U+2013 · General Punctuation
En Dash –
The en dash – is a mid-length dash, longer than a hyphen and shorter than an em dash. Its main job is to show ranges, meaning “to” or “through,” as in 9–5 or pages 12–18. It also links equal pairs, such as a Boston–London flight or a 3–1 score. British style often uses a spaced en dash where Americans use an em dash.
Character codes
| Unicode code point | U+2013 | |
|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 8211 | |
| HTML named entity | – | |
| HTML (hex) | – | |
| HTML (decimal) | – | |
| CSS | \2013 | |
| JavaScript | \u2013 | |
| Python | \u2013 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 80 93 | |
| UTF-16 | 2013 | |
| URL-encoded | %E2%80%93 |
Character details
| Official name | EN DASH |
|---|---|
| Unicode block | General Punctuation |
| General category | Dash Punctuation (Pd) |
| SymbolHero category | Punctuation |
| Emoji | No |
How to type –
Windows
- Hold Alt and type 0150 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt. Alt 0150 uses the Windows-1252 code page.
- In Microsoft Word or Outlook: type
2013then press Alt + X. - Open Character Map (search “Character Map” in Start), tick “Advanced view”, search for “en dash”, then Select and Copy.
Mac
- Press Option + Hyphen (-) (US English keyboard layout).
- Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search “en dash”, and double-click the result.
- With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type
2013.
iPhone & Android
- Tap Copy at the top of this page, then long-press where you want it and choose Paste.
Docs & web
- Google Docs: Insert → Special characters, then search “en dash” or enter
U+2013. - HTML:
–or– - Excel / Google Sheets:
=UNICHAR(8211)
Examples
- Open Monday–Friday, 9–5
- See pages 112–118.
- the 2019–2020 season
- The New York–London route
Good to know
Don’t mix it up: It is often confused with the hyphen-minus - (U+002D) and the minus sign − (U+2212), which are shorter and serve different purposes.
Tip: Do not put spaces around an en dash in a range, and do not combine it with from or between: write “from 1990 to 2000,” not “from 1990–2000.”
Display: the character itself is always the same code point, but its shape comes from the font on the device showing it. If you see an empty box, the font lacks this glyph—the text is still correct.
Similar punctuation
Questions
What is the Unicode for –?
It is U+2013 (EN DASH), decimal 8211.
Is there a Windows Alt code for it?
Yes: Alt 0150 on the numeric keypad.
How do I type it on a Mac?
Option + Hyphen (-) on a US English keyboard, or use the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space).
What is the HTML code?
Use the named entity – or the numeric reference –.