Zalgo Text Generator

Turn ordinary text into creepy, glitchy Zalgo text with customizable effects. Adjust the craziness level, control the direction of the marks, or pick a preset — then copy the result anywhere.

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0 characters
55

Higher values stack more glitch marks onto every character.

16

Maximum number of combining marks added at 100% craziness.

Mark Direction

Place combining marks above, through, or below each letter. Turn one off to keep the text more readable.

Effect Presets

Each preset sets the craziness level and mark directions for you.

Options

Random variation gives each character a slightly different amount of glitch.

What Is Zalgo Text?

Zalgo text is ordinary text that has been overloaded with Unicode combining marks — tiny diacritical symbols that stack above, through, and below each letter. Instead of sitting neatly on the baseline, the characters appear to bleed, melt, or vibrate. The result looks corrupted, haunted, or glitched, which is exactly why it became popular in horror-themed posts, creepypasta threads, meme captions, and glitch-art typography.

People search for it under many names: creepy text generator, glitch text generator, corrupted text generator, scary text generator, or simply Zalgo text maker. Whatever you call it, the underlying technique is the same — real Unicode characters layered on top of your original letters. Nothing is drawn, filtered, or faked with images.

How to Use the Zalgo Text Generator

  1. Type or paste your text into the Input Text box on the left.
  2. The Zalgo Output box updates instantly as you type — no button presses required.
  3. Drag the Craziness Level slider to make the effect lighter or heavier.
  4. Use the Up, Middle, and Down toggles to control where the marks appear.
  5. Click a preset if you want a one-click look, or hit Randomize Effect for a new variation.
  6. Press Copy Text and paste the result wherever you like, or download it as a .txt file.

Everything runs locally in your browser. You can also use the tool as a quick Zalgo text copy and paste helper: generate the effect, copy it, and drop it into a chat, bio, or post.

Customize Your Zalgo Text

The generator gives you fine control over how corrupted the output looks:

  • Craziness Level — from 1 to 100. Low values add a faint shimmer; high values produce a dense wall of stacked marks.
  • Marks per Character — sets the maximum number of combining marks added at 100% craziness. Lower it if you want the text to stay readable.
  • Direction toggles — Up places marks above letters, Middle places overlay marks through them, and Down places marks below. Enabling all three gives the classic Zalgo appearance.
  • Presets — Subtle Glitch, Light Zalgo, Classic Zalgo, Creepy, Chaotic, and Extreme Zalgo cover the most common looks in a single click.
  • Random variation — makes the number of marks differ slightly from character to character, which looks more organic than a perfectly even pattern.
  • Randomize Effect — reshuffles which marks are used without changing your original text at all.

Where Can You Use Zalgo Text?

Zalgo text works anywhere that accepts standard Unicode text. Common uses include:

  • Horror, Halloween, and creepypasta posts
  • Discord messages, server names, and nicknames
  • Social media captions, bios, and comments
  • Game usernames, clan tags, and profile names
  • Video titles, thumbnails, and stream overlays
  • Creative writing, ARG puzzles, and glitch-art projects

Keep in mind that every platform renders combining marks a little differently. Some apps strip excessive marks, some shorten long strings, and some fonts handle heavy stacking better than others. If a result looks different after pasting, try a lower craziness level.

What Are Unicode Combining Marks?

Unicode doesn't just contain letters — it also contains combining marks, a category of characters designed to attach to the character before them. A base letter such as e followed by a combining acute accent U+0301 renders as é.

Because these marks attach rather than stand alone, you can stack many of them on a single base character. The renderer tries to position each one above, through, or below the letter, and once the stack gets tall enough the glyph looks broken and glitchy. That stacking behaviour is what powers every Unicode glitch text effect, including this generator.

This tool uses a curated set of combining diacritical marks rather than every code point in the combining ranges. That keeps the output valid Unicode, keeps it copyable, and avoids the blank boxes and rendering glitches that come from using marks that many fonts don't support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Zalgo text is normal text with many Unicode combining marks stacked onto each character. The marks attach above, through, and below the letters, so the text looks corrupted, glitchy, or unsettling. It is a real text string, not an image or a visual filter.
Type your text into the Input Text box above. The generator immediately adds combining marks and shows the result in the output box. Adjust the Craziness Level slider or pick a preset to change how intense the effect looks, then copy the result.
Yes. The output is standard Unicode text, so you can copy it with the Copy Text button or select it manually, then paste it into chats, posts, bios, documents, or anywhere else that accepts text.
Each combining mark is positioned relative to the letter it follows. When many marks attach to one letter, the renderer has to place them all above, through, or below a single glyph. The stack grows taller than the line, marks overlap, and the letter appears to melt or break apart.
Absolutely. The Craziness Level slider runs from 1 to 100, the Marks per Character control caps how many marks are added, and the Up / Middle / Down toggles let you choose which directions are used. The six presets give you quick starting points ranging from Subtle Glitch to Extreme Zalgo.
It usually does, but results vary. Discord, Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, and similar platforms all render Unicode differently. Some limit how many combining marks they display, some shorten long strings, and some fonts handle heavy stacking better than others. If your text looks wrong after pasting, try a lower craziness level or fewer marks per character.
Yes. The tool is completely free, requires no account, and has no usage limits. There is nothing to install and no signup.
No. All processing happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your text is never uploaded, stored, or transmitted anywhere. You can even disconnect from the internet after the page loads and the generator will keep working.
The generator processes up to 4,000 characters at a time so the page stays fast and responsive. If you paste something longer, a note appears and only the first 4,000 characters are converted.