Documentation/How Tos/Inserting En and Em Dashes with Keyboard

The Apache OpenOffice help describes two ways to enter en and em dashes: using the Replace dashes option under Tools > AutoCorrect > Options and through the Insert > Special Characters menu (selecting the U+2013 or U+2014 character, respectively).

Many people prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, especially when copyediting.

The required shortcuts depend on your operating system.

Windows

Hold down one of the Alt keys and type on the numeric keypad: 0150 for an en dash or 0151 for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Alt key.

Linux

Hold down the Compose key and type two hyphens and a period for an en dash, or three hyphens for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Compose key.

Template:Documentation/OSX Hold down the Option (Alt) key and type a hyphen for an en dash. For an em dash, the combination is Shift+Option+Hyphen.