How to Make Glitch (Zalgo) Text

To make glitch text, type your words into a glitch text generator, set the intensity, and copy the cursed result. The glitch text generator layers chaotic marks onto your text with a slider for how intense the effect is, free and with no sign-up.

That is the quick version. Here is what is actually happening and how to control it.

What zalgo text is

Glitch text, often called zalgo, takes each letter and piles combining marks on top of it: accents, slashes and tails stacked above, through and below. The result looks corrupted, like text that is breaking apart or dripping. It suits horror themes, cursed memes, edgy usernames and anything that should feel broken on purpose.

Despite the chaos, it is built entirely from ordinary characters layered together, so it copies and pastes like normal text. How wild it looks depends on the app rendering it.

How to make glitch text

Step 1: Type your text

Enter the word or phrase you want to corrupt in the glitch text generator.

Step 2: Set the intensity

Drag the slider from a light flicker to a fully cursed, dripping mess. Lower settings stay readable; higher ones spill over the line.

Step 3: Copy and paste

Copy the result and paste it where you want the broken effect: a post, a username, a comment.

Controlling the chaos

Intensity is the dial that matters. A low setting adds a few marks for a subtle, unsettling flicker that still reads cleanly and survives most apps. A high setting buries the text in marks for maximum drama, but it overflows its line, overlaps nearby text, and is the most likely to be stripped or rejected by platforms that guard against layout-breaking input.

So match the intensity to the place. For a username or a tidy caption, keep it low. For a one-off cursed image post where overlap is the point, turn it up.

A practical caution: very heavy glitch text can be hard for some people to read and rough on screen readers, so use it as an effect rather than for anything important, and keep key information in plain text.

For another attention-grabbing trick, try the upside-down text generator, or browse every style in the fancy text generator.

Frequently asked questions

What is zalgo or glitch text?

Zalgo text stacks many combining marks above, through and below each letter, so it spills out in a chaotic, dripping mess. It is built from ordinary characters layered together, so it copies and pastes like any text, though it can look different from app to app.

Why does heavy glitch text overlap other lines?

Each letter carries dozens of stacked marks, so very intense glitch text overflows its line and overlaps the text above and below. That is part of the effect. Some sites limit how far marks extend, so it may look tamer there; lower the intensity for a cleaner result.

Will glitch text get filtered or removed?

Some platforms strip or limit heavy combining marks to stop layouts breaking, so very intense glitch text may be cut back or rejected. A moderate intensity is more likely to survive. Paste a sample to see how a given app handles it.