Quick answer: On Windows, hold Alt and type 0151 on the numeric keypad to get an em dash (—). On a Mac, press Option + Shift + -. On an iPhone or Android phone, press and hold the hyphen key on the numbers and symbols keyboard and slide to the longest dash. Or just copy it:
Three marks on this page look almost identical and are constantly mixed up: the hyphen (-) that sits on your keyboard, the en dash (–) used for ranges, and the em dash (—) used to break a sentence. They are separate Unicode characters with separate codes, and using the wrong one is one of the most common typography mistakes in published writing.
The dashes at a glance
| Mark | Name | Unicode | Windows Alt code | Mac | HTML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | Hyphen-minus | U+002D |
the - key | the - key | - |
| – | En dash | U+2013 |
Alt + 0150 | Option + - | – |
| — | Em dash | U+2014 |
Alt + 0151 | Option + Shift + - | — |
| − | Minus sign | U+2212 |
no Alt code | Character Viewer | − |
The names are inherited from metal typesetting: an en dash was about as wide as a capital N, an em dash about as wide as a capital M. The true minus sign is a fourth look-alike that belongs to math, not punctuation.
Type an em dash on Windows
The Alt code method is the fastest if your keyboard has a numeric keypad:
- Make sure Num Lock is on.
- Hold down Alt.
- Type 0 1 5 1 on the numeric keypad.
- Release Alt. The em dash appears.
Use Alt + 0150 for an en dash. The leading zero matters: these are Windows-1252 codes, and dropping the zero gives you a completely different character. The number keys along the top of the keyboard will not work for Alt codes — only the keypad does. Our complete guide to Alt codes explains why.
No numeric keypad?
Most laptops and compact keyboards have no keypad, so Alt codes are out. Two alternatives work everywhere in Windows:
- Emoji and symbol panel: press Windows + . (period), open the Symbols tab, and look under general punctuation.
- Character Map: search the Start menu for “Character Map” (or run
charmap), find the dash, then copy and paste it.
Both are covered step by step in our guide to the Windows Character Map and emoji panel. If you only need the dash once, copying it from the button at the top of this page is quicker than any of them.
Type an em dash on a Mac
macOS has proper keyboard shortcuts for both dashes, with no keypad or setup required:
- Em dash (—): Option + Shift + -
- En dash (–): Option + -
These work in every app that accepts text — Pages, Mail, Safari, Slack, Word, Notes. They are the same on US, UK and Australian Mac layouts, because the hyphen key is in the same place on all of them.
If you would rather browse, open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search for “em dash”. Our guide to typing special characters on a Mac covers the Option-key layout in more detail.
Microsoft Word and Google Docs type dashes for you
Word converts hyphens into dashes as you type, which is why an em dash often appears in a document without anyone pressing a shortcut. With AutoFormat As You Type enabled:
- Typing
word - word(hyphen with spaces around it) turns the hyphen into an en dash. - Typing
word--word(two hyphens, no spaces) turns them into an em dash.
The conversion happens after you finish the following word. To change the behavior, go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type and toggle Hyphens (–) with dash. You can also insert the character directly through Insert > Symbol > More Symbols, or type 2014 and press Alt + X to convert the code point into the character. See inserting symbols in Microsoft Word for the full set of options.
Google Docs does something similar through Tools > Preferences > Substitutions, which you can switch off if it gets in the way. Insert > Special characters always works regardless of that setting: search for “em dash” or draw the shape in the box. See inserting special characters in Google Docs.
Em dash on iPhone and Android
Phone keyboards hide both dashes behind the hyphen key:
- Switch to the numbers and symbols keyboard (the 123 key).
- Press and hold the hyphen key.
- A row of alternatives appears — hyphen, en dash, em dash, bullet and usually the middle dot.
- Slide your finger to the longest dash and release.
This works on iOS and on most Android keyboards, including Gboard, though the exact set of alternatives varies by keyboard app. If you use em dashes constantly on an iPhone, set up a shortcut under Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement: paste — as the phrase and use something like emd as the shortcut. Our guide to typing symbols on iPhone and Android has more on that trick.
Em dash in HTML, CSS and code
In HTML you have three interchangeable ways to write an em dash:
| Character | Named entity | Decimal | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — |
— |
— |
| – | – |
– |
– |
If your page is served as UTF-8 — and it should be — you can simply paste the character into your HTML and skip entities entirely. Entities are still useful in email templates, XML feeds and anywhere the encoding is uncertain. Our explanation of HTML entities covers when each form is worth using, and the named entity table lists every entity that actually exists.
When to use each dash
Em dash (—)
Breaks the flow of a sentence. Use it for an abrupt change of direction, an aside stronger than commas, or to introduce a summary at the end of a sentence: She packed everything she needed — passport, charger, and a book she never opened. Used in pairs, it replaces parentheses with more emphasis.
En dash (–)
Connects two things. Use it for numeric and date ranges (pages 10–20, Monday–Friday, 1939–1945), scores (3–1), and relationships between two names (the London–Paris route). A useful test: if you could say “to” or “through”, use an en dash.
Hyphen (-)
Joins words into one unit: well-known, mother-in-law, two-year contract. It is also what belongs in phone numbers, file names, URLs and code, where a real dash would break things.
Spacing: US, UK and Australian style
American publishers usually set the em dash tight against the words on both sides, with no spaces: the plan—which nobody read—failed. British and Australian style guides more often use a spaced en dash in that role instead: the plan – which nobody read – failed. Both are correct within their conventions; the mistake is mixing them in one document. Ranges take no spaces in every style: 10–20, never 10 – 20.
Why the dash isn’t working
- The Alt code produced nothing or the wrong character. Num Lock is off, you used the top-row numbers, or you dropped the leading zero. Alt + 151 is not the same as Alt + 0151.
- Your dash became a hyphen after pasting. The destination is plain ASCII — some older forms, SMS gateways and database fields strip non-ASCII characters. There is no fix except using a hyphen there.
- You see a box or a question mark. The font or the encoding is wrong, not the character. Our guide on why symbols show as boxes walks through the causes.
- Word keeps changing your hyphens. That is AutoFormat. Undo once with Ctrl + Z immediately after the conversion to keep the hyphen, or turn the option off.
- Code won’t compile. An em dash copied from a document is not a minus sign or a hyphen. Editors and compilers treat it as an unexpected character. Paste your line into the Unicode lookup tool to see exactly which code points are in it.
Related characters
- Em dash (—) — full reference with every code and shortcut.
- En dash (–) — for ranges and connections.
- Minus sign (−) — the correct character for subtraction and negative numbers.
- Ellipsis (…) — the other punctuation mark people build out of repeated keystrokes.
- Middle dot (·) — often sits beside the dashes on phone keyboards.
- Bullet (•) — shares the same long-press menu on mobile.
Browse the whole punctuation symbols category for quotation marks, daggers, primes and the rest, or search the full library in the symbol finder. For a deeper comparison of the three marks, read hyphen vs en dash vs em dash.
Frequently asked questions
Can I type an em dash without a numeric keypad?
Yes. On Windows use the emoji and symbol panel (Windows + .), Character Map, or Word’s AutoFormat (two hyphens between words). On a Mac, Option + Shift + - needs no keypad at all. Copying the character is always an option.
Is an em dash the same as two hyphens?
No. Two hyphens (--) are a typewriter-era substitute. They are two separate characters that happen to look like a long dash in a monospaced font. In proportional type they look wrong, and search or find-and-replace treats them differently.
What is the difference between an em dash and a minus sign?
An em dash is punctuation and is much longer. A minus sign (U+2212) is a math operator sized and positioned to line up with digits and the plus sign. Use the minus sign in equations, never a dash.
Why do em dashes turn into strange characters in my file?
That is an encoding mismatch — the file was written as UTF-8 but is being read as Windows-1252 or similar. Saving and opening the file as UTF-8 everywhere fixes it. The em dash is one of the first characters to break because it lives outside ASCII.
Should there be spaces around an em dash?
Follow one convention consistently. American style generally uses no spaces; British and Australian style more often uses a spaced en dash in the same position. Whichever you pick, apply it across the whole document.