Google Apps / Gmail - inserting en-dash or em-dashes

Post date: Jul 31, 2014 10:4:46 PM

en– and em— dash functions:

When you type (word)--(word) (space), that ​ ​is, a word, no space, two hyphens, no space, another word and then​ ​space, MSWord ​ ​will automatically change those two hyphens to a​ ​long, em-dash. ​ If you type a word, a space, a hyphen, a space, MSWord​ will change that ​ ​single hyphen into an en-dash.

Problem: Replicating this MSWord function in Google Apps

Notes from Google:

Google treats hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes as the same character, translating them all into “–”. Neither the en nor the em appear on standard keyboards making them even harder to use.

In order to find an em dash in Google Docs, a user must navigate through the Insert menu into Special Characters, through the Punctuation drop down and finally into Dash/Connector to find the lowly em dash: —. Then to do it on demand, you can memorize the keyboard shortcuts, or simply copy one, and paste it whenever you need it.

Bottomline: (memorize the shortcut)

​Hold down ALT key, then type 0150 for en-dash (–)

or ALT 0151 for the em-dash (—) to appear.