How to Create Glitch Text (Zalgo Text)

Glitch text — also called Zalgo text — creates a corrupted, distorted look by stacking Unicode combining marks over your letters. Here is how it works and how to create it.

Published September 1, 2026 · 5 min read

What is glitch text?

Glitch text (Zalgo text) is styled text that appears corrupted, distorted, or "glitchy." It looks like the characters are breaking apart or malfunctioning. This effect is popular in horror-themed content, gaming communities, and alternative culture aesthetics.

How glitch text works technically

Glitch text uses Unicode combining diacritical marks. These are special characters designed to attach to a base character, adding accents or marks above or below it. Unicode provides hundreds of combining marks in several blocks:

  • Combining Diacritical Marks (U+0300–U+036F) — basic accents like grave, acute, tilde
  • Combining Diacritical Marks Extended (U+1AB0–U+1AFF) — additional accent variants
  • Combining Half Marks (U+FE20–U+FE2F) — half-character combining marks

When you stack multiple combining marks on a single base character, they overlap and create visual noise. The more marks you stack, the more corrupted the character appears.

Example

The letter "H" with glitch effect:

  • Base: H
  • With 3 combining marks: H̎̊̃
  • With 10 combining marks: H̡̢̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̣̤
  • With 20 combining marks: H̡̢̧̨̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̣̤̥̦̩̪̫̬̭̮̯

The base letter remains "H", but the combining marks create the distorted appearance.

Creating glitch text yourself

Method 1: Use a generator

The easiest way is to use The Divine Writer's Glitch Text Generator. Type your text, and the tool automatically applies the right number of combining marks for a clean glitch effect.

Method 2: Manual approach

If you want to create glitch text manually, you can copy combining characters from a Unicode reference and paste them after each letter in your text. Each combining mark modifies the character before it, so adding multiple marks creates the stacked, corrupted look.

Controlling the intensity

The intensity of glitch text depends on how many combining marks are stacked on each character:

  • Light glitch — 2-5 combining marks per character. Subtle distortion, still readable.
  • Medium glitch — 5-10 combining marks. Noticeable corruption, partially readable.
  • Heavy glitch — 10-20+ combining marks. Maximum distortion, barely readable.

Where glitch text works

  • Discord — display names, server names, and messages
  • Instagram — bios and captions
  • TikTok — display names and captions
  • Gaming platforms — usernames and clan tags
  • Messaging apps — WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage

Best practices

  • Use sparingly — glitch text is attention-grabbing, but too much is unreadable
  • Test on mobile — some devices may render combining marks differently
  • Keep key text readable — if people need to read it, use light glitch only
  • Match the aesthetic — glitch text works best for horror, gaming, and alternative content

Try it now

Create your own glitch text at The Divine Writer's Cursed Text Generator. Type any text and see the glitch effect instantly. Copy the result and paste it anywhere that supports Unicode.