The first of these is AutoFormat, which is likely already enabled and will automatically create an em dash when you type a double hyphen (–). One of the most popular word processors on the market, MS Word offers users a variety of ways to make an em dash appear. Ta-da! You never have to go menu hunting for em dashes again. If you - like me - use Google Docs almost exclusively and love your em dashes, I’d recommend creating an automatic substitution command.Ĭlick on the “Tools” menu, and then click on “Preferences.” At the bottom, you’ll see a tick box next to the words “Automatic substitution.” Ensure it’s toggled on, and then set a command to replace - with - (grab the symbol from the “Special Characters” menu referenced above, and copy/paste it into the right-hand text box). In order to put an em dash into your work, navigate to the “Insert” menu, and then select “Special Characters.” Instead of scrolling through the various symbols available to you, you can simply search for “em,” and the dash will come right up. However, in this program, dual hyphens stay dual hyphens by default.
#How to em dash on keyboard free
No matter where you do your writing, there’s a trick to ensuring you get the perfect em dash every time! In Google DocsĪlthough MS Word has long been considered industry standard, many writers have moved on to Google’s free cloud-based word processing platform, Google Docs.
#How to em dash on keyboard how to
Here’s how to type an em dash in your favorite word processor If you want to benefit from the em dash without littering your manuscript with double hyphens (–), here’s what you need to know. But despite its flexibility, there’s one way in which the em dash is anything but intuitive - and that’s typographically. With such a wide range of acceptable applications, an em dash might seem easy to use. It’s used in so many manners: to separate clauses that still want to be close friends to create asides or add emphasis or signal amplification or denote interruption. Ah, the em dash - that multifaceted, all-purpose punctuation mark that can act as a parenthesis, comma, colon, semicolon or even quotation mark.
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