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.
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You can also record macros to insert en and em dashes and assign those macros to unused key combinations, for example Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + N and Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + M . |
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.
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.
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The key that operates as a Compose key varies with the Linux distribution. It is usually one of the Alt or Win keys, but may be another key, and should be user-selectable. |
Hold down the ⌥ Opt ( Alt ) key and type a hyphen for an en dash. For an em dash, the combination is ⇧ Shift + ⌥ Opt + Hyphen .
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