With these workarounds, you can seamlessly incorporate em dashes into your writing and improve your overall communication. You can also consider modifying your keyboard layout or using a keyboard app that allows easy access to specialised symbols. There are several alternative methods to type the em dash symbol, such as using keyboard shortcuts, copy-pasting or using character map. In conclusion, not having the em dash symbol on your keyboard may seem like a hindrance to your writing, but it’s not a problem without a solution. The most recent update, with contributions from Jessica Lau, was in January 2023. This article was originally published in October 2020. Now go forth and fill your work with far too many of them. For now, though, I hope these tips helped you type em (and en) dashes. I sincerely hope that, someday in the near future, Microsoft will make a change to its operating system that makes this article completely useless. READ More: How to use DALL♾ 2 to create AI imagesĬonsidering there are significant differences between an em and en dash, it really shouldn’t be this hard to type them using only a keyboard. But text expansion apps are a better tool for the job. You could leave your notepad open with an em dash to copy and paste as needed-that’s what my editor used to do when she had a PC. Windows doesn’t offer a quick way to make these dashes, so you’ll have to add your own. Create the long dash symbol using autoreplace software For now, though, let’s check out some potential alternatives. Why doesn’t Microsoft make this a system-wide setting in Windows? I don’t know, and you should ask them, on Twitter, daily. Again, Microsoft Office apps should figure out what you want and insert the correct dash. And if you want an en dash, surround a single dash with spaces between two words, like - this. Put two dashes between two words, like-this, and the app will understand you mean to insert an em dash. If you’re working in Microsoft Office apps like Word or Outlook, there’s another option. While this only gives me a slight headache, I’m somehow even more annoyed than before. It’s upsetting, to be honest.Įveryone has an opinion about how to use em dashes-and their shorter cousins, en dashes-but let’s ignore all that for now and just talk about how to type them.Įmoji keyboard on Windows. We live in a world where the underscore is represented, but the em dash is not. There are two kinds of writers: those who like em dashes and impostors.Īnd yet, for some reason, there’s no em dash key on a keyboard. In this article, we will explore some of the methods you can use to include the all-important em dash in your writing. But fear not, there are several easy workarounds that you can use to create an em dash on your keyboard. Have you ever found yourself typing a sentence, only to realize that your keyboard doesn’t have the em dash symbol? It can be frustrating when you want to use this punctuation mark for better clarity and emphasis in your writing. You are viewing the article Your keyboard doesn’t have an em dash symbol-here’s what to do at you can quickly access the necessary information in the table of contents of the article below.
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