Wikipedia:How to make dashes
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The hyphen-minus (keyboard hyphen), en dash, em dash, and mathematical minus/negative symbols are different . Pressing the - on your keyboard, usually next to the 0 (zero) key, will produce a hyphen-minus. Methods of producing the other characters are described below.
Methods that work on any platform
To insert a dash or minus sign, use the toolbar below the edit box. Click where you want the character to be inserted, select "Insert" from the pull-down menu, and then:
- To insert an en dash (–), click on the first character (the shorter dash).
- To insert an em dash (—), click on the second character (the longer dash).
- To insert a minus sign (−), click on the
−between the±and the×.
- For an en dash, type
{{ndash}}or–. - For a "spaced en dash" (with a non-breaking space before the dash and a regular space after it) type
{{spaced ndash}}or{{snd}}. - For an em dash, type
{{mdash}}or—. - For a minus sign, type
−.
Find an en dash (–) or em dash (—) already in some text—in this sentence, for example—and paste it where a new one is wanted.
Platform-dependent methods
Mac
For Mac (or iOS with an external keyboard) use:
- ⌥ Opt+- (en dash) or ⌥ Opt+⇧ Shift+- (em dash).
Alternatively for Mac:
- Pull down the Input menu and select Show Emoji & Symbols. Then select from Punctuation.
- If the Input menu is not displayed, open Language & Region within System Preferences. Then click on Keyboard Preferences... and check Show input menu in menu bar.
Linux
- Use AltGr- (en dash) or AltGr⇧ Shift- (em dash).
If you have a compose key:
- Use Compose--. (en dash) or Compose--- (em dash).
Windows
For Windows on a keyboard with a numeric keypad:
- Use Alt+0150 (en dash), Alt+0151 (em dash), or Alt+8722 (minus sign) using the numeric keypad.
iOS and Android
For iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android:
- Hold the - on-screen keyboard until a popup appears with choices including the en dash and em dash.
See also
External links
- AutoHotkey A scripting language. Character replacement needs only short one-line scripts.
- KbdEdit Modify an existing keyboard or create a new keyboard.
- abcTajpu An add-on for the Firefox browser.