Cursed Text Generator
Zalgo glitch text with an adjustable curse level.
Where it works
| Platform | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Discord | Renders at every level. Tall stacks may overlap the line above. |
| Telegram | Renders fully. |
| Renders fully. | |
| TikTok bio | Renders; very tall stacks are clipped. |
| Accepted in bios and captions; heavy stacking is trimmed. | |
| X | Some marks are stripped at high levels. |
| Usernames | Often rejected. Use a low level or plain text. |
Cursed Text, Zalgo and Glitch Text — How It Works
Cursed text — also called Zalgo text or glitch text — is normal writing buried under so many Unicode combining marks that it appears to be corrupting. T̵h̶i̴s̵ ̶i̵s̴ ̶c̵u̶r̴s̵e̶d̵. Type into the box above, drag the curse level, and copy the result.
What is actually happening
Unicode has a category of characters called combining diacritical marks — accents that attach to the letter before them. In normal use you get one: é, ü, ñ. Nothing in the standard says you cannot apply forty. Stack enough above and below a letter and the glyphs overflow their line, spilling into the text around them. That overflow is the entire effect. Nothing is broken and nothing is corrupted; it is ordinary text behaving exactly as specified, just pushed far past what anyone intended.
Where the name Zalgo comes from
Zalgo began as a 2004 internet horror meme about an entity that corrupts whatever it touches. Posts written “in Zalgo” used stacked diacritics to make the text itself look possessed, and the technique kept the name long after the meme faded. Today most people who use it have never heard of the original — it is just “cursed text”.
Choosing a curse level
Levels 1 to 2 stay readable and work almost anywhere — good for a username or a bio line that needs an edge without becoming unreadable. Levels 3 to 5 are the classic look most people want. Levels 6 to 8 are unreadable on purpose, which is the point for horror posts and shock replies, but they will overflow line spacing badly and some apps will clip them.
Where cursed text works and where it breaks
Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp, TikTok bios and most forums render it fine. Instagram accepts it in bios and captions but clips very tall stacks. X/Twitter strips some marks at high levels. A handful of platforms remove combining marks entirely as an anti-abuse measure — there, your text simply arrives clean, which is a graceful failure rather than a broken one. If a platform rejects it, drop the level and try again before assuming it cannot be done.
A note on using it responsibly
Very heavy cursed text can make a chat thread hard to read for everyone, and screen readers will attempt to pronounce every mark, which is genuinely unpleasant for anyone using one. Keep the extreme levels for your own posts rather than group conversations.
Related tools
For readable spookiness, the Gothic style in the Fancy Text Generator gets the mood without the mess. Upside down text is a gentler kind of wrong, and creepy faces pair well with cursed captions.
FAQ
What is a cursed text generator?
A tool that stacks Unicode combining marks onto your text so it appears to glitch or melt. The result is still plain text and can be pasted anywhere.
What is Zalgo text?
Zalgo text is the same thing under its original name, from a 2004 horror meme in which stacked diacritics made writing look corrupted.
Is cursed text safe to paste?
Yes. It is ordinary Unicode. At worst a platform strips the marks and your plain text arrives instead.
Why does my cursed text get cut off?
Tall stacks overflow the line height, and some apps clip them. Lower the curse level for a shorter stack.
How do I make glitch text?
Type into the box above and drag the level slider. Glitch text, cursed text and Zalgo text are three names for the same technique.
Can I use cursed text in a username?
Often yes at low levels. Many platforms reject heavy stacking in usernames while allowing it in bios and posts.