How to make an Em Dash in Google Docs

An Em Dash can be used as a comma, a colon, or a parenthesis. It differs from the hyphen or small dash and has a larger length. The em dash resembles a horizontal line (—) that is longer than both a hyphen (-) and an en dash (–). There is no specific key to type an Em Dash. Therefore, if you want to type the Em Dash(es) in your document(s), you have to use a different way. This article shows how to make an Em Dash in Google Docs.

How to make an Em Dash in Google Docs

We will show you the following ways to make an Em Dash in Google Docs.

By using the Special characters
By using the Windows built-in Character Map
Via the keyboard shortcut
Via the Find and Replace feature

Let’s see all these fixes in detail.

1] Make an Em Dash in Google Docs by using the Special characters

The first method by which you can make an Em Dash in Google Docs is using the Google Docs Special characters chart. The following instructions will help you with that:

Open your Google Docs document.
Go to “Insert > Special characters.”
The Insert special characters window will appear. Type Em Dash in the search bar on the right side.
You will see all the types of Em Dashes in the search results. Hover your mouse to read the name of Em Dashes and select the one you want to insert.

2] Use the Windows built-in Character Map to make an Em Dash in Google Docs

You can also insert an EM Dash in Google Docs by using the Character Map. It is a built-in chart in Windows computers and is used to insert special characters into documents.

Go through the following instructions:

Click on Windows Search and type Character Map.
Select the Character Map from the search results.
Type Em Dash in the “Search for” field.
Click Search.
Click on the Em Dash in the Character Map and then click Select.
The Em Dash will appear in the “Characters to copy” field. Click Copy.
Now, you can paste the Em Dash in any of your documents.

3] Use the keyboard shortcut

You can also insert the Em Dash into Google Docs by using the dedicated keyboard shortcut. Press and hold the left Alt key on your keyboard and then type 0151. Now, release the Alt key. As you release the left Alt key, Google Docs will insert the Em Dash into your document.

This keyboard shortcut will work only with the left Alt key and the numeric keypad. The number keys on the keyboard above the alphabetic keys and the right Alt key will not work. Therefore, if your keyboard does not have a numeric keypad, you cannot use this method to make an Em Dash.

4] Use the Find and Replace feature

You can also use the Find and Replace feature. However, this method is not as effective as the methods explained above. You can use this method to insert an Em Dash in a pre-existing document by replacing the required characters. Suppose you want to replace some commas with the Em Dashes, you can use this method.

Press the Ctrl + H keys to open the Find and Replace window in your Google Docs document. Now, type the character in the Find field. This is the character that you want to replace with the Em Dash. Now, type the Em Dash in the “Replace with” field. The targeted character will be highlighted. Click Replace to replace the character with the Em Dash.

Click Next to highlight the next occurrence of the character. Click Replace if you want to replace it with the Em Dash; otherwise, click Next again. Follow the same process until you add the Em Dashes to your entire document.

That’s it. I hope this helps.

What is the Alt Shift 5 on Google Docs?

The Alt Shift 5 keyboard shortcut is used to apply Strikethrough on the selected text in Google Docs. First, select the text and then press this keyboard shortcut. Do note that the right Alt key and the number 5 key on the Numeric keypad do not work with this keyboard shortcut. Therefore, you have to use the left Alt key and the numeric key placed above the alphabetic keys on your keyboard.

Where is the strikethrough in Google Sheets?

The Strikethrough is available on the toolbar in Google Sheets. First, select the text in Google Sheets, then click on the Srikethrough icon on the toolbar. Alternatively, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt + Shift + 5 for Strikethrough in Google Sheets.