Glitch Text Generator

What is glitch / Zalgo text?

Glitch text (also called 'Zalgo' text, after a 2004 internet meme) works by stacking Unicode combining marks on top of normal letters. Combining marks are characters that attach to the preceding base character — familiar examples include accents (é, ü, ñ) and diacritics. The Unicode standard includes over 700 combining marks across ranges like U+0300–U+036F (Combining Diacritical Marks) and U+0489 (Combining Cyrillic Millions Sign, a favourite for heavy glitch effects).

Normally, a letter gets at most one or two combining marks. Zalgo text stacks dozens — above, below, and through the letter — creating a visual overflow that looks like digital corruption, a broken screen, or supernatural disturbance.

Crucially, all this remains searchable, copyable text. There are no images involved — the 'corrupted' appearance is produced entirely by the rendering engine being overwhelmed by valid combining characters.

We offer three corruption levels:

• Light — subtle distortion; readable and safe for most platforms • Medium — obvious glitch effect; draws attention without breaking chat layouts • Heavy — full Zalgo; extreme visual corruption; use only where it fits aesthetically

Because combining marks are real characters, they count toward character limits. A heavily glitched word may be 5–10× the byte length of the original text.

How to use glitch text on Discord, TikTok & horror content

Discord: Zalgo text has deep roots in Discord culture. Use it for usernames, status messages, and horror or creepypasta server aesthetics. Most current Discord clients handle heavy Zalgo without crashing. However, many server bots use auto-moderation rules that strip or flag heavy combining marks — check server rules before using heavy glitch in community messages.

TikTok: this is where glitch text goes viral. Horror, mystery, creepypasta, and 'what did I just read' content thrives on TikTok. Captions with light-to-medium glitch on a key word draw the eye immediately, and comments with heavy glitch stand out in a thread.

Instagram aesthetic content: dark, Gothic, and horror-themed Instagram accounts use medium glitch on bio lines and captions. The visual corruption adds authenticity to horror art, dark poetry, and alternative aesthetics. Use medium level — heavy glitch can push a bio or caption below the viewport fold.

Twitter / X: glitch text works in tweets and bios. Twitter sometimes normalises heavy Zalgo by stripping excess combining marks on submission — use medium level for reliable results.

Reddit: works in post titles and comments on most Reddit clients. Old.reddit may render combining marks poorly; new Reddit and the mobile app handle them correctly.

What to avoid: never use glitch text in any context where accessibility matters. Heavy combining marks are unreadable to screen readers and text-to-speech tools. Avoid on LinkedIn, in professional emails, or anywhere the text carries important information rather than aesthetic intent.

Where glitch text works

Pro tips

• Combining marks stack indefinitely — the more marks per letter, the more 'cursed' it looks.
• Screen readers announce every combining mark. Never use glitch text in accessibility-critical places.
• Some paste targets (email clients, PDFs) strip combining marks. Test before you commit.

Frequently asked questions