with strict line-height.
  • Scripts and emoji: Latin letters are the most predictable. Emoji and complex scripts can make the marks float, split or appear beside the glyph.
  • Screen readers: assistive technology may announce the base character and each combining mark. Avoid glitch text in navigation, legal text or anything meant to be read aloud.

Practical tips

Keep heavy Zalgo short. A single word can look great; a whole paragraph becomes hard to read and may break layouts. Keep one clean copy of your original text nearby, especially for profile names, game handles and campaign titles where you may need to remove the marks later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Combining marks stack visually without increasing the line height. Once several marks sit on the same character, they can protrude into neighbouring lines. Tight headings, chat messages and profile fields show the overlap first.

It is valid Unicode, but each platform decides what to allow. Posts usually keep it, while usernames, ads, SMS and moderated forms may strip the marks or reject the text. Use lower intensity when readability matters.

You can try, but results vary. Combining marks were designed to attach to characters, and fonts handle them differently. Latin letters usually produce the cleanest Zalgo effect; emoji, Arabic, Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean text can look uneven.

Keep a plain copy before you generate. If you only have the glitched version, use a Unicode-aware cleaner that removes combining marks, or paste into an editor that can strip diacritics.

The tool does not create a saved document or publish your input. Avoid entering passwords, private keys or sensitive personal details in decorative text tools, especially when text appears in a page URL or request.

Related Tools