Microsoft Has Finally Added a Keyboard Shortcut for the Em Dash.
One of the main reasons I’ve always insisted on a keyboard with a full numeric keypad (besides the ability to quickly type numbers) is that it allows me to enter the Windows keyboard shortcuts for the em dash (ALT+0151) and en dash (ALT+0150). These are punctuation marks I use frequently, and it seems that AI bots do too .
If you’ve used Microsoft or Apple operating systems, you’ll notice that these codes are longer and more difficult to enter than their macOS counterparts. On a Mac, you can enter an em dash by holding down Shift+Option and pressing the hyphen (“-“) key. For an en dash, it’s even easier: hold down the Option key and press the hyphen key. You don’t have to type a sequence of numbers, as you would in Windows, which makes it seem like you’re filling a table with numbers rather than typing a simple symbol.
Well, there’s good news for Windows users: as Windows engineer Jen Gentleman pointed out (via Windows Central ), the em and en dash shortcuts are now as easy to use in Windows as they are in macOS. I can finally buy the TenKeyLess keyboard I’ve been eyeing.
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Now, in Windows, simply hold down the Windows key and then press the hyphen to enter an en dash. To enter an em dash, hold down the Windows+Shift keys before pressing the hyphen. This matches the keyboard shortcuts Mac users have been using for years.
This tweak was supposed to appear in the Windows 11 update in late September 2025, and it definitely works on my Windows computer. If it doesn’t work for you, check that you have the latest Windows updates installed and that other programs aren’t overlapping the keyboard shortcuts.
This also means there’s no need to resort to another popular workaround: copying and pasting em and em dashes from the internet. Come on, it’s 2025, and we shouldn’t rely on such tricks. And we don’t need to right now.
One final tip: if you want to completely ditch keyboard shortcuts, set your text editor to automatically replace two hyphens (or any other character combination) with an em or en dash. This will allow you to continue typing without wasting time searching for special function keys on your keyboard.
In Google Docs, for example, go to Tools > Options > Substitutions . In Word for Windows, go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options > AutoCorrect . This feature is available in most word processors, once you’ve explored the settings.