How the CSS Glitch Text Effect Works

The “Glitch” or “Hacker” aesthetic has become incredibly popular in modern web design, especially for gaming, Web3, and tech portfolio websites. While some developers rely on heavy JavaScript libraries or GIFs to create this effect, it is much more performant to use Pure CSS.

Our generator builds this effect using a combination of HTML5 data attributes, CSS pseudo-elements, and the clip-path property.

The `data-text` Attribute Trick

To create a glitch, you essentially need three copies of the same text layered on top of each other. Instead of writing the text three times in your HTML (which is bad for SEO and screen readers), we use a single <div data-text="CYBERPUNK">. Then, in CSS, we use the ::before and ::after pseudo-elements combined with content: attr(data-text); to instantly duplicate the text.

Adding the Color Offsets

Once we have three layers of text, we apply different text colors (or text-shadows) to the pseudo-elements. Typically, a cyan/blue color is applied to the ::before element and shifted slightly to the left, while a magenta/red color is applied to the ::after element and shifted to the right. This creates the classic 3D anaglyph chromatic aberration effect.

Animating with `clip-path`

The final step is the animation. We generate a complex @keyframes sequence that rapidly changes the clip-path: inset(...) property. This rapidly slices and crops horizontal strips of the colored pseudo-elements, revealing the main white text underneath and creating the flickering “glitch” illusion!

Performance Tip: Because this animation uses `clip-path` and `transform`, it is hardware-accelerated by the browser, meaning it won’t slow down the scrolling performance of your webpage.