How to create hyphens, em dashes, and em dashes in Google Docs.
Standard keyboards don’t have dedicated keys for special punctuation marks, like a hyphen en or em, if you want to use them in Google Docs. Here’s how you can create scripts and scripts in your documents.
As we are a technology website, we will not go into details about when and how to use each form of scoring. Instead, you can check what , and are if you’re not sure when to use each punctuation mark. Basically, a hyphen is a dash (-), an em dash is the length of two dashes (-), and an em dash is the length of three dashes (-).
Create scripts and scripts manually
The first thing to do is fire up your browser and open a file to get started.
A hyphen is the easiest punctuation mark to create in Google Docs. Your keyboard probably already has a key just for this purpose. Depending on your keyboard layout, the hyphen key is on top and next to the zero (0) key. All you have to do is press it and you’re done. Script created.
The hyphens en and em are a bit harder to find. Keyboards do not have keys dedicated to these punctuation marks. Unless you’re a professional writer, you probably won’t use them that often.
Although you can enter the corresponding Alt key code for en or em dash, you have an easier way to insert them into your document. Docs has a Special Characters tool that allows you to add them without having to remember their codes.
Click in your document where you want to insert the hyphen, open the “Insert” menu, and then click “Special Characters.”
After the tool opens, type “em dash” or “en dash” in the search bar and then click on the results symbol on the left.
Note: Various types of en and em hyphens appear in the search results. To make sure you choose the right one, hover your mouse over each one before clicking on it.
When you click on the script you want, it is inserted directly into the file where the cursor is in your document.
If you rarely use hyphens in and em, this method is excellent. However, if you use them a lot, you can tell Docs to automatically format the scripts into dashes in or dashes.
Create scripts automatically
Microsoft Word has a built-in feature, AutoFormat, that automatically converts hyphens to hyphens en and em when you type – and -, respectively. Google Docs doesn’t replace them by default. However, you can tell it to convert strings to whatever you want, such as special characters like hyphens en and em.
From your Google Docs file, use the method above to insert a hyphen or hyphen into your document, highlight the hyphen character, right-click, and then click “Copy.” Alternatively, press Ctrl + C on Windows or Command + C on macOS to copy the symbol.
Next, select the “Tools” menu and then click on “Preferences”.
In the Auto Replace section, type two or three hyphens in the “Replace” field. Next, paste the copied script into the “With” field by right-clicking in the box and selecting “Paste” or by pressing Ctrl + V on Windows or Command + V on macOS. Click “OK” to save the changes and close the window.
Now, repeat these steps for the other board type and you’re done. The next time you need to insert a hyphen, just type two or three hyphens for an en or em hyphen. Docs does the rest and automatically converts them without the Special Characters tool.
