Insert an Em or En Dash in Microsoft Word using the Ribbon or Keyboard Shortcuts
by Avantix Learning Team | Updated February 22, 2021
Applies to: Microsoft® Word® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 or 365 (Windows)
You can insert an em dash or en dash in a Microsoft Word document using the Insert Symbol command or by using keyboard shortcuts. An em dash is a long dash which is the width of the letter m. An en dash is the width of the letter n.
The dashes appear as follows:
- Em dash (—)
- En dash (–)
- Dash or hyphen (-)
Recommended article: How to Keep Text Together in Microsoft Word
1. Inserting an em or en dash using Insert Symbol
You can use the Insert Symbol command to insert special characters in Word documents.
To insert an em or en dash using Insert Symbol:
- Click where you want to insert the em dash or en dash.
- Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
- In the Symbols group, click Symbol. A drop-down menu appears.
- Click More Symbols. A dialog box appears. In Word, there are two tabs at the top of the dialog box.
- Click the Special Characters tab.
- Click Em Dash or En Dash.
- Click Insert.
- Click Close.
Below is the Insert Symbol dialog box in Word:
2. Inserting an em or en dash using Ctrl and keyboard shortcuts
To insert an em dash, click where you want to insert the em dash and then press Ctrl + Alt + – (minus sign on the numeric keypad).
To insert an en dash, click where you want to insert the en dash and then press Ctrl + – (minus sign on the numeric keyboard).
If this doesn’t work, press NumLock on the numeric keypad.
3. Inserting an em or en dash using AutoFormat as you type
There are built-in options that are turned on by default in AutoCorrect in the AutoFormat as you type settings.
To insert an em dash using AutoFormat as you type:
- Type a word with no space after it.
- Type two dashes or hyphens with no space between or after them.
- Type another word.
- Press the spacebar.
To insert an en dash using AutoFormat as you type:
- Type a word.
- Press the spacebar.
- Type a single dash or hyphen.
- Press the spacebar.
- Type another word.
- Press the spacebar.
4. Inserting an em or en dash using Alt and keyboard shortcuts
You can also use the Alt key in combination with a sequence of numbers of insert an em dash or en dash.
To insert an em dash, click where you want to insert the em dash and then press and hold Alt and then type 8212 on the numeric keypad.
To insert an en dash, click where you want to insert the en dash and then press and hold Alt and then type 8211 on the numeric keypad.
If this doesn’t work, press NumLock on the numeric keypad.
The Alt keyboard shortcuts will work in multiple programs but the other shortcuts will work only in Microsoft Word.
Subscribe to get more articles like this one
Did you find this article helpful? If you would like to receive new articles, join our email list.
More resources
How to Keep Text Together in Microsoft Word
How to Reduce the Size of Large Word Documents (10 Ways to Compress Word Files)
How to Create a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word
Related courses
Microsoft Word: Intermediate / Advanced
Microsoft Excel: Intermediate / Advanced
Microsoft PowerPoint: Intermediate / Advanced
Our instructor-led courses are delivered in virtual classroom format or at our downtown Toronto location at 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1801 (Toronto Star Building), Toronto, Ontario, Canada (some live classroom courses may also be delivered at an alternate downtown Toronto location). Contact us at info@avantixlearning.ca if you'd like to arrange custom training on a date that's convenient for you.
Copyright 2021 Avantix® Learning
You may also like
4+ Great Select All Shortcuts in Word
In Microsoft Word, you can save lots of time if you can quickly select characters, words, lines, paragraphs and blocks of text in your documents. You can use keyboard shortcuts or mouse shortcuts to select text.
How to Insert or Type the Alpha Symbol in Word (α)
You can enter Greek letters or symbols (such as Gamma, Omega, Pi, Sigma or Theta) in Microsoft Word documents in several ways. In this article, we’ll look at different ways to insert Greek symbols.
How to Insert a Nonbreaking Space in Word
You can keep text together in several ways in Word. If you want to keep words or characters together, you can use nonbreaking spaces or nonbreaking hyphens or dashes and insert them using a dialog box or a keyboard shortcut. If you want to keep lines or paragraphs together on the same page, you can apply settings in the Paragraph dialog box (which can be built into styles if you use styles).
Microsoft, the Microsoft logo, Microsoft Office and related Microsoft applications and logos are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in Canada, US and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of the registered owners.
Avantix Learning | 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1801 (Toronto Star Building), Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5E 1W7 | info@avantixlearning.ca
