Em dash (—)
U+2014 · EM DASH · Unicode 1.1 (1993)
How to type —
Windows
Alt code (numeric keypad)
Alt+0151
Turn on Num Lock, hold the Alt key, type 0151 on the numeric keypad and let go of Alt: — appears.
Word and Outlook: Alt + X
2014 Alt+X
Type 2014 and press Alt+X right after it: Word turns the code into —. Press Alt+X again to turn it back into the code.
Emoji and symbols panel (Windows 10 and 11)
Win+.
Press Win + full stop (.) to open the panel, go to the Symbols tab (Ω) and pick —.
No numeric keypad on your laptop? See the other ways in our Alt codes guide.
Mac
Keyboard shortcut (U.S. layout)
⌥ Option+⇧ Shift+-
Press ⌥ Option+⇧ Shift+- to type —. This is on the standard U.S. and U.S. English Mac layouts.
Character Viewer
Ctrl+⌘ Cmd+Space
Press Ctrl+⌘+Space (or the Globe key + E), search for “em dash” and click — to insert it.
iPhone
Long press on the keyboard
123 → -
Tap 123, then press and hold -. Slide your finger to — in the pop-up and let go.
Checked on the English (US) keyboard. Other keyboard languages may place it elsewhere.
Make a shortcut (Text Replacement)
Turn a short word into — once and type it in any app:
- Copy — from this page.
- Open Settings › General › Keyboard › Text Replacement and tap +.
- Paste — as the Phrase and type a Shortcut, for example ;emdash.
- Now type ;emdash anywhere: the keyboard suggests —.
Android
Make a shortcut (Gboard personal dictionary)
Teach your keyboard a short word that turns into —:
- Copy — from this page.
- Open Gboard settings › Dictionary › Personal dictionary, choose your language and tap +.
- Paste — as the word and type a shortcut, for example ;emdash.
- Type ;emdash in any app and tap — in the suggestions.
Linux
Unicode input
Ctrl+Shift+U 2014 Enter
Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 2014 and press Enter or Space. Works in GTK apps and with IBus (GNOME, Ubuntu, Fedora).
What — means and how it is used
The em dash — is roughly the width of a capital M. It sets off a break in thought or an aside. American style writes it without spaces (word—word); British and many European styles use a spaced en dash instead, and Russian uses a spaced dash between subject and predicate. Mac: Option+Shift+Hyphen; Windows: Alt+0151.
The official Unicode name of — is EM DASH, code point U+2014. You will find it in the General Punctuation block; it was added in Unicode 1.1 (1993).
It also goes by these names and keywords: dash, em.
It sits in the punctuation and typography symbols with 109 symbols, among them © ® ™ § ¶.
Codes for HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Tap Copy next to the code you need.
| HTML entity | — | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML decimal | — | |
| HTML hex | — | |
| CSS | content: "\2014"; | |
| JavaScript | \u2014 | |
| URL | %E2%80%94 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 80 94 | |
| Unicode | U+2014 |
Will it show on my friend's phone?
— has been in Unicode since version 1.1 (1993). Practically every phone, computer and app shows it.
Checking your device…
Don't confuse — with
These look alike but are different characters. Search, sorting and screen readers treat them differently, so copy the one you mean.
- —Em dashU+2014 · EM DASH
- En dashU+2013 · EN DASH · General Punctuation
- Hyphen symbolU+002D · HYPHEN-MINUS · Basic Latin
- Katakana-hiragana prolonged sound markU+30FC · KATAKANA-HIRAGANA PROLONGED SOUND MARK · Katakana
- Horizontal barU+2015 · HORIZONTAL BAR · General Punctuation
- Box drawings light horizontalU+2500 · BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT HORIZONTAL · Box Drawing
- Box drawings heavy horizontalU+2501 · BOX DRAWINGS HEAVY HORIZONTAL · Box Drawing
Names in other languages
What — is called in the 12 languages of this site (Unicode CLDR and our editors). Tap a name to open that language's page.
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| English | Em dash |
| Português | Travessão |
| Español | Raya |
| Italiano | Trattino lungo |
| Français | Tiret cadratin |
| Deutsch | Geviertstrich |
| Türkçe | Uzun tire |
| Bahasa Indonesia | Tanda pisah panjang (em dash) |
| Polski | Pauza |
| Русский | Длинное тире |
| 日本語 | ダッシュ記号 |
| 한국어 | 줄표 (긴 대시) |
Related symbols
All Punctuation →Questions people ask
How do I type — on a laptop without a numeric keypad?
On Windows press Win + full stop (.) and pick — in the Symbols tab, or in Word type 2014 and press Alt+X. On a Mac press ⌥ Option+⇧ Shift+-.
What is the difference between — and –?
— is the em dash (U+2014). – is a different character: en dash (U+2013, General Punctuation block). They can look alike, but computers treat them as different letters, so a search for one will not find the other.
How do I type — on an iPhone?
On the English keyboard tap 123, then press and hold - and slide to —.
What is the HTML code for the em dash?
Use the entity — or the numeric code — (hex —). In CSS write \2014, in JavaScript \u2014.
Will — show on every phone?
— has been in Unicode since version 1.1 (1993). Practically every phone, computer and app shows it.