Inserting an Em Dash

Summary: Em dashes are often used in documents. Here's how to add one. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 6, Word 95, Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

Beginning with Word 95, you can insert an em dash (a long dash) by simply typing two dashes in a row. Word would sense this as you finished the word following the dashes, and then replace them with the em dash. If you have this capability turned off, however, you may be wondering how to get an em dash in your document. There are three ways you can do this, each of which works in all versions of Word:

Press CTRL+ALT+MINUS (on the numeric keypad)
Hold down the ALT key as you type 0151 on the numeric keypad.
Choose Symbol from the Insert menu, and then select Em Dash from the Special Characters tab.

Tip #1217 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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Inserting an Em Dash