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Zalgo (Glitch) Text Generator
Type normal text and get a glitched Zalgo version built from Unicode combining marks, with full control over intensity and direction.
Z̯͈̝͍ͦa҉̅ͭ͢͜l̻̂̽̔͗g̷̭̜̗͒o̟̪̠͛ͫ t̪̗̜̓͌e̪͇̻ͦͥx̢̞ͯ̏ͅt̫͕͐ͤ̽
55 characters including marks
Some platforms strip combining marks, so pasted Zalgo text may appear plain there.
Works in your browser. No account needed.
Frequently asked questions
How does Zalgo text work?
It is ordinary text with Unicode combining marks stacked onto each letter. Combining marks — accents, tildes, dots, strokes and tiny superscript letters — are designed to attach to the character before them, and fonts draw them above, through or below it. Stack five or ten on every letter and the text appears to bleed and glitch. The letters underneath are still real text, which is why it can be copied and pasted like any other.
What do the Up, Middle and Down toggles do?
They choose which marks are used. Up marks stack above the letter and make the text tower; Middle marks strike through it, including overlays like slashes and tildes; Down marks hang below and make it drip. Down-only text stays readable and survives tight line spacing best, while Up-only text is the most likely to be clipped by the line above. Turning all three off returns the plain text.
Why does my Zalgo text look plain or cut off on some sites?
Many platforms strip or limit combining marks to keep pages readable, especially in usernames, display names and bios, so the text can arrive without the glitch. Others keep the marks but clip anything that rises or falls outside the line, cutting the tall stacks short. Chat messages and comments usually keep the effect better than name fields; if a site strips it, lower intensities sometimes get through.
How much does Zalgo add to the character count?
A lot: every mark is a character. At intensity 5, “Hello” becomes 30 characters — 5 letters plus 25 marks — and at 15 it becomes 80. Spaces get no marks. The counter under the output shows the total, which matters on sites with limits, such as a 32-character Discord nickname or a 280-character post, where a short glitched phrase fills the limit quickly.
Why do I get a different result each time?
The marks are picked at random for every letter, so the same text and settings give a new pattern whenever you change something or press Regenerate. If you like a particular version, copy it before editing — there is no way to get the exact same random mix back.
Is Zalgo text accessible?
Not very. Screen readers may read out the marks, skip the word, or stumble over it, and heavy Zalgo is hard for anyone to read. Use it for short decorative touches — a spooky username, a horror-game title, a Halloween post — rather than for information people need to read.
About this tool
Zalgo text — also called glitch, creepy or cursed text — is the corrupted look of letters that seem to melt, drip and tower, named after an internet horror meme from the 2000s. This generator attaches random Unicode combining marks to every letter you type: from 1 per character for a subtle shimmer to 15 for full corruption. Because the output is real Unicode text rather than an image, it pastes into Discord, YouTube and Reddit comments, most chat apps, documents and many profile fields.
The marks come from three groups. Up marks include accents, dots, rings, carons and tiny superscript letters (a, e, i, o, u and others); Middle marks include strokes and slashes that cross the letter, hooks and cedillas, and double marks that bridge two letters; Down marks include dots, rings, lines and bridges that hang underneath. Mixing all three gives the classic chaotic look; one direction alone gives a more controlled style, such as text that only drips downward.
Worked example: “run” at intensity 3 with all directions on becomes 12 characters — each letter followed by three randomly chosen marks. The same word at intensity 12 is 39 characters and barely readable. A good range for readable-but-creepy is 2 to 5; above 8 the letters disappear under the marks on most fonts.
Developers use Zalgo too: it is a classic stress test for input fields, databases, truncation and rendering, since heavily combined text breaks naive length checks and can overflow line boxes. Pasting a sample into your own form quickly shows whether it trims, rejects or displays such input sensibly. The generator runs in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded.