hyphens to dashes

  • Thread starter Thread starter d t bold
  • Start date Start date
D

d t bold

I cannot make the 2 hyphens into a dash work, either before or after typing.
Any ideas?
 
Did you turn it on in AutoFormat As You Type?

(Warning: when that's turned on, any leading hyphen turns into an en-
dash: for instance if you needed to type "strong, -er, -est.")
 
d said:
I cannot make the 2 hyphens into a dash work, either before or after
typing. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Go to Tools > Options > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type and
make sure "Hyphens (--) with dash (-)" is checked.

In Word 2007, the path to the dialog is Office button > Word Options >
Proofing > AutoCorrect Options.

There are also default keyboard shortcuts: The en dash (-) is Ctrl+Num -
(that is, the minus sign on the number pad, with NumLock turned on) and the
em dash (-) is Atl+Ctrl+Num - .

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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In addition to what the others have said, be aware that the conversion
doesn't occur until after you have "completed" the following word, by typing
a space or punctuation mark.
 
Terrific! Suzzane. You have solved the mystery. Why doesn't MS place that
instruction in the help notes, I wonder?
 
Bravo, Suzanne, you have cleared up the mystery as well as my dashes. Why do
you think that MS word "Help" does not give that instruction?
 
I guess they figured that in the normal course of events this would become
obvious, but I can tell you that it tripped me up when I was trying to
troubleshoot this with a client over the phone. I would have been more aware
of it if I actually depended on this feature, but I don't because I've had
keyboard shortcuts for em and en dashes since many versions back, before
AutoFormat As You Type was introduced.
 
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