X keeps these characters as typed, in a post, in a bio and in the display name at the top of your profile. There is no formatting toolbar to fight with, because the styling is in the characters themselves. That is also why it survives a quote post, an embed on someone else's site and a screenshot of a search result.

The @handle is the one field that will not take it. Handles allow letters, numbers and underscores only, and the field rejects everything else as you type. The display name beside the handle is a content field, so that is where styled text goes. This is the split people run into: they try the handle, it fails, and they assume the generator is broken. The generator is fine, the field is validating.

X renders combining marks well, so strikethrough, underline, overline, slashed and glitch all work here, unlike on Instagram or WhatsApp. Bold, sans bold, italic, monospace, cursive, gothic, outline and small caps are the dependable picks for a bio or a display name. Heavy glitch is better left in a post than a display name, where a tall stack of marks overlaps the line above it in a crowded timeline.

Safest styles here

Bold 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 Italic 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡 Bold italic 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒙𝒕 Sans bold 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 Sans serif 𝖲𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 Monospace 𝚂𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚡𝚝 Strikethrough S̶a̶m̶p̶l̶e̶ t̶e̶x̶t̶ Underline S̲a̲m̲p̲l̲e̲ t̲e̲x̲t̲

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to what people ask us most

Why can I not use a fancy font in my @handle?

Handles accept letters, numbers and underscores and nothing else, and the field validates every character before it will save. Use your display name instead. It sits next to the handle and takes styled text.

Does styled text work in posts on X?

Yes. Posts, replies, the bio and the display name all keep styled characters after you send them. Quote posts and embeds keep them too.

Does strikethrough work on X?

It does. X draws combining marks correctly across web and mobile, so strikethrough, underline, overline and slashed all hold. Those styles also keep the real letters underneath, so the text stays searchable.

Will a styled post still show up in search?

Only for the marked styles. Bold, cursive, gothic and the enclosed styles replace each letter with a different character, so a search for the plain word will not find them. Keep keywords and handles plain and style the surrounding words.